Great Translation Movement

The Great Translation Movement originated on several Chinese-language subreddits.{{Cite news |last=McLaughlin |first=Timothy |date=May 21, 2022 |title=The Volunteer Movement Enraging China |work=The Atlantic |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2022/05/great-translation-movement-china-censorship-firewall/629914/ |access-date=May 21, 2022 |archive-date=May 21, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220521060254/https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2022/05/great-translation-movement-china-censorship-firewall/629914/ |url-status=live }} Giving a reason for its founding, a member of the movement said in an interview that hoped that "people in more countries realize that the people of China are not 'warm, hospitable, and gentle' as the CCP's foreign propaganda declares, but instead are a collective that is proud, arrogant, vigorously in love with populism, cruel, bloodthirsty, and completely lacking in sympathy." ({{zh|s=希望能够让更多国家的人明白，中国人并不是和中共大外宣当中的形象一样'热情，好客，温良'，而是骄傲，自大，民粹主义兴盛，残忍，嗜血，毫无同情心的集合体|labels=no}}).{{Cite news |title=告诉世界中国人怎么看战争： 网上兴起"大翻译运动" |url=https://www.rfa.org/mandarin/Xinwen/6-03122022110505.html |access-date=2022-08-13 |website=Radio Free Asia |language=zh-cn |archive-date=2022-04-25 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220425115331/https://www.rfa.org/mandarin/Xinwen/6-03122022110505.html |url-status=live }}{{Cite news |last= |first= |title=大翻译运动：告诉世界中国人怎么看战争 {{!}} DW {{!}} 12.03.2022 |url=https://www.dw.com/zh/%E5%A4%A7%E7%BF%BB%E8%AF%91%E8%BF%90%E5%8A%A8%E5%91%8A%E8%AF%89%E4%B8%96%E7%95%8C%E4%B8%AD%E5%9B%BD%E4%BA%BA%E6%80%8E%E4%B9%88%E7%9C%8B%E6%88%98%E4%BA%89/a-61105169 |access-date=2022-08-13 |website=Deutsche Welle |language=zh-CN |archive-date=2022-04-26 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220426063944/https://www.dw.com/zh/%E5%A4%A7%E7%BF%BB%E8%AF%91%E8%BF%90%E5%8A%A8%E5%91%8A%E8%AF%89%E4%B8%96%E7%95%8C%E4%B8%AD%E5%9B%BD%E4%BA%BA%E6%80%8E%E4%B9%88%E7%9C%8B%E6%88%98%E4%BA%89/a-61105169 |url-status=live }}{{Cite news |last=自由時報電子報 |date=2022-03-13 |title=歌頌侵略！小粉紅舔「俄爹」 「大翻譯運動」讓他們海外現形 - 國際 |url=https://news.ltn.com.tw/news/world/breakingnews/3858357 |access-date=2022-08-13 |website=自由時報電子報 |language=zh-Hant-TW |archive-date=2022-03-21 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220321155849/https://news.ltn.com.tw/news/world/breakingnews/3858357 |url-status=live }} Participants called for commentary that supported the Russian invasion of Ukraine on the Chinese internet to be translated and disseminated on foreign social media platforms. The movement called for monetary support for the Ukrainian people. Within the first week of its establishment, donations made publicly by the organizers on Reddit reached approximately $10,000.

On March 2, one of the subreddits organizing the movement, r/ChonglangTV, was shut down by Reddit for "exposing privacy of others." The ban was in response to the doxing of a Weibo user.{{Cite news |author=刘文 |date=2022-03-12 |title=大翻译运动：告诉世界中国人怎么看战争. |trans-title=The Great Translation Movement: Tell the world how the Chinese think about war |url=https://www.dw.com/zh/%E5%A4%A7%E7%BF%BB%E8%AF%91%E8%BF%90%E5%8A%A8%E5%91%8A%E8%AF%89%E4%B8%96%E7%95%8C%E4%B8%AD%E5%9B%BD%E4%BA%BA%E6%80%8E%E4%B9%88%E7%9C%8B%E6%88%98%E4%BA%89/a-61105169 |website=Deutsche Welle |access-date=2022-03-16 |archive-date=2022-04-26 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220426063944/https://www.dw.com/zh/%E5%A4%A7%E7%BF%BB%E8%AF%91%E8%BF%90%E5%8A%A8%E5%91%8A%E8%AF%89%E4%B8%96%E7%95%8C%E4%B8%AD%E5%9B%BD%E4%BA%BA%E6%80%8E%E4%B9%88%E7%9C%8B%E6%88%98%E4%BA%89/a-61105169 |url-status=live }}{{Cite news |date=2022-03-04 |title=聲援烏克蘭Reddit中文社區 「衝浪TV」遭封殺 疑涉中共長臂審查 |trans-title=In solidarity with the Ukrainian Reddit Chinese community, "Chonglang TV" was blocked, suspected of being involved in the CCP's long-arm censorship |url=https://www.rfa.org/cantonese/news/reddit-03042022114155.html |website=Radio Free Asia |access-date=2022-03-22 |archive-date=2022-05-11 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220511005647/https://www.rfa.org/cantonese/news/reddit-03042022114155.html |url-status=live }} The Great Translation Movement then moved to other platforms such as Twitter and Pincong.{{Citation needed|date=May 2022}} On March 19, Pincong employees were detained by the Chinese government after starting a channel for the movement on Pincong's home page.{{Cite news |title=本站支持声援乌克兰的大翻译运动：抗议恶意关停冲浪TV，并呼吁中国政府尽早释放品葱团队人员 |trans-title=This site supports the great translation movement in solidarity with Ukraine: protest against the malicious shutdown of Chonglang TV, and call on the Chinese government to release the members of the Pincong team as soon as possible |url=https://pincong.rocks/article/39225 |access-date=2022-03-30 |website=pincong.rocks |publisher=Pincong |archive-date=2022-04-16 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220416121007/https://pincong.rocks/article/39225 |url-status=live }}

Political scholar Cai Xia, a former professor at the Central Party School of the Chinese Communist Party, expressed support for the movement. She made the following comment:

{{Blockquote

|text=...This translation not only exposes the CCP's totalitarian ideology that poisons the Chinese people, ...it also reminds global governments and people to be wary of the infiltration and poisoning of the CCP's external propaganda, false information, false narratives, and misleading public opinion space.{{cite tweet |author-link=Cai Xia |author=蔡霞|user=realcaixia |number=1503210206796427271 |title=我赞成网友自发的大翻译运动。这个翻译不仅是揭露中共极权意识形态毒害中国人，使不少中国人思想观念包括情感都有扭曲；而且更能提醒全世界各国政府和民众，高度警惕中共大外宣的渗透毒害，警惕中共大外宣的虚假信息、虚假叙事欺骗和误导公共舆论空间。这次俄罗斯侵乌战争，习当局早就开打信息战帮普京 |trans-title=I agree with the Great Translation Movement that was spontaneously initiated by netizens. This translation not only exposes the CCP’s totalitarian ideology that poisons the Chinese people [nationality], and distorts many Chinese people’s [nationality] ideas, including their emotions; it also reminds governments and people around the world to be highly vigilant against the infiltration and poisoning of the CCP’s external propaganda, and to be wary of the CCP’s False information, false narratives, and misleading public opinion space. In this Russian aggression against Ukraine, the Xi authorities have long started an information war to help Putin |date=13 March 2022 |access-date=30 March 2022|language=zh}}

}}

Also, some Chinese dissidents support the movement because it creates "a dilemma for Chinese censorship authorities."{{Cite news |date=2022-03-22 |title=The Chinese great translation movement: Exposing Chinese propaganda or spreading hate? |url=https://globalvoices.org/2022/03/22/the-chinese-great-translation-movement-exposing-chinese-propaganda-or-spreading-hate/ |access-date=2022-03-30 |website=Global Voices |language=en |archive-date=2022-04-03 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220403002215/https://globalvoices.org/2022/03/22/the-chinese-great-translation-movement-exposing-chinese-propaganda-or-spreading-hate/ |url-status=live }} Censoring extremist or disturbing content written by Chinese nationalists could alienate CCP supporters, but not censoring such content ends up constituting tacit approval.

Criticisms of the movement on Chinese-language WeChat boards contend that the movement will intensify xenophobia and racism against Asian Americans. Furthermore, DW also noted that misogynistic comments about Ukrainian women were not just limited to mainland China, but Taiwan as well, with some Chinese officials even accusing "Taiwanese separatists" of pretending to be mainland Chinese while posting such comments.{{Cite news |last= |first= |date=March 7, 2022 |title=兩岸「烏克蘭美女」言論惹議 專家：突顯長久問題 |url=https://www.dw.com/zh/%E5%85%A9%E5%B2%B8%E7%83%8F%E5%85%8B%E8%98%AD%E7%BE%8E%E5%A5%B3%E8%A8%80%E8%AB%96%E6%83%B9%E8%AD%B0-%E5%B0%88%E5%AE%B6%E7%AA%81%E9%A1%AF%E9%95%B7%E4%B9%85%E5%95%8F%E9%A1%8C/a-61036916 |access-date=2022-05-13 |website=Deutsche Welle |language=zh-CN |archive-date=2022-04-21 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220421010111/https://www.dw.com/zh/%E5%85%A9%E5%B2%B8%E7%83%8F%E5%85%8B%E8%98%AD%E7%BE%8E%E5%A5%B3%E8%A8%80%E8%AB%96%E6%83%B9%E8%AD%B0-%E5%B0%88%E5%AE%B6%E7%AA%81%E9%A1%AF%E9%95%B7%E4%B9%85%E5%95%8F%E9%A1%8C/a-61036916 |url-status=live }}

Han Yang, a former Chinese diplomat who now supports the Great Translation Movement, has stated that he disagrees with the desire of some members of the movement to paint the Chinese people as cruel and bloodthirsty, which he believes helps Chinese state-run media discredit the movement.{{cite news |last1=Angela |first1=Yang |title=The Twitter account giving a window into China's internet |work=NBC News |publisher= |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/great-translation-movement-china-russia-ukraine-rcna25693 |access-date=28 April 2022 |archive-date=27 April 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220427220753/https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/great-translation-movement-china-russia-ukraine-rcna25693 |url-status=live }}

Chinese state media criticized the movement and described it as "cherry picked content".{{Cite news |last=McCarthy |first=Simone |date=April 13, 2022 |title=Twitter users are exposing pro-Russian sentiment in China, and Beijing is not happy |website=CNN |url=https://www.cnn.com/2022/04/13/china/china-ukraine-great-translation-movement-intl-hnk-mic/index.html |access-date=2022-04-14 |archive-date=2022-04-25 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220425174518/https://www.cnn.com/2022/04/13/china/china-ukraine-great-translation-movement-intl-hnk-mic/index.html |url-status=live }}{{Cite news |date=2022-03-28 |title=大翻译运动向全球展现中国网民言论 指中国官媒"说谎" |trans-title=The Great Translation Movement shows the world what Chinese netizens say, accusing Chinese state media of "lying" |url=https://www.rfi.fr/cn/%E4%B8%AD%E5%9B%BD/20220328-%E5%A4%A7%E7%BF%BB%E8%AF%91%E8%BF%90%E5%8A%A8%E5%90%91%E5%85%A8%E7%90%83%E5%B1%95%E7%8E%B0%E4%B8%AD%E5%9B%BD%E7%BD%91%E6%B0%91%E8%A8%80%E8%AE%BA-%E6%8C%87%E4%B8%AD%E5%9B%BD%E5%AE%98%E5%AA%92-%E8%AF%B4%E8%B0%8E |access-date=2022-03-30 |website=Radio France Internationale |language=zh-Hans |archive-date=2022-04-20 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220420215930/https://www.rfi.fr/cn/%E4%B8%AD%E5%9B%BD/20220328-%E5%A4%A7%E7%BF%BB%E8%AF%91%E8%BF%90%E5%8A%A8%E5%90%91%E5%85%A8%E7%90%83%E5%B1%95%E7%8E%B0%E4%B8%AD%E5%9B%BD%E7%BD%91%E6%B0%91%E8%A8%80%E8%AE%BA-%E6%8C%87%E4%B8%AD%E5%9B%BD%E5%AE%98%E5%AA%92-%E8%AF%B4%E8%B0%8E |url-status=live }} The Global Times, a tabloid owned by the People's Daily, claimed that the movement is "a farce" backed by western media such as Voice of America that is selectively translating extreme commentary from the Chinese internet.

Tang Jingtai, writing at Sixth Tone, an online magazine run by the state-owned Shanghai United Media Group, said that TGTM was increasing prejudice against Chinese people by positioning itself as a "hall monitor" for online speech.{{Cite news |last= |first= |date=8 September 2022 |title=When Translation Misleads |url=https://www.sixthtone.com/news/1011189/when-translation-misleads |access-date=2022-09-11 |website=Sixth Tone |language=en |archive-date=2022-09-09 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220909114531/https://www.sixthtone.com/news/1011189/when-translation-misleads |url-status=live }} An editorial posted on The Paper, an online newspaper also run by the Shanghai United Media Group, described the movement as Anti-Russia and Anti-China.{{Cite news |author=Zheng Chuang |date=2022-04-28 |title=全球舆观｜警惕！反华舆论战"大翻译运动"中出现的新动向 |url=https://www.thepaper.cn/newsDetail_forward_17828710 |website=The Paper |access-date=2022-09-12 |archive-date=2022-07-08 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220708071708/https://www.thepaper.cn/newsDetail_forward_17828710 |url-status=live }}

CNN noted that media experts cautioned that "the posts do not show a holistic view of public opinion in China and appear to at least partially be selected for shock value -- but could still be useful in bringing these elements of China's media sphere to light." They also noted the group's own biases, such as its comparisons of China with Nazi Germany.

Experts warned against taking the translations the group publishes as representative of public opinion.{{Cite news |last=Sun |first=Weiloon |title=An anonymous Twitter account built 60,000 followers translating Chinese propaganda about the Ukraine war and is setting off an international firestorm |url=https://www.businessinsider.com/great-translation-movement-twitter-account-blowing-up-russia-ukraine-2022-3 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220605001425/https://www.businessinsider.com/great-translation-movement-twitter-account-blowing-up-russia-ukraine-2022-3 |archive-date=2022-06-05 |access-date=2022-05-10 |website=Business Insider}} David Bandurski, director of the China Media Project, said that while the account has been important in highlighting state media voices, the content should not be taken as representative of the Chinese public, giving a comparison about taking ultraconservative voices in the US media as representative of the US perspective.

According to Xiao Qiang of the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism, the Great Translation Movement "disrupted the Chinese government's communication machine...[t]hat's why it's so upset."

• China and the Russian invasion of Ukraine
• Freedom pineapples
• Jixian Wang
• Milk Tea Alliance
• Middle East Media Research Institute
• NAFO (group)

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• {{twitter|tgtm_official|The Great Translation Movement in English 大翻译运动官方推号}}

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{{2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine}}

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