What some see as anti-foreign sentiment is probably a linguistic misunderstanding
has devastated China’s pigs. The country’s herd has shrunk by 20%, or roughly 100m, over the past year. The epidemic is now threatening to claim another victim: the standing in China ofIts troubles stem from a quip about the inflationary impact of the porcine pandemic, which has pushed up consumer prices. “Does this matter? It matters if you are a Chinese pig.
Yet at least some of the outrage was genuine. Calling someone a pig in China is deeply offensive. In context, it is clear that Mr Donovan meant actual hogs, not people. But his meaning was lost in translation and distorted on social media. Had he referred to “pigs in China”, the controversy could have been averted. As Bloomberg, a news agency, put it, the result was a “costly language lesson”.
For those who know Mr Donovan, the injustice is obvious. He is a consummate professional, popular with colleagues—and an expert on inflation, having written a book on the topic in 2015. IfThis article appeared in the
Singapore Latest News, Singapore Headlines
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