中國(guó)《環(huán)球時(shí)報(bào)》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(guó)今日啟動(dòng)一項(xiàng)堪稱史無(wú)前例的測(cè)試，檢驗(yàn)其政府擁有并審查的媒體能否贏得外國(guó)讀者信任。中國(guó)發(fā)行量最大的報(bào)紙之一《環(huán)球時(shí)報(bào)》(Global Times)將推出英文版。

　　《環(huán)球時(shí)報(bào)》稱，將于今日首發(fā)的英文版，將提供有別于《中國(guó)日?qǐng)?bào)》(China Daily)的全新體驗(yàn)。后者是中國(guó)另一份僅有的全國(guó)英文報(bào)紙。

　　《環(huán)球時(shí)報(bào)》總編輯胡錫進(jìn)在接受英國(guó)《金融時(shí)報(bào)》采訪時(shí)表示：“《中國(guó)日?qǐng)?bào)》代表政府說(shuō)話，而我們將報(bào)道人民的聲音。”

　　這聽(tīng)上去有些牽強(qiáng)，因?yàn)椤董h(huán)球時(shí)報(bào)》隸屬于中國(guó)共產(chǎn)黨機(jī)關(guān)報(bào)《人民日?qǐng)?bào)》(People's Daily)。

　　不過(guò)，胡錫進(jìn)堅(jiān)稱這并不重要，并指出《環(huán)球時(shí)報(bào)》中文版的報(bào)道風(fēng)格和商業(yè)成功。“對(duì)英文版來(lái)說(shuō)，使它在商業(yè)上可行也是頭等大事。”

　　《環(huán)球時(shí)報(bào)》中文版日銷售量超過(guò)100萬(wàn)份，主要聚焦國(guó)際新聞，甚少報(bào)道黨和政府領(lǐng)導(dǎo)人的日常露面。

　　英文版將集中報(bào)道中國(guó)新聞，而非國(guó)際新聞。“但我們的風(fēng)格和立場(chǎng)不會(huì)變，”胡錫進(jìn)表示。

　　他的成功方程式，部分在于吸引中國(guó)新的民族主義，為擁護(hù)軍力擴(kuò)張的聲浪和對(duì)西方的強(qiáng)硬批評(píng)提供大量版面。

　　新報(bào)清樣之一的頭條報(bào)道，就呼吁中國(guó)在處理朝鮮危機(jī)上不要聽(tīng)取美國(guó)意見(jiàn)。

　　胡錫進(jìn)表示：“的確，我們?cè)谠嚳�期間發(fā)現(xiàn)，人們眼中的這種民族主義是個(gè)問(wèn)題。也許我們必須調(diào)整表述方式。”

　　但更大的挑戰(zhàn)，將是使外國(guó)讀者相信中國(guó)方面對(duì)時(shí)事的報(bào)道。

　　盡管胡錫進(jìn)堅(jiān)稱推出英文版是一個(gè)商業(yè)項(xiàng)目，但他希望得到一部分政府的國(guó)際宣傳資金。“我們應(yīng)該得到資助，因?yàn)槲覀円彩峭ㄟ^(guò)促進(jìn)中國(guó)與世界的交流服務(wù)于公眾。”

　　其英文版初期將在中國(guó)五個(gè)城市印發(fā)，日發(fā)行10萬(wàn)份，一旦運(yùn)作上了軌道，計(jì)劃在美國(guó)發(fā)行。