[E340]A world of hurt|经济学人
本文音频及原文摘自杂志The Economist《经济学人》2016年第6期，Finance and economics版块。
Diplomatic insults
Poor China: so vast and so sensitive
Feb 6th 2016 | BEIJING
“I’VE hurt the feelings of the Chinese people[伤害了中国人民的感情].” So said Peter Dahlin, a Swedish citizen, in a televised “confession”[电视认罪] after his arrest in Beijing in January. There were several disturbing aspects[令人困惑/不安的地方] about the admission, including the likelihood that it was made because of pressure exerted on[施加于] Mr Dahlin, who ran a Beijing-based legal-advice group (he has since been expelled[开除;驱逐]). But why would the government put those particular words into his mouth?
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Other countries, especially authoritarian[独裁主义的;权力主义的;专制] ones, also like to express outrage[愤怒,愤慨;暴行;侮辱] about the state of their citizens’ emotions. But China is a world leader in this specialised form of righteous['raɪtʃəs][正义的;正直的;公正的] indignation[义愤填膺]. David Bandurski of the China Media Project at the University of Hong Kong has counted 143 instances of the phrase “hurting the feelings of the Chinese people” in the People’s Daily[人民日报], the Communist Party’s mouthpiece[喉舌;代言人;送话口], since 1959, when India became the first to be accused by the party of doing it—during a border dispute[边界/边境争端].
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▷ indignation [ɪndɪg'neɪʃ(ə)n]
【注释】
a) anger about a situation that you think is wrong or not fair
b) Call your anger at an unjust situation indignation. If recess gets canceled for everyone because two students get into a fight, the rest of the student body will respond with indignation.
(由错误或不公正的事激起的)愤怒;愤慨;义愤
They were filled with righteous indignation.
他们都义愤填膺。
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Since then, Japan has upset China most often, with 51 offences, followed by America, with 35. But you do not have to be a rival[竞争者;对手] or neighbour[邻国] to do it: the tiny Caribbean nation[加勒比地区] of St Lucia[圣卢西亚(拉丁美洲岛国)] hurt the feelings of China’s 1.3 billion people by reopening diplomatic ties with Taiwan[和台湾重启外交关系/复交;恢复邦交] in 2007. How many of them had heard of St Lucia is not clear.
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Albanian[阿尔巴尼亚] insults aimed at Mao Zedong in the 1970s; the defection[背叛;缺点;变节;脱党] of a tennis player to America in 1982; the accidental bombing of China’s embassy in Belgrade[贝尔格莱德(塞尔维亚共和国首都)][中国驻贝尔格莱德大使馆被误炸] in 1999: all have caused emotional scarring[创伤;伤疤]. But three things are particularly offensive: being nice to Taiwan (28 occasions of bruised feelings); sympathy with the plight of Tibet (12); and failure to come to terms with[妥协;达成协议;让步;屈服;甘心忍受] the second world war (hence Japan’s multiple offences). Oddly[古怪地;奇妙地;单数地], general complaints about China’s human-rights abuses[侵犯人权] are usually shrugged off[摆脱;抖去;不屑理睬;耸肩表示蔑视;扭身脱掉衣服]—the People’s Daily has reported only two cases of hurt feelings relating to those.
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▷ bruise [bruːz]
【注释】
a) an injury or mark where the skin has not been broken but is darker in colour, often as a result of being hit by something
b) If you're just learning to skateboard, you’ve probably got an ugly bruise or two to show for it — those purple and yellow patches you get on your skin where you’ve bumped and scraped. They probably hurt, too!
n. 擦伤;挫伤;青肿
vt. 使受瘀伤;使受挫伤
vi. 擦伤;受伤
She had a few cuts and bruises but nothing serious.
她有几处伤口和瘀痕，但不严重。
▷ plight [plaɪt]
【注释】
a) an unpleasant condition, especially a serious, sad or difficult one
b) A plight is a situation that's hard to get out of. Learning about the plight of very poor people trying rebuild their homes after a devastating earthquake might inspire you to send money to a charity.
n. 困境,窘境
the plight of the poor/homeless
穷人/无家可归者的困难处境
Few of us can be unmoved by the plight of the Romanian orphans.
我们几乎无一不被罗马尼亚孤儿的困难处境所触动。
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The public’s supposed outrage is a useful tool: it enables the party to put aside [撇开;把...放在一边,暂不考虑;储存…备用] its principle of non-interference in the internal affairs of other countries[不干涉其他国家的内政]. For example, it often complains about Japanese politicians’ visits to the Yasukuni shrine[日本政客参拜靖国神社] in Tokyo, where war criminals are among those honoured[里面供奉着一些战犯]. But the party is rarely keen on[喜爱;热衷于…] letting people express their feelings for themselves. It regards spontaneous public outbursts[自发性的公众暴乱] as a potential threat to the party’s control, loss of which would truly hurt.
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