The China Trip

Clinton Spoke, but Did Anyone Understand?

As the White House sees it, the big payoff in BILL CLINTON's trip to China was being able to speak directly to the Chinese people. But while he spoke in English, the masses were listening in Chinese, and the interpretation was not good. Some Chinese academics in the U.S. who listened to the press conference in Beijing say Clinton's polite, subtly worded protest about the loss of life at Tiananmen Square did not come across to ordinary Chinese. Even worse was Clinton's centerpiece speech at Peking University, where the State Department interpreter had major difficulties, breaking off sentences to start new...

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