[Wikipedia-l] Re: One Chinese Wikipedia

[Delirium]

Sort of a tangential issue: Wikipedians should keep in mind here that
whatever they do is a positive political and social/cultural act; there
is no correct answer to this question.

Whether Chinese should be one language or diverge into multiple
languages is somewhat similar to the question 180 years ago over whether
the various Greeks spoken throughout the former Ottoman Empire should
remain distinct, or be merged into a "common Greek", and perhaps also
similar to the eternal disputes in France over the differences between
the various regional dialects.  If we, for example, say we support
having a separate Wikipedia for a particular French dialect (which we
do), but we oppose having one for a particular Chinese dialect, then
we're making a rather odd political statement.  Not that we can't do
that, but it should be done on purpose.

-Mark