Hot Chinese Words in June 六月热门中文词汇

The biggest event in June 2008 is the cross-Straits talk between mainland China and Taiwan. To help you learn the hot Chinese words and expressions, ChineseHour Blog carefully seleced the most popular Chinese words for each month for your Chinese learning.
两岸会谈

liǎngàn huìtán, Cross-Straits Talks

– Chen Yunlin (R), chairman of Chinese mainland’s Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait (ARATS), and Chiang Pin-kun, chairman of the Taiwan-based Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF), shake hands after signing the agreements on cross-Strait weekend charted flights and mainland tourists’ traveling to Taiwan, in Beijing, China, June 13, 2008.

Hu Jintao, General Secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, met Taiwan’s chief negotiator Chiang Pin-kun here on Friday afternoon, saying the resumption of cross-Straits talks between ARATS and SEF and achievements of the talks marked a good beginning for the improvement and development of mainland-Taiwan relations in the new situation.
周末包机

zhōumò bāojī, weekend charted flights

– The Chinese mainland and Taiwan on Friday agreed to begin weekend chartered flights across the Taiwan Strait, over which chartered flights have been operated only at major festivals.
九二共识

Jiŭ-Èr Gòngshí, ‘92 Consensus

– The 1992 Consensus or Consensus of 1992 (traditional Chinese: 九二共識; simplified Chinese: 九二共识; pinyin: Jiŭ-Èr Gòngshí; literally “‘92 Consensus”).

The Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits, or ARATS, was established in Beijing in 1991, with Wang Daohan as the first chairman. The Straits Exchange Foundation, or SEF, was established in Taipei in 1990. Koo Chen-fu was elected the foundation’s chairman. The two organizations were established to deal with issues in the relationship across the Taiwan Straits.

In 1992, ARATS and the SEF held a formal discussion in Hong Kong that resulted in the “1992 Consensus.” It laid the foundation for subsequent talks between the groups. The consensus is that “both sides of the (Taiwan) Straits adhere to the ‘one-China’ principle” and orally explain the principle respectively.
油价

yóu jià, oil price

– Oil prices pulled back Friday after OPEC questioned whether crude can remain so high and the dollar gained against the euro. Meanwhile, U.S. filling station operators pushed average gas prices deeper into record territory. Prices at the pump are up nearly 7 cents since crossing the $4 threshold nationwide last weekend. On the New York Mercantile Exchange, benchmark light, sweet crude for July delivery fell $1.88 to settle at $134.86.
热钱 rèqián, hot money

游资yóuzī, refugee capital

With US$80 billion in the first quarter, hot money will keep flowing into China due to the country’s rosy economic outlook and its appreciating currency. In the language of crime, hot money refers to stolen currency that can easily be traced back to the crime, such as marked bills or new currency in search for the highest short term interest.
通货膨胀

tōnghuò péngzhàng, inflation

China’s inflation rate dipped to a still high 7.7% in May, thanks to easing food prices, though pressures for further price increases remain a threat and few saw reason to celebrate.
牛肉风波

niúròu fēngbō, beef rally

– South Korean protesters march after a rally against U.S. beef imports in downtown Seoul, South Korea, Friday, June 6, 2008. A contrite President Lee Myung-bak vowed Friday to take a “humble attitude,” while protesters used a long weekend to keep up pressure on his government over an unpopular U.S. beef import deal.
奥巴马

àobāmǎ, Barack Hussein Obama

– Senator Barack Obama claimed the Democratic presidential nomination on June 4, 2008, prevailing through an epic battle with Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton in a primary campaign that inspired millions of voters from every corner of America to demand change in Washington.
欧洲杯足球赛

ōuzhōu bēi zúqiú sài, EURO2008

– The 2008 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as Euro 2008, is the 13th edition of the UEFA European Football Championship.
人肉搜索

 rénròu sōusuǒ, human flesh search engine

人 rén, human

肉 ròu, flesh

搜索 sōusuǒ, search (engine)

In China, online vigilantes, or “netizens,” use the Internet as a “human flesh search engine” to find and punish people who publish material they consider inappropriate.

“Human Flesh Search Engine” is an imprecise translation of “ren’rou sou’suo,” which can be translated as “human-assisted search engine.” In China, though, the Internet is searched by people to hunt down other people and conduct muckraking campaigns.

A mob of Chinese ‘netizens’ tracked down and punished a 21-year old video blogger whose clip they deemed unpatriotic. Gao Qianhi, a 21-year old Chinese woman, recently posted an online video of herself complaining about the huge amount of TV coverage of the southwest China earthquakes: “You guys, if you’re hit by the rubble, just go suffer by yourself quietly.” Hours later, intimate details about Ms. Qianhi’s life were spread across the Internet.  With internet mobbing, the victim’s personal information is published to a broad audience, along with derogatory comments and death threats.