HONG KONG -- The shadow of linguistic domination is creeping over Hong Kong amid mainland China's growing influence in all areas.
While Hong Kongers use Cantonese on a daily basis, Legislative Council lawmakers and high-ranking government officials who speak Mandarin -- known in Chinese as Putonghua, meaning "the common tongue" -- have appeared. A recent government survey found that for the first time since Hong Kong's return to China in 1997, more than half of Hong Kongers can now speak Mandarin.
