Yesterday, I saw a news report introduced in Japanese by the Central News Agency (CNA) on Twitter and noticed that CNA used the term “Taiwan Shinkansen” (台湾新幹線) instead of the term “Taiwan High Speed Rail” (THSR) familiar to our citizens. Seeing this instantly felt confusing.
Is the reporter intentionally joking, or seriously insulting national dignity?
Would CNA refer to the Japanese Shinkansen as “Japan High Speed Rail” in its domestic news reports?
Apparently not!
The image below shows my search of the times CNA has mentioned “Japan High Speed Rail” over the past two years, essentially zero times.
A further search for “Taiwan Shinkansen” also yields absolutely no relevant news.
Japan is inherently a country highly receptive to loanwords, often widely incorporating (or copying) terms from other countries for its own use. When making foreign introductions, it generally respects the terminology used by the local country, because this involves not only railway language but also the corporate image of a listed transportation company.
For example, in a news report introducing Mainland China’s multiple unit trains and high-speed rail system, the Japanese text reads, “中国では動車と高速鉄道は「同じではない」のだという” (In China, the multiple unit train and the high-speed rail are “not the same”). Both the term “動車” (multiple unit train) and “高速鉄道” (high-speed rail) use the correct names.
Given that CNA does none of this in its own country, why, when switching to a different language for introduction, does it start flattering Japan to the extent of changing its own country’s proprietary terminology?
Since the CNA reporter understands how to respect the professional terminology of the Japanese Shinkansen, why does the reporter not respect the professional terminology of their own country?
It is clearly the Taiwan High Speed Rail (臺灣高鐵), yet they insist on calling it the Taiwan Shinkansen. Has the Taiwan High Speed Rail Corporation registered itself in Japan as “Taiwan Shinkansen Co.” (Taiwan Shinkansen?) or has it been entrusted to the operation and management of the Kyūshū Shinkansen?
I think neither is true, right?!
CNA should not forget that it is still the official news agency of the Republic of China 🇹🇼 --- though ever since the DPP administration replaced its chairman, I suppose this kind of thing is no surprise…