Chinese train driver manual –in English?

中国高铁偏爱英文操作手册？

Chinese train driver manual –in English?

吉密欧

China’s railway ministry boasts that the country’s rapidly multiplying, state-of-the-art high speed trains are now completely homegrown, having been created by armies of Chinese engineers. But, it now seems the engineers who have come up with all this authentic intellectual property are even smarter than the ministry would have us believe. After designing and building the new high-speed trains proliferating across the country they apparently decided to write the instruction manuals for train drivers in English, instead of their native Chinese.	中国铁道部夸口说，中国各地迅速涌现的、工艺一流的高铁列车，如今完全是国产的，由大批中国工程师设计建造。
This little fact was revealed in a glowing piece of propaganda published by the Chinese Communist Party that profiled “China’s Number 1 high speed train driver” – a man called Li Dongxiao. In the interview with state media, Li brags about making a bet with a German engineer who said there was no way Li could learn to drive the new “home-grown” Chinese high-speed trains in time for the first pre-Olympics trial of the Beijing to Tianjin express line in 2008. But Li said through tireless work and indomitable persistence he and his team were able to translate the English instruction manual into Chinese on their own and learnt to drive the new trains within just nine days. Li won the bet with the German engineer, whose involvement in the “home-grown” high speed train project is not explained. However, Li’s account does make one wonder why the Chinese engineers who came up with such advanced high-speed rail technology decided to write instruction manuals in perfect technical English for Chinese drivers, who only speak Chinese. Another possible explanation is that in the rush to adapt and “digest” foreign rail technology from companies like Siemens, Alstom, Bombardier and Kawasaki somebody forgot to translate the instruction manuals before they re-branded the trains “Chinese”. The railway ministry has said in a statement long ago that there is absolutely no doubt about the origins of its technology: “China Railways has already grasped the core technology for trains that operate at speeds over 200kmh…and China Railways has the autonomous intellectual property rights for such trains.” Now that the Chinese market is dominated by state-controlled domestic companies, the big international train producers are trying to catch a ride with them as the Chinese manufacturers start to peddle their technology overseas, with the help of cheap credit from Chinese banks. We’ll have to wait and see what language the training manual will be in for American, Australian, Brazilian, Thai and Saudi Arabian drivers when those countries start to buy “home-grown” Chinese trains.	然而，目前看来，创造出这项正版知识产权的工程师们的聪颖程度，甚至超出了铁道部试图让我们相信的水平。在设计并建造了眼下正覆盖全国各地的新型高铁列车之后，他们似乎决定用英语——而非中文——编写供列车司机使用的操作手册。
	这件小事是从中共发表的一篇热情讴歌“中国高铁一号司机”李东晓事迹的宣传材料中发现的。
	在接受国有媒体采访时，李东晓大谈自己和一位德国工程师打赌的事情。那位德国工程师说，李东晓绝对不可能按时学会驾驶新型“国产”高速列车，完成2008年奥运会前京津城际高速铁路的首次试运行。
	但李东晓表示，经过昼夜奋战和不懈努力，他和他的团队在短短9天内，硬是把英文的操作手册翻译成了中文，并且学会了驾驶这种新型列车。
	李东晓打赌赢了那位德国工程师，而至于“国产”高速列车项目为什么会有德国工程师参与，相关报道中没有进行解释。
	然而，李东晓的叙述让人不由生出这样的疑问：发明了如此先进的高速铁路技术的中国工程师，为什么要用纯技术英语编写操作手册，给只讲中文的中国司机看呢？
	另一个可能的解释是，由于急于吸收和“消化”西门子(Siemens)、阿尔斯通 (Alstom)、庞巴迪(Bombardier)和日本川崎重工(Kawasaki Heavy Industries)等外国公司的铁路技术，有些人忘了在将列车冠以“中国品牌”之前，应该事先翻译好操作手册。
	中国铁道部很早以前就在一份声明中表示，中国高铁技术的来源是毋庸置疑的。“中国铁路已经掌握了时速200公里及以上动车组核心技术……中国铁路拥有这类动车组的自主知识产权。”
	中国市场被本国国有控股公司主导，中国制造商在本国银行廉价信贷的协助下，正开始把技 术卖到海外，而大型跨国列车生产商则试图跟着它们搭个便车。当其它国家开始购买中国“国产”列车时，这些企业将为美国、澳大利亚、巴西、泰国和沙特等国的 列车司机提供什么语言的培训材料呢？我们将拭目以待。
	译者/何黎