中國《環球時報》今日將推出英文版

中國《環球時報》今日將推出英文版

　　China today begins arguably the first test case of whether the country's state-owned and state-censored media can win the trust of a foreign readership as Global Times, one of the country's best-selling newspapers, launches an English-language version.

　　Global Times claims that its English edition, to be published today for the first time, will offer a whole new experience compared with China Daily, the country's only other national English-language paper.

　　“China Daily speaks for the government. We will be the voice of the people,” said Hu Xijin, Global Times editor-in-chief, in an interview with the Financial Times.

　　That is a stretch, for Global Times is an affiliate of the People's Daily, the Communist party's mouthpiece.

　　Mr Hu insists that will not matter, however, and points to the editorial profile and commercial success of his Chinese-language paper. “For the English edition, making it commercially viable is also the first priority.”

　　The Chinese edition of Global Times sells more than 1m copies a day by focusing on international news and keeping its coverage of the daily appearances of state and party leaders to a minimum.

　　The English version of Global Times will focus on China rather than international news. “But our style and our stance will not change,” says Mr Hu.

　　Part of his formula for success has been to appeal to China's new nationalism, giving big play to advocates of military expansion and to hardline criticism of the west.

　　One of the new paper's dummies features a front page story with a call for China not to listen to the US in the handling of the North Korea crisis.

　　“Indeed we found the perceived nationalism to be a problem during our test run,” said Mr Hu. “Maybe we have to adjust the way we express ourselves.”

　　The bigger challenge, however, will be to convince foreign readers of China's side of the story.

　　Despite his insistence that this is a commercial project, Mr Hu hopes to receive some of the government funds for the international propaganda plan. “We deserve those because we also serve the public by helping China communicate with the world.”

　　The paper will start with a 100,000 circulation printed in five cities in China. Once the new venture is on track, distribution in the US is planned.

　　中國今日啟動一項堪稱史無前例的測試，檢驗其政府擁有并審查的媒體能否贏得外國讀者信任。中國發行量最大的報紙之一《環球時報》(Global Times)將推出英文版。

　　《環球時報》稱，將于今日首發的英文版，將提供有別于《中國日報》(China Daily)的全新體驗。后者是中國另一份僅有的全國英文報紙。

　　《環球時報》總編輯胡錫進在接受英國《金融時報》采訪時表示：“《中國日報》代表政府說話，而我們將報道人民的聲音。”

　　這聽上去有些牽強，因為《環球時報》隸屬于中國共產黨機關報《人民日報》(People's Daily)。

　　不過，胡錫進堅稱這并不重要，并指出《環球時報》中文版的報道風格和商業成功。“對英文版來說，使它在商業上可行也是頭等大事。”

　　《環球時報》中文版日銷售量超過100萬份，主要聚焦國際新聞，甚少報道黨和政府領導人的日常露面。

　　英文版將集中報道中國新聞，而非國際新聞。“但我們的風格和立場不會變，”胡錫進表示。

　　他的成功方程式，部分在于吸引中國新的民族主義，為擁護軍力擴張的聲浪和對西方的強硬批評提供大量版面。

　　新報清樣之一的頭條報道，就呼吁中國在處理朝鮮危機上不要聽取美國意見。

　　胡錫進表示：“的確，我們在試刊期間發現，人們眼中的這種民族主義是個問題。也許我們必須調整表述方式。”

　　但更大的挑戰，將是使外國讀者相信中國方面對時事的報道。

　　盡管胡錫進堅稱推出英文版是一個商業項目，但他希望得到一部分政府的國際宣傳資金。“我們應該得到資助，因為我們也是通過促進中國與世界的交流服務于公眾。”

　　其英文版初期將在中國五個城市印發，日發行10萬份，一旦運作上了軌道，計劃在美國發行。