New pronunciation list sparks confusion, criticism

Following online criticism of suggestions that the pronunciation of some Chinese characters should be changed, education authorities noted that any changes have yet to be approved.

The criticism was sparked by a recent article online that listed new pronunciations for some characters that many people have been taught are incorrect.

One example is the first character in the word shui fu, which means "persuade" in English. The article said the character should be pronounced "shuo", even though students have been taught for years that it's wrong to pronounce it that way.