Remarks of Dr. Robert A. Kapp 柯白, Former President of the United States-China Business Council (美中贸易全国委员会) at the Third Session of the World Conference on Sinology, Beijing, November 3, 2012, 11:50 a.m. – 12:10 p.m.

“REFLECTIONS AFTER FORTY YEARS’ WORK IN U.S.-CHINA  COMMUNICATION”

A SUMMARY OF BRIEF REMARKS.

I will first thank the organizers of the conference for including me, and express my pleasure at returning, even briefly, to the field of “China Studies” after a long absence; since leaving academic China studies in 1980, I have worked in the field of US-China relations当代美中关系桥梁工作, not in academic research.

I will then offer three brief anecdotes, which will provide the foundation for my following remarks.

-One anecdote raises the theme of “internal” vs. “external” discourse.

-The second anecdote opens the theme of “what you see depends on who you are.”

-The third anecdote raises the theme of effective communication vs. the requirements of proper social behavior.

I will then comment briefly on five points with respect to China’s communication with the world over the past forty years.

The first will discuss “the power, and the limitations, of words and language.”

The second will discuss “literal and non-literal translation” as means of cross-cultural communication.

The third will discuss “actions speak louder than words.”-                

The fourth will discuss “unity vs. pluralism in communicating with the world.”

The fifth will discuss “the changing context of China’s communication with the world,” as China has grown richer and more powerful in the past 35 years.

I will conclude by reflecting for a moment on “Living successfully with imperfection,” that is, adjusting to the reality that Sino-foreign communication, across the barriers of geography, culture, and language, will seldom be perfect.  My emphasis will be on the great progress made over the past 35 years, but I will note that a) newcomers must always “start from the beginning” and b) China’s continuing rapid development means that its communication with the world will never be static.

作者从事当代中美关系桥梁工作达30多年之久，首先作者将从自己的经历中选取3个事例说明自己发言的主题：“内部”和“外部”对话，“你是身份决定你所见到的”以及“有效的交流和恰当的社会行为的要求”。然后作者将从下面5个方面评价中国在过去的40年的对外交流：“词语和语言的力量和局限”，“跨文化交流中的直译和非直译”，“行动胜于雄辩”，“世界交流中的统一性和多元化”和因为中国在过去的35年中中国越来越繁荣富强，“在不段变化的大背景下中国的对外交流”。最后作者得出结论“接受不完美才可以顺利生存”，也就是说因为地理，文化和语言的障碍，中外交流不可能完美无缺，我们需要调整自己不断适应现实。作者的重点将放在中外交流35年来取得的进步上，同时作者也指出：1 刚到中国的人应该从头做起 2 中国持续不断发展意味着她与世界的交流将不会停止不变。