<p>The English translation got the sense quite right, although the translation is not literal.</p>
<p>In particular, the first phrase, “任期内打仗&quot; did not say <em>whose</em> term, and the translation added &quot;the president&quot;, probably inaccurately.</p>
<p>Having read the original article in Chinese, I do not see any explicit referral to the president (Xi). The overall tone is certainly related to president Xi (as the head of the PLA), but for that specific phrase, it probably refers to the term of officers of various ranks (or even just the soldiers), in the following sense: people easily get lazy; they tend to hope/pray/assume/dream that during their &quot;term&quot; (officers or soldiers) no war would happen (i.e., &quot;任期内_不_会打仗&quot;), which implies that if they did not get done what they are supposed to do, nobody will find out and they won't get punished (since often times military issues won't stand out until a war breaks out); the slogan &quot;任期内会打仗&quot; is to burst their (i.e., officers &amp; soldiers') bubbles (break their wishful thinking/unrealistic dreams).</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-11-01T05:05:19.223Z
Upvoted. The article is not the government calling on ordinary people, but military people speaking to fellow military people, saying "we (military people) should always be prepared".
Betty
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-11-01T07:52:10.500Z
"任期内会打仗", it probably hid the person who said that deliberately. It might be that the readers who are interested in this topic are supposed to know who.
dan
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-10-31T15:02:13.960Z
2021-10-31T22:20:25.903Z
2021-10-31T22:20:25.903Z
ALife
<p>Question: How accurate is SCMP's translation of “任期内打仗” “今晚准备打仗”不是一句口号，而是一种现实存在?</p>
<p>To closely reflect the meaning of the Chinese sentence - “‘A war within the president’s term’ or ‘war breaking out tonight’ are not just slogans, they are becoming a practical reality,” it can be said as:</p>
<ul>
<li>“‘A (US-China) war within Donald Trump's term’ or ‘preparedness of (a US-China) war breaking out tonight (at any time)’ is no longer a slogan but a realistic assessment,&quot;</li>
</ul>
<p>Given the hostility expressed by the Donald Trump administration's China policy, it is quite understandable that the Chinese press is dutifully delivering the warning from the military/government to its people and call for preparedness. The origin of the Chinese citations was not disclosed, but both the sentences made in Chinese and English are not well written in the sense of literacy.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-10-31T19:23:07.820Z
2021-10-31T19:23:07.820Z
r13
<blockquote>
<p>“<strong>‘A war within the president’s term’ or ‘war breaking out tonight’ are not just slogans, they are becoming a practical reality</strong>,” it said.<br />
<sub><a href="https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy-defence/article/2065799/china-steps-preparedness-possible-military-conflict-us" rel="nofollow noreferrer">China ‘steps up preparedness for possible military conflict with US’</a>, 27 January 2017.</sub></p>
</blockquote>
<p>The above is is a translation from a 2017 article.  SCMP doesn't link to the relevant article, but according to <a href="https://unscrambled.sg/2017/02/02/trumps-presidency-mean-war-with-china-now-likelier-what-does-that-mean-for-us/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">this website</a>, the quote comes from this article:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>当前，有人不断鼓噪“重返亚太”战略布局，有人在东海南海蠢蠢欲动，还有人加紧部署“萨德”反导系统，我国周边热点增多、燃点降低，海上方向安全威胁凸显，家门口生乱生战的可能性增大。<strong>“任期内打仗”“今晚准备打仗”不是一句口号，而是一种现实存在</strong>。面对国家安全的严峻形势，想想肩上的使命和责任，想想祖国和人民的如山重托，我们有什么理由懈怠松懈、淡忘主业？有什么理由不常备不懈、苦练不怠？！<br />
<sub><a href="http://www.81.cn/zggfs/2017-01/20/content_7463766.htm" rel="nofollow noreferrer">军人因打仗而生，一丝一毫的懈怠都不能有</a>, 20 January 2017 (the same date as <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inauguration_of_Donald_Trump" rel="nofollow noreferrer">former US President Donald Trump's inauguration</a>).</sub></p>
</blockquote>
<p>There's certain parts of this translation I'm skeptical about, such as the mention of &quot;the president&quot; and &quot;war breaking out&quot;, which doesn't seem to match the Chinese.  Also, I'm not familiar with the phrase 一种现实存在.</p>
<p><strong>Question</strong>: How accurate is SCMP's translation of “任期内打仗”“今晚准备打仗”不是一句口号，而是一种现实存在?</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-10-31T10:26:45.313Z
imo, the translation is quite accurate.
水巷孑蠻
<translation><meaning-in-context>
How accurate is SCMP's translation of “任期内打仗”“今晚准备打仗”不是一句口号，而是一种现实存在?
# How accurate is SCMP's translation of “任期内打仗”“今晚准备打仗”不是一句口号，而是一种现实存在?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2021-10-31)

> “**‘A war within the president’s term’ or ‘war breaking out tonight’ are not just slogans, they are becoming a practical reality**,” it said.  
> [China ‘steps up preparedness for possible military conflict with US’](https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy-defence/article/2065799/china-steps-preparedness-possible-military-conflict-us), 27 January 2017.

The above is is a translation from a 2017 article. SCMP doesn't link to the relevant article, but according to [this website](https://unscrambled.sg/2017/02/02/trumps-presidency-mean-war-with-china-now-likelier-what-does-that-mean-for-us/), the quote comes from this article:

> 当前，有人不断鼓噪“重返亚太”战略布局，有人在东海南海蠢蠢欲动，还有人加紧部署“萨德”反导系统，我国周边热点增多、燃点降低，海上方向安全威胁凸显，家门口生乱生战的可能性增大。**“任期内打仗”“今晚准备打仗”不是一句口号，而是一种现实存在**。面对国家安全的严峻形势，想想肩上的使命和责任，想想祖国和人民的如山重托，我们有什么理由懈怠松懈、淡忘主业？有什么理由不常备不懈、苦练不怠？！  
> [军人因打仗而生，一丝一毫的懈怠都不能有](http://www.81.cn/zggfs/2017-01/20/content_7463766.htm), 20 January 2017 (the same date as [former US President Donald Trump's inauguration](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inauguration_of_Donald_Trump)).

There's certain parts of this translation I'm skeptical about, such as the mention of "the president" and "war breaking out", which doesn't seem to match the Chinese. Also, I'm not familiar with the phrase 一种现实存在.

**Question**: How accurate is SCMP's translation of “任期内打仗”“今晚准备打仗”不是一句口号，而是一种现实存在?

**Tags:** translation, meaning-in-context
> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: imo, the translation is quite accurate.  

---

## 2 answers

### Answer by username_2 on 2021-10-31. Score: 2 | Accepted answer

The English translation got the sense quite right, although the translation is not literal.

In particular, the first phrase, “任期内打仗" did not say *whose* term, and the translation added "the president", probably inaccurately.

Having read the original article in Chinese, I do not see any explicit referral to the president (Xi). The overall tone is certainly related to president Xi (as the head of the PLA), but for that specific phrase, it probably refers to the term of officers of various ranks (or even just the soldiers), in the following sense: people easily get lazy; they tend to hope/pray/assume/dream that during their "term" (officers or soldiers) no war would happen (i.e., "任期内\_不\_会打仗"), which implies that if they did not get done what they are supposed to do, nobody will find out and they won't get punished (since often times military issues won't stand out until a war breaks out); the slogan "任期内会打仗" is to burst their (i.e., officers & soldiers') bubbles (break their wishful thinking/unrealistic dreams).

> **Comments:**
> **username_3**: Upvoted. The article is not the government calling on ordinary people, but military people speaking to fellow military people, saying "we (military people) should always be prepared".  
> **username_4**: "任期内会打仗", it probably hid the person who said that deliberately. It might be that the readers who are interested in this topic are supposed to know who.  

---

### Answer by username_5 on 2021-10-31. Score: 1

Question: How accurate is SCMP's translation of “任期内打仗” “今晚准备打仗”不是一句口号，而是一种现实存在?

To closely reflect the meaning of the Chinese sentence - “‘A war within the president’s term’ or ‘war breaking out tonight’ are not just slogans, they are becoming a practical reality,” it can be said as:

* “‘A (US-China) war within Donald Trump's term’ or ‘preparedness of (a US-China) war breaking out tonight (at any time)’ is no longer a slogan but a realistic assessment,"

Given the hostility expressed by the Donald Trump administration's China policy, it is quite understandable that the Chinese press is dutifully delivering the warning from the military/government to its people and call for preparedness. The origin of the Chinese citations was not disclosed, but both the sentences made in Chinese and English are not well written in the sense of literacy.


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