Diplo speak: double talk

January 27, 2025 @ 10:52 am · Filed by under Language and politics, Lost in translation, Translation

« previous post | next post »

With the changing of the guard at the State Department, the new Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, and his counterpart in China's Foreign Ministry, Wang Yi, must needs have a dialog, a man-to-man conversation, so to speak.  As is customary with China's wolf warriors, however, Wang Yi was up to his old habits of giving young Marco a jiàoxùn 教训 (let's just call it "a lesson", not quite a "dressing down").

Here's how the most critical part (the final portion) of Wang Yi's communication was reported in an AP article on the event:

“I hope you will act accordingly,” Wang told Rubio, according to a Foreign Ministry statement, employing a Chinese phrase typically used by a teacher or a boss warning a student or employee to behave and be responsible for their actions.

The short phrase seemed aimed at Rubio’s vocal criticism of China and its human rights record when he was a U.S. senator, which prompted the Chinese government to put sanctions on him twice in 2020.

It can be translated in various ways — in the past, the Foreign Ministry has used “make the right choice” and “be very prudent about what they say or do” rather than “act accordingly.”

The vagueness allows the phrase to express an expectation and deliver a veiled warning, while also maintaining the courtesy necessary for further diplomatic engagement, said Zichen Wang, a research fellow at the Center for China and Globalization, a Chinese think tank.

[VHM:  I don't think that what Wang Yi said was very courteous / diplomatic at all.]

"China tells Rubio to behave himself in veiled warning"
By Ken Moritsugu, AP (1/25/25)

On the one hand, it's hard to determine exactly what Wang Yi meant.  I think he didn't express himself clearly and explicitly.  On the other hand, this type of masked admonition is calculated and coded in Chinese diplo speak.   (heavy-handed, premeditated ambiguity)

Let us examine the official record of this sentence as spoken in Chinese by Wang Yi:  "Xīwàng nǐ hǎo zì wéi zhī 希望你好自为之."  And here is the official English translation as provided by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs:  "I hope you will act accordingly."  Since the MFA is ruled over by none other than Wang Yi himself, it cannot be wrong, can it?    Not only is this the official translation, it is the standard translation (for the present time). 

As a matter of fact, I've shown that Chinese sentence — "Xīwàng nǐ hǎo zì wéi zhī 希望你好自为之" — to a dozen highly literate bilingual, master's and doctoral level native speakers of Chinese, and not one of them came close to translating it the way the MFA official, standard translation reads.   How is this possible?  Is it not bizarre that the official, standard translation from the MFA would be so much at odds with the translations of its own highly educated citizens?  Here are some sample translations from fluent bilingual Chinese speakers (followed by their comments or mine):

  • "Please handle it well on your own." — mystifying
  • “I hope that you behave yourself." — this indeed sends an unexpectedly strong message
  • "I hope that you conduct yourself well." — how dare Wang Yi tell the American Secretary of State how to behave!
  • "I hope that you take good care of yourself." — why should Wang Yi be concerned about Marco Rubio's safety?
  • "You care about yourself then." — strange for Wang Yi to urge Marco Rubio to take care of himself
  • "I hope you make the right choice." — isn't it arbitrary for Wang Yi to presume that only the Chinese side knows what the right choice is, that here's no room for discussion and negotiation; with other countries, that's the whole point of diplomacy
  • "be very prudent about what you do" — that's a little spooky, no?
  • [A lengthier comment by one student] I am quite confused about why Wang Yi used the phrase “好自为之” when addressing Rubio in this context. I understand that it can be interpreted as a suggestion for Rubio to take more responsibility. However, from a diplomatic perspective, “希望你好自为之” seems dismissive, almost sounds like a warning.
  • [Another lengthier comment]  I think the phrase should be translated according to the context and tone. With different context and tone, it can be translated very differently. Here in Wang Yi’s context (I am not sure of his tone), I think it is a neutral expression, close to “It’s up to you now”. [VHM:  That's not very nice either, especially coming at the end of his first conversation with Rubio.]
  • [Update (1/28/25):  more views in the comments.]

Even Singapore's largest Chinese newspaper, Lianhe Zaobao, noticed the controversy over the meaning of "hǎo zì wéi zhī 好自为之" in this article.

What's going on here?

I've seen many instances where the foreign ministry spokesperson says something in English that is not in the supposed Chinese original, or something in Chinese that can't be found in the supposed English translation.  Often it's very clear that it's all right to say something that is suitable for the foreigner but is not suitable for domestic consumption, and vice versa.  So never believe the official Chinese translation, whether from Chinese to English or from English to Chinese.  Rubio is right about that (as quoted in the AP article).  We must not rely on the translations they supply.

These are not mistakes in Chinese.  They are intentional alter(n)tions.

 

Selected readings

[Thanks to IA]

January 27, 2025 @ 10:52 am · Filed by under Language and politics, Lost in translation, Translation


10 Comments »

  1. pasandi said,

    January 27, 2025 @ 12:49 pm

    Some possible translations offered by a Hong Kong columnist:

    https://www.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=942604744660155&id=100067319133361

  2. Charles in Toronto said,

    January 27, 2025 @ 1:26 pm

    For a moment I was confused from the title and thought this was about the speech patterns of Thomas Wesley Pentz, aka the DJ named Diplo.

  3. Victor Mair said,

    January 27, 2025 @ 5:26 pm

    @pasandi

    Good collection of more alternative translations. The possibilities are almost endless.

  4. Don Keyser said,

    January 27, 2025 @ 6:12 pm

    Victor:

    As one who dealt with Wang Yi when he was a mere MFA Department Director General, albeit a manifestly upwardly mobile one, I can attest that he had all the attributes of a wolf warrior before that term came into vogue. Some of us marveled that a career Japan specialist, fluent in Japanese, had such a personality/demeanor. But then, his self-confidence, perhaps innate, no doubt also had much to do with the benevolent eye cast upon his career by his father-in-law senior MFA official Qian Jiadong, who had once been one of Zhou Enlai's key staff people.

    Anyway … on the linguistic question … as you are well aware, I'm sure, the issue has drawn a great deal of commentary on the Chinese Web (and was even covered by Radio Free Asia a few days ago). Yeah, it's not the height of diplomatic courtesy. My favorite short commentary on the Web is this one copied below — final sentence says it all (a locution best not used in diplomatic parlance unless the two countries are about to break diplomatic relations or go to war.

    Happy Snake Year!

    Don

    https://blog.creaders.net/u/6944/202501/506708.html

    作者：钟雨 留言时间：2025-01-26 02:06:51

    战狼王毅没搞懂这个词的准确含义，所以用的很不恰当，只想表示他的不满。

    “好自为之”到底是什么意思？

    对这个词有多种不同理解，字典上的解释也不准确，说是劝诫人的话。

    其实，这是一句很不友好的话，多在两个人结束友好交往的时候说。一个人认为错误都在另一个人身上，自己没有错，所以用蔑视和教训的口吻对对方说：你以后好好做人吧，我不会再管你的事了。

    比如夫妻两个，A因为B出轨提出离婚，分手时A对B说：好自为之吧 ！

    所以作为外交官是不应该用这个词的，除非两国马上要断交或者开战。

    Don

  5. Victor Mair said,

    January 27, 2025 @ 7:50 pm

    Here is a modified GT translation of the long blog quotation at the end of Don Keyser's comment:

    =====

    Author: Zhong Yu Comment time: 2025-01-26 02:06:51

    Wolf Warrior Wang Yi did not understand the exact meaning of this expression, so he used it inappropriately, just wanting to express his dissatisfaction.

    What does "be careful of yourself" mean? There are many different understandings of this expression, and the explanation in the dictionary is not accurate, saying that it is a word of admonition.

    In fact, this is a very unfriendly word, often said when two people end their friendly relationship. One person thinks that the mistakes are all on the other person, and he is not wrong, so he says to the other person in a contemptuous and lecturing tone: You should be a good person in the future, and I will not care about your business anymore.

    For example, a couple, A filed for divorce because B cheated, and when they broke up, A said to B: Be careful of yourself!

    So as a diplomat, this expression should not be used unless the two countries are about to break off diplomatic relations or go to war.

    =====

  6. Victor Mair said,

    January 27, 2025 @ 8:02 pm

    As I pointed out in the penultimate paragraph of the original post, Secretary Rubio is aware that representatives of the MFA prevaricate and insult. Secretary Rubio knows what he's up against. It is fitting that this is the U..S. Dept. of State's Press Release on Secretary Rubio’s Call with China’s Director of the CCP Central Foreign Affairs Commission and Foreign Minister Wang Yi:

    ———-

    Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke today with China’s Director of the CCP Central Foreign Affairs Commission and Foreign Minister Wang Yi. Secretary Rubio emphasized that the Trump Administration will pursue a U.S.-PRC relationship that advances U.S. interests and puts the American people first. The Secretary also stressed the United States’ commitment to our allies in the region and serious concern over China’s coercive actions against Taiwan and in the South China Sea. The Secretary also discussed other issues of bilateral, regional, and global importance with his Chinese counterpart.

    ———-

    https://www.state.gov/secretary-rubios-call-with-chinas-director-of-the-ccp-central-foreign-affairs-commission-and-foreign-minister-wang-yi/

  7. Jonathan Smith said,

    January 27, 2025 @ 9:32 pm

    Here IMO "好" read hǎo and interpreted to mean hǎohao (adv.) 'properly, attentively' is syntactically weird, even if course that's the now-conventional understanding. If we are to interpret in light of the Huainanzi (which duh), where context is "君人者不任能而好自為之 […]" ("should a leader of men fail to engage the capable, instead relishing [hào 好] taking charge of matters themselves, […negative consequences]"), then the phrase must mean "relish taking charge of matters yourself [you asshole]."

  8. Victor Mair said,

    January 28, 2025 @ 8:37 am

    A late addition from a graduate student interpreting what she thinks Wang Yi meant by "hǎo zì wéi zhī 好自为之" by that I found in my filter file:

    =====

    To me, this phrase sounds like "I hope you figure out the right thing to do on your own." I would imagine contexts in which a supervisor starts losing patience with junior employees (meaning "don't let me tell you what to do, go figure it out yourself"), or when someone quarrels with his/her romantic partner (meaning "this is the last chance for you").

    =====

  9. John Rohsenow said,

    January 28, 2025 @ 5:02 pm

    "[henceforth] be it on your own head" ?- JSR

    My former native spkr TA, now a PhD and lecturer, comments:
    "This phrase would be more serious in a real life conversation, that is, "I don't want to get entangled with you anymore, you should stop at the brink; anyway, it's your responsibility if there are any problems in the future." Considering that Rubio has been warned by China twice before, this sentence sounds very tough to the Chinese, but from a diplomatic perspective, it is far less than "protest, lodge a solemn protest", so this is just a rhetorical device of the Chinese, on the one hand to express their dissatisfaction, on the other hand to downgrade the severity of the sentence through translation. I imagine that Wang Yi's translator would never say "I think you should behave yourself" when speaking for the foreign minister, so he could only choose a neutral phrase like "act accordingly".
    (my translation- JSR)

  10. John Rohsenow said,

    January 28, 2025 @ 9:57 pm

    Here's a comment from another older PRC friend, now retired US PhD professor at a US university:
    "This idiom is used to describe a gentleman's self-discipline, self-refinement or self-encouragement. In modern Chinese, it is mainly used to refer to the other party in a conversation. Its subtext (or hidden meaning) contains the meaning of warning, criticism, admonishment, or exhortation, which implies that the other party has done something wrong or undesirable, or there is a possibility of their doing something wrong or undesirable."

RSS feed for comments on this post

Leave a Comment