China’s ‘bloody battle’ referred to by Xi Jinping is thing of the past

A historic speech by President Xi Jinping last week appeared to become not so much lost as tangled in translation.

A historic speech by President Xi Jinping last week appeared to become not so much lost as tangled in translation.

His forceful remarks closing the National People’s Congress session that re-elected him unanimously as president and changed the constitution to let him stay for life were read as usual from a prepared text, naturally in Chinese.

He was prominently reported throughout the world’s English-language media, including The Australian, as pledging that “we are resolved to fight the bloody battle against our enemies” in order to achieve China’s “great rejuvenation”.

The highlighting of this combative phrase, reverberating internationally, clearly rang alarm bells for those responsible for Chinese diplomacy and “soft power”.

Embassies, including in Canberra, swiftly acted to complain that Mr Xi had been misquoted — that he was speaking about the past, not the present.

They said Mr Xi was talking in historical terms, lamenting China’s “century of humiliation”, as it is usually branded, between the Opium Wars against Britain through to the victory of the Chinese Communist Party in the civil war in 1949.

They provided a Chinese text in evidence, which seemed to point towards a past timing, though not inarguably.

Chinese characters for verbs do not vary by tense. So the same character may apply for an activity in the past, present or future — the time of the action usually indicated principally by the context.

When Mr Xi delivered his speech in the Great Hall of the People, this was screened live by CGTN, the international arm of state broadcaster China Central TV, with a simultaneous English translation.

Such official translators are usually provided a copy in advance of the event, especially when top leaders are speaking, to help ensure accuracy.

A recording was made of the original live broadcast, including the spoken translation of Mr Xi’s speech, which proves that the official translator stated: “We are resolved to fight the bloody battle against our enemies …”

The live translation continued: “And on the basis of our independence, we are determined to recapture the relics. We have strong capabilities of taking our due place in the world. We have fought for that big dream for about 170 years. Today more than ever, the Chinese people in our history have been closer to that dream, and we are ever more confident and capable of realising the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.”

However, the English translation as later posted by China Daily now reads instead, considerably less aggressively: “With the spirit of fighting the enemy to the last minute, the resolve of recovering the lost on the basis of self-reliance, and the ability of rising up among the community of nations, the Chinese people have made continuous efforts for more than 170 years to fulfil the great dreams. Today, we are closer, more confident, and more capable than ever before in making the goal of national rejuvenation a reality.”

Mr Xi also said: “Any actions and tricks to split China are doomed to failure” — as are, it would seem, inconvenient translations.