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发信人: confi(皓) 整理人: roy_young(2001-04-13 17:24:34), 站内信件 |
University THE LETTER that U.S. Ambassador Joseph W. Prueher handed to Chinese Foreign Minister Tang Jiaxuan today asked Tang to “convey to the Chinese people and to the family of pilot Wang Wei that we are very sorry for their loss.” And it said, “We are very sorry the entering of China’s airspace and the landing did not have verbal clearance.” The word “apology” did not appear in the English-language document handed to Tang. But in announcing the U.S. move and describing the letter to the Chinese people, China chose to translate the double “very sorry” as “shenbiao qianyi,” which means “a deep expression of apology or regret.” And the deal was done, with both sides proclaiming they got what they wanted. “In Chinese, you don’t use that phrase unless you’re admitting you’re wrong and accepting responsibility,” said Mei Renyi, director of the American Studies Center at Beijing Foreign Studies University. “If they’re translating it that way, especially in the context of a formal letter, it means the U.S. is admitting it was wrong.” But a translation into Chinese released by the U.S. Embassy used other language. For “very sorry,” it used the Chinese words “feichang wanxi,” which linguists described as an expression of great sympathy but not an apology. It also used “feichang baoqian,” or extremely sorry. The resolution of the crisis that started when a Chinese interceptor and a U.S. intelligence plane collided off China’s southern coast was shaped by a long list of historical, cultural, political and security differences. Ambiguities in translation between two very different languages proved to be key in finally winning the release of the EP-3E Aries II’s 24-member crew. “This gave the two countries maneuverability,” said Shen Dingli, an expert on U.S.-China relations at Fudan University in Shanghai. “The United States could say it didn’t apologize, and China could say it did.” ---- 欢迎到上海英语版！ 译者 译者的天地 |
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