PARIS - France's government scrambled Monday to tamp down tensions with Beijing and calm anti-French sentiment that has swelled in China since pro-Tibet protesters disrupted the Olympic torch relay in Paris.



scramble  攀缘, 杂乱蔓延, 争夺, 拼凑, 匆忙
tamp  填塞, 夯实
sentiment  情操, 情感, 情绪, 观点, 多愁善感, 感情
swell  (使)膨胀, 增大
disrupt  使中断, 使分裂, 使瓦解, 使陷于混乱, 破坏

自从在巴黎发生支持西藏的抗议者破坏火炬的时间后中国产生了日益增长的反对法国的情绪,为了平稳这种反对法国的情绪,缓解与北京的紧张状况,法国政府在周一显得很慌张。

President Nicolas Sarkozy dispatched his top diplomatic adviser to China, where a French retail giant has become a boycott target, and he sent an emotional letter to a disabled Chinese athlete who struggled against a Paris protester trying to wrench the Olympic torch from her.

diplomatic  外交的, 老练的
retail  零售
giant  巨人, 大力士, 巨大的动物或植物, 伟人, 天才
boycott  联合抵制, 联合排斥某国货物或与某国绝交
emotional  情绪的, 情感的
wrench  猛扭, 使扭伤, 曲解, 抢, 折磨


Nicolas Sarkozy 总统派遣了他的最顶级的外交顾问到中国，在中国一个法国零售巨头已经成为抵制的目标，总统还给一位残疾中国运动员送了一封诚恳的信件，这名残疾运动员与一名试图从她手中抢走奥运火炬的巴黎抗议者发生了冲突。


In his letter to "Mademoiselle Jin Jing," Sarkozy noted the "bitterness" felt in China over the incident and insisted that several such attacks by protesters during the April 7 Paris torch stopover "do not reflect the feelings of my countrymen toward the Chinese people."

Mademoiselle  [法] (pl.mademoiselles, mesdemoiselles )小姐(相当于英语Miss , 单数略为Mlle, 复数略为Mlles)
bitterness  苦味, 辛酸, 苦难
incident  事件, 事变
stopover  中途停留

在他给“Jin Jing小姐”的信件中，Sarkozy提到了这次事件后，中国感受到的“痛苦”，他强调4月7日巴黎火炬过程中几个反对者的攻击“并不能反映我的国民对中国人民的感情。”

"You have shown remarkable courage that does you honor — and through you, honor to your country," he added. Jin, who uses a wheelchair, received the letter Monday in Shanghai from the visiting head of the French Senate.

remarkable  不平常的, 非凡的, 值得注意的, 显著的
do honor  特别尊敬地去对待人, 使人引以为荣
Senate  参议院, 上院

他还说“你展示了非凡的勇气让人尊敬--通过你，为你的国家感到光荣，”。星期一，坐在轮椅上的Jin从到访的法国参议院首脑手中接过了这封信。


But even as the national government tried to soften the tone, the Paris City Council took a step likely to anger China's leaders. It voted Monday to bestow the title of "honorary citizen" on the Dalai Lama, Tibet's exiled leader, as well as Hu Jia, a Chinese rights activist who was convicted on subversion charges earlier this month and sentenced to 3 1/2 years in prison.

even as  正巧在...的时候, 正如
city council  市议会
bestow  给予, 安放
honorary  荣誉的, 名誉的, （债务的）道义上的
activist  激进主义分子, 行动主义分子
convict  证明...有罪, 宣告...有罪
subversion  颠覆

但是正在国家政府试图缓和情绪的时候，巴黎市议会却做了一件很可能激怒中国领导的事情。星期一，巴黎市议会投票授予西藏的流亡领袖达赖喇嘛“荣誉市民”的称号，同样获此称号的还有一名中国人权激进分子Hu Jia，本月初他曾在审判中被判3年半有期徒刑入狱。

Chinese outrage over what their media portray as foreign interference in Tibet fanned protests across China over the weekend, some targeting stores of the French supermarket chain Carrefour. Messages on Chinese blogs called for a boycott of Carrefour.

outrage  暴行, 侮辱, 愤怒
portray  描绘
interference  冲突, 干涉

上周末，中国媒体所描述的对于西藏的外交干涉煽动了整个中国的抗议者，他们把矛头指向了法国超市连锁店家乐福的店铺。


Sarkozy previously threatened to boycott the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games this summer in Beijing and has conditioned his presence on China opening dialogue with the Dalai Lama. Recent polls indicate most French would prefer that Sarkozy stay home.


Sarkozy先前就担心今年夏天在北京举行的奥运会的开幕式会遭到抵制，作为出席北京奥运会的条件，他希望北京能与达赖喇嘛的公开对话。最近的民意调查显示大多数法国人希望Sarkozy呆在家里。

Sarkozy's decision to send Jean-David Levitte, his top diplomatic envoy, to Beijing this week was seen as an effort to limit the damage to France's reputation — and business interests — in China.

envoy  外交使节, 特使
reputation  名誉, 名声

Sarkozy派遣他的最高级外交使节Jean-David Levitte本周到北京去的决定看上去是为了努力降低对法国名誉的损坏--以及商业利益--在北京。


Valerie Niquet, Asia director at the French Institute of International Relations, said it didn't appear likely Sarkozy would soften his insistence that Beijing talk with the Dalai Lama.

法国国际关系协会的亚洲理事Valerie Niquet说看上去Sarkozy不会放弃他要求北京与达赖喇嘛交谈的主张。

But, she added, "For the moment, there will certainly be a greater prudence in the use of some terms."

prudence  审慎
term  学期, 期限, 期间, 条款, 条件, 术语

但是，他补充说，“目前，在使用某些语言的时候要更加谨慎。”


Niquet said she expected Levitte to express "France's incomprehension" that a "very violently anti-French" protest movement would be allowed to swell in China.

incomprehension  不了解, 不领悟

Niquet说她期待Levitte能够表达“法国不理解”“如此激烈的抵制法国”的运动能被中国允许传播。


Officials at the French presidential palace said Levitte's trip was one of a series of regular meetings between the two countries and was not directly tied to the Olympic Games.

presidential  总统的

法国总统府的官员说Levitte的旅程是两国一系列正常会议的一次，跟奥运会并没有直接关系。

Jin, a little-known fencing athlete, became famous in China after clinging to the torch in her wheelchair while a Tibet supporter tried to grab it from her. It was not clear from various videos whether any protester touched Jin before security agents intervened.

fencing  栅栏, 篱笆, 围墙, 剑术, 辩论, 买卖
cling to  依附, 依靠, 坚持
intervene  干涉, 干预, 插入, 介入, (指时间)介于其间

Jin，一个默默无闻的击剑运动员，自从她因为当一个西藏支持者试图从她手中抢走火炬的时候她坐在轮椅里保护火炬而变得出名了。从各种录象很难看出在安全人员干涉之前是否有抗议者接触到Jin。



In his letter to Jin, Sarkozy said he hoped "to erase this painful moment" and invited Jin to return to Paris as his "personal guest" in the coming weeks.

在给Jin的信件中，Sarkozy说他希望“抹掉这痛苦的时刻”并且邀请Jin在接下来的几个星期作为“私人的客人”再去巴黎。

Thousands of protesters slowed the torch relay to a crawl in the French capital. Many were expressing anger that China is hosting the Olympics at a time when Beijing has pursued a crackdown in Tibet.

crawl  爬行, 蠕动, 缓慢的行进
pursue  追赶, 追踪, 追击, 继续, 从事

在法国首都数千名的抗议者使得火炬传递变得缓慢。许多人都在表达对于中国在北京镇压西藏的时期举办奥运会的抗议。


Opposition politicians said Sarkozy was reacting too slowly — nearly two weeks after the relay in Paris.

反对派政治家说Sarkozy的反应太慢了--差不多是在巴黎火炬传递的两周之后。

"I have the impression that the president and the government are trying to cling to the branches after the calamitous episode when the flame came through Paris," said Communist Party lawmaker Andre Gerin.

calamitous  多灾难的, 不幸的
episode  一段情节, [音]插曲, 插话, 有趣的事件
lawmaker  立法者

共产党立法者Andre Gerin说“我感觉火炬在巴黎传递发生不幸的插曲之后，总统和政府发生了分歧，”


"It's a way of restoring France's image when it comes to the respect that we owe China," said Gerin, who is also vice president of the Friendship China group at the National Assembly.

restore  恢复, 使回复, 归还, 交还, 修复, 重建
owe  欠(债等), 受到...的思想, 感激, 把...归功于
vice president  副总统(或大学副校长等)
national assembly  国民大会

Gerin同时也是国民大会中国友好团体的副会长，他说“对中国表达我们的尊敬是一种恢复法国印象的方法。”