<span style='font-size:14pt;line-height:100%'>China’s President Makes a Sartorial Statement at Naval Parade</span>
* April 24, 2009, 6:11 AM ET
source: <a href='http://blogs.wsj.com/chinajournal/2009/ ... al-parade/' target='_blank'>http://blogs.wsj.com/chinajournal/2009/ ... parade/</a>
In case China’s military bombast has been getting a bit hard to take this week, with the 60th birthday celebrations of China’s Navy and all, consider President Hu Jintao’s choice of attire at yesterday’s grand naval parade at the northeastern port of Qingdao.
Hu broke with tradition by wearing a western-style business suit and tie instead of the customary drab green Mao-style military suit.
Although Hu has not served in China’s military or hold a rank, his position as chairman of the powerful Central Military Commission makes him commander in chief of China’s armed forces, and he has been known in the past to wear a plain green military uniform (without badges or insignia) to highlight his role as supreme commander when attending military events, the South China Morning Post reports. Hu’s predecessor Jiang Zemin also wore the green uniform on occasion, while previous leaders Deng Xiaoping and Mao Zedong favored it to a much higher degree.
Chinese media picked up on the change, with many commenters supporting his look as helping to “de-politicize” and “de-militarize” the event. Hu’s sartorial statement also meshed with his reassurances over China’s rising military might. He told U.S. and other foreign naval commanders that China would never threaten other nations or seek to be the dominant power in the region, the AP reports.
However, there was at least one nod to naval protocol in Hu’s outfit: The Chinese president wore a pair of white gloves with his suit.
–Sky Canaves
_________________________________________
break with tradition/the past
to stop following old customs and do something in a completely different way
普遍认为中国海军阅兵亮相是建国后较少有的“亮肌肉”，然而随着美国在本次金融、经济事件中的式微没落，以及因此而在一些事件中的表现（如中国进入澳洲、汇源收购案、G20中国显山、朝鲜卫星发射），江湖老大并不愿意直面霸权衰败的迹象，一方面就是修改会计准则、在众多企业破产中挣扎，另一方面就是直面中国崛起时的狐狸心态。
本篇报导在本贴发布时并未出现在WSJ.COM的中文站点上，本贴也不加全文翻译，仅建议从用词上对该新闻媒体的用意做小小的揣摩：西方媒体希望看到的不是强大的中国，因此愿意从各细节寻找中国软弱的迹象。
报导标题中使用了sartorial statement这个词，字面上解释为“与裁缝、男装有关的表述”，实指胡锦涛主席阅兵时着装向外界传达的信息，当然也可作一语双关理解。
本篇报道中主要关注以下词汇
sartorial statement, bombast, broke with, nod to