Place names cannot be changed at will

Da Jin Si Hu Tong, an alley in downtown Beijing is seen in this Nov 6, 2014 file photo. [Photo/IC]

THE STATE COUNCIL, China's Cabinet, said on Monday it will correct the practice of local governments that change place names at will. Place names are derived from history and local officials have no power to change them according to their whims, says a comment on Beijing Youth Daily:

Data show that over 60,000 towns and 400,000 villages have had their names changed in the past 30 years. Causes vary, yet many of them have commercial interests behind or were done at the will of local officials.

For example, Luoma Lake in Suqian city, Central China's Jiangsu province was renamed "Mashang Lake" by a developer in 2010 because Luoma's homophonic means officials falling off from their posts, and the developer hoped a new name could attract officials. The deed was soon corrected after media coverage, but it shows the distorted mentality of some officials.

In some other cities, communities and streets are named after Venice, New Zealand and Provence even though they have nothing to do with these cities faraway. That's a kind of blind worship of money, wealth, and exotic feel.

It should be noted that place names are often derived from history and represent the cultural belonging of the local residents. When officials change them at will, they not only use taxpayers' money, but also create inconvenience for the residents because they need to get adapted to the new names, which might be a long process.

The regulation also requires governments to keep stable place names that suit historical and current conditions. In case a geographical name needs to be changed, that should be done via democratic procedures, in which the public's voice is heard. Local governments need to cling to the principle, instead of changing names at the irrational demands of power or money.