Guangdong authorities responded yesterday to claims of harassment, insisting their handling of reporters covering a weekend rally in support of the use of Cantonese was 'legal questioning'.
Speaking in Guangzhou at an Asian Games press conference, Guangdong news office chief Li Shoujin said authorities had reiterated that since there was no campaign to marginalise Cantonese and replace it with Putonghua in Guangzhou, mass gatherings to support the use of Cantonese were illegal.
'A hospital employee claimed to be a journalist. We later found out the rest of them were journalists,' he said. 'They were taken away because they didn't have reporters' credentials with them. The questioning was friendly in nature and the journalists were released as soon as possible.'
The comments followed two pro-Cantonese rallies in Guangzhou - one on July 25 involving more than 1,000 young people outside an exit of the Jiangnanxi metro station, and the other on Sunday, when hundreds gathered at People's Park and a shopping area on Beijing Road.
Police took away at least 20 people, including four Hong Kong journalists and a broadcast engineer, at the latter rally. Most of those detained were warned and released. Three are still being detained for disturbing public order.
The rallies were held in response to reports that proposals had been put forward to change television programming during some hours to feature shows in Putonghua rather than Cantonese, especially during the Asian Games in November.
