Written by | Dong Xin
The Political Knowledge Circle (WeChat ID: wepolitics) noted that the "Organizational Structure" column of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was updated a few days ago to show that Zhang Lu has taken up the post of deputy director of the Translation Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
In media reports, Zhang Lu has been called a "goddess translator". Of the 12 premier press conferences of the two sessions since 2010, 11 have been translated by Zhang Lu.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="4" > chief translator of national leaders</h1>
Born in 1977 in Jinan, Shandong Province, Zhang Lu was admitted to the Department of International Law of the China Foreign Affairs University in 1996 and has represented the school in English speech competitions many times. She then studied diplomacy at the University of Westminster and earned a master's degree.
In public reports, she has served as deputy director of the English Department of the former Translation Office of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and director of the Spanish-Portuguese Language Division of the Translation Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
On March 6, 2007, the Fifth Session of the Tenth National People's Congress held a press conference in the hall on the third floor of the Great Hall of the People, where then Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing answered reporters' questions on China's diplomatic work and international issues. Zhang Lu served as the interpreter for the foreign minister's press conference, which was also the first time she appeared in front of the media camera.
△Zhang Lu (right)
Public reports show that Zhang Lu was once the chief translator of Hu Jintao and Wen Jiabao.
In addition to this, she also undertakes many important translation tasks.
According to media reports, Zhang Lu once followed Li Zhaoxing to an international conference on Afghanistan and did 12 translations in one day. After the Wenchuan earthquake in Sichuan in 2008, Zhang Lu also undertook the translation work of the daily press conference held by the State Council's new office together with her colleagues.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="4" > served as a prime minister's press conference interpreter 11 times</h1>
Zhang Lu's first "popularity" was in 2010.
On March 14 of that year, Zhang Lu succeeded Fei Shengchao, a senior translator, and appeared for the first time at the premier's press conference of the two sessions, when the premier's press conference used female translators again after five years.
Because she fluently translated the ancient poems quoted by Wen Jiabao on the spot, she was also on weibo hot search.
At that time, Premier Wen Jiabao quoted the famous sentence of "Leaving sorrow", "Also the good of the rest of the heart, although nine deaths are still unrepentant", Zhang Lu translated as "For the ideal that I hold dear to my heart, I'd not regret a thousand times to die." (I follow my heart's thoughts, and I won't regret it even if I die a million times).)
In Old Chinese, "nine" refers to "many", and Zhang Lu translates it as "thousand times".
On the third day after the press conference, Zhang Lu was invited to the China Foreign Affairs College of her alma mater, to tell the students about the "experience of translating at the prime minister's press conference." The lecture hall, which could only accommodate 200 people, was crowded, and the corridors and corridors were full of people.
Zhang Lu said that she found that Premier Wen liked to quote the poems of Liu Yuxi, Wang Anshi and Qu Yuan the most, so when translating for Premier Wen, it was necessary to combine the context in which he spoke, and know what kind of spirit Premier Wen was trying to convey by quoting ancient poems at this moment.
She also mentioned that to translate for leaders, there must be a high degree of political sensitivity.
For example, Zhang Lu said that at the press conference, Premier Wen, in clarifying the rumors of China's "arrogance" at Copenhagen, mentioned that "I knew from a European leader that there was a meeting attended by a small number of countries that night." Because Zhang Lu followed Premier Wen to Copenhagen, she knew who the 'leader' that Premier Wen was referring to, and she also knew the gender of this person.
But Premier Wen did not mention the leader's name at the press conference at the time, and she could not directly name the person when she translated, or even indicate gender. There is a difference between "he" and "she" in English, so when translating, Zhang Lu chooses to use passive sentences to express it.
After 2010, except for Sun Ning, who was the interpreter of the premier's press conference during the two sessions in 2013, The remaining 11 times were translated by Zhang Lu as the premier's press conference.
△ 2021 Prime Minister's Press Conference
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="4" > translates "national team"</h1>
A staff member of the Translation Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs introduced in an interview with the media that if you want to enter the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as a senior translator, you must go through the triple test of "strict screening, crazy practice, and careful preparation".
The initial examination is usually ranked by the civil service examination, or go to a professional college for a written examination. Only 10 to 15 with the top scores will it be possible to enter the Translation Division for the next phase of "observation training". "Observation training" is essentially "elimination training", and in the end less than 4% of people are hired.
In the 1980s, there were more than 50 translators in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, but there were only two or three people in English and French who could become translators for national leaders, and it took almost a decade to go from an ordinary translator to a senior translator of a national leader.
In addition to Zhang Lu, there are many names that everyone is very familiar with.
Zhang Jianmin, who has worked as an English translator for Jiang Zemin, Zhu Rongji, Hu Jintao, Wen Jiabao and other party and state leaders, has been the director of the Translation Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs since 2015 and the Chinese ambassador to the Czech Republic in 2018.
Xu Hui, who is also known as the "Three Musketeers" of Chinese foreign affairs translations along with Zhang Jianmin and Zhu Tong, is currently the director of the Translation Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. She once revealed to the outside world that the average age of the senior translation team of Chinese leaders is only 31 years old, of which female cadres account for 70% of the total number.
Zhou Yu, former counselor and director of the English Department of the Translation Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and deputy director general of the International Department of the People's Bank of China, have been responsible for the translation of President Xi Jinping's visit to the United States and other state affairs activities. At the 19th National Congress held in October 2017, Zhou Yu also gave a media interview at the "Party Representative Channel".
In addition, after the end of the China-US high-level strategic dialogue from March 18 to 19 this year, Zhang Jing, who served as an interpreter, was also concerned by many netizens.
Information | China Youth Daily, Global People, Jinan Times, Reference News, etc
Proofreading | Luo Jing
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