Huang Youyi: Timely translations can reveal China
- By Zhang Rui
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E-mail China.org.cn, March 4, 2014
Political advisor Huang Youyi explained on Friday the utmost importance of translating Chinese official documents in time in order to reveal China to the world.
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Huang Youyi: Internet safety essential for national security.[Photo/China.org.cn] |
"China is no longer a country of 1.3 billion Chinese people, it is a country that influences 7 billion people around the world," Huang, a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), said.
This year's CPPCC national session opened in Beijing on Monday and political advisors have submitted their proposals for political consultation. Huang said his proposal this year is the establishment of a translation mechanism.
As the world is eager to learn more about China and its laws, regulations, cultural and economic development, China must learn how to carry its voice across the globe. "China should tell China's own stories and only China knows what China's political phrases really mean. Therefore, we now need to accurately translate official documents, fully and timely for the entire world to see, as this is now more needed than at any other time in history," Huang said.
One of Huang's most recent recollections is that of China accomplishing its first moon landing. The staff behind the project posted lyrical updates on China’s various social networks, followed by millions of fans. The actual social network account of the automated moonrover Yutu, named after the legendary pet rabbit of the Moon goddess Chang'e, mentioned something about its malfunctioning, which in turn generated waves of online sympathy and encouragement. "But the foreign media translated what it read faster than the Chinese media did," Huang said.
Another regret on Huang's part concerns the first translation of the concluding document from the 3rd Plenary Session of the 18th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China. One British man first translated and posted it online even before the official translation version had been made available to the public. "There were many mistakes in it since he didn't know enough about China."
"China's usual approach is to issue the Chinese text first, then do the translation. Afterwards, the translation will go through an examination process until it is published. It takes time and is a passive process," Huang explained, "So, in my proposal, I suggest that elite translators should get involved in the early stages of the draft preparation, as they then would have sufficient time to carefully and actively find the right words to interpret those documents in a way that foreigners can understand and accept. "
For example, to demonstrate the concept of the Chinese Dream, set by President Xi Jinping, is a long-term work of precision. "The Chinese people just think the Chinese Dream is purely a vision for the nation’s people to work hard for a better life and a rich, strong motherland. But foreigners doubted this, thinking China is getting stronger to be hegemonic, which is wrong," Huang said, "The root [of this problem] lies in the culture and information asymmetry."
Huang added, "Many countries didn't suffer from wars and invasions in the past century as China did, they don't understand the humiliation and pain in the Chinese memory. The Chinese Dream is just aimed at making the Chinese people richer, stronger and more confident. "
The advisor also noted that in order to realize the translation mechanism for China documents, an elite translation talent pool must be established. "Such translators should be rewarded with pride and benefits."
Huang is a former vice president of China International Publishing Group (CIPG) and the vice chairman and secretary-general of the Translators Association of China. He said he is still pushing for translation legislation.
"China's translation market should be regulated as many low-quality translation companies make a mess of it," he said, "Society contains many misunderstandings about translation. These cannot be resolved now, but will be eventually. It will take time to have a true translation law."
He continued, "As the Western news items, movies, television programs and books pour into China, bringing with them the Western thinking, China has come to a point to tell more about itself. I understand there's a cultural deficit, but this is not solely depending on translation. China's cultural product makers, writers and filmmakers should also bear in mind that they too should tell high-quality stories for the whole world to love, as the foreign fellows continue to target China’s huge market. "
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