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mises
Joined: 05 Nov 2007
Location: retired
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 Posted: Thu Dec 11, 2008 11:53 am Post subject: Who's hurt Chinese feelings the most? |
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http://blog.foreignpolicy.com/node/10511
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As Jerome reported in yesterday's This Week in China, the Chinese government criticized French President Nicolas Sarkozy for hurting "the feelings of the Chinese people" by meeting with the Dalai Lama. This is a favorite phrase of Chinese officialdom, as James Fallows notes.
One Chinese blogger took it upon himself to comb through the People's Daily archives to rank the countries and organizations that have hurt Chinese feelings the most. The superb China media blog Danwei.org shares the results:
Japan: 47 times, starting in 1985
USA: 23 times, starting in 1980, when Los Angeles flew the ROC flag
NATO: 10 times, mostly relating to the 1999 Belgrade embassy bombing
India: 7 times, starting in 1986 and mostly relating to border issues
France: 5 times, starting in 1989
Nobel Committee: 4 times
Germany: 3 times, starting with a meeting with the D?l?i L?m? in 1990
Vatican City: 3 times, starting in 2000
EU: 2 times, starting in 1996
Guatemala: 2 times, both in 1997
Indonesia: in 1959, when a newspaper inflamed anti-Chinese sentiment
Albania: in 1978, for criticism of Chairman Mao and the Chinese Communist Party
Vietnam: in 1979, for a high official's slander of China
UK: in 1994, over the Taiwan issue
The Netherlands: in 1980, over the government authorizing a company to provide submarines to Taiwan
Iceland: in 1997, for allowing Lien Chan to visit
Jordan: in 1998, for allowing Lien Chan to visit
Nicaragua: in 1995, for supporting Taiwan's bid to join the UN
South Africa: in 1996, for proposing a two-China policy |
Who knew the CCP is a collection of sensitive flowers! |
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Kuros
Joined: 27 Apr 2004
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On the other hand
Joined: 19 Apr 2003
Location: I walk along the avenue
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| Posted: Thu Dec 11, 2008 12:03 pm Post subject: |
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Far be it for me to defend the PRC, which is the object of much unseemly sentimentalization from its western apologists, accross the political spectrum(during the run-up to the Olympics, it was funny to watch earnest progressives mouthing the same Sinophiliac platitudes as Kissinger.)
But I'm curious to know whether the original phrase, in Chinese, carries the same connotations that "hurt one's feelings" does in English, ie. the victim is implied to be either infantile or weak. |
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mises
Joined: 05 Nov 2007
Location: retired
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| Posted: Thu Dec 11, 2008 12:04 pm Post subject: |
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I can't imagine Bush saying "the French criticism of our rendition position has hurt the feelings of the American people". Culture sure is a powerful thing.
In seriousness, the CCP has been successful in positioning itself as the representative of the Han Chinese people. |
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On the other hand
Joined: 19 Apr 2003
Location: I walk along the avenue
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| Posted: Thu Dec 11, 2008 12:06 pm Post subject: |
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| I can't imagine Bush saying "the French criticism of our rendition position has hurt the feelings of the American people". |
No, but I could imagine him saying something like "the French criticism of our rendition policy is an insult to the American people." That's why I was asking about the connotations of the original phrase in Chinese. |
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mises
Joined: 05 Nov 2007
Location: retired
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| Posted: Thu Dec 11, 2008 12:10 pm Post subject: |
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| Yeah, dunno. The Chinese people are extremely sensitive to criticism of China, so I wouldn't doubt if "feelings" had similar discourse in English. Who knows. It is humorous to see a big bad country using such infantile language, even if it is a translation error. |
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On the other hand
Joined: 19 Apr 2003
Location: I walk along the avenue
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| Posted: Thu Dec 11, 2008 12:19 pm Post subject: |
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| mises wrote: |
| Yeah, dunno. The Chinese people are extremely sensitive to criticism of China, so I wouldn't doubt if "feelings" had similar discourse in English. Who knows. It is humorous to see a big bad country using such infantile language, even if it is a translation error. |
And, whatever the original connotations, there is a discernible note of paternalism in many westerners' defense of China. I am actually not a big supporter of the Dalai Lama and Tibetan independence, but I still found myself cringing when I heard progressives argue against the proposed Olympic boycott by saying stuff like "oh, but the Chinese people are so happy about this, how are they gonna feel if nobody shows up?"
The most hilarious thing about this was that China had boycotted the Moscow Olympics in 1980. So much for all their concern about hurt feelings. |
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Kuros
Joined: 27 Apr 2004
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| Posted: Thu Dec 11, 2008 2:09 pm Post subject: |
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Its not a translation error.
Go to the link I posted and to the links within the links.
Its just a way of speaking that sprang up post-1949. |
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GoldSoundz
Joined: 12 Jun 2008
Location: Pohang
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| Posted: Wed Jan 28, 2009 6:29 am Post subject: |
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I would say CNN (for Cafferty) (they even have an anti-CNN website targeting its bias).
I would also add Guns N' Roses (for their latest CD).
Those are just minor "offenses" compared to France or the USA.
But yeah...for a world superpower they have pretty thin skin. Tells you how confident the authorities really are
I am waiting for MSNBC to say that the Iraqi shoe-thrower hurt Bush's feelings. Would never happen. |
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