dgkf

joined 2 years ago
[–] dgkf@lemmy.ml 5 points 1 month ago (2 children)

The original poster's point is precisely that it isn't "ethnic" because it's originally in Chinese (民族) without a direct obvious translation. The linked translated text has a note on their chosen translation:

"民族- ethnic, ethnicity. Official translations are fond of translating this as nationality, which is confusing because it can confuse statehood/citizenship with ethnic identity. In most situations, we use forms of ethnic."

https://www.chinalawtranslate.com/en/ethnic-unity-and-progress-law/#Notes

For what it's worth, Firefox's translator (bergamot) also translates this as "National Unity". The definition on pleco seems to imply more of an ethnic nation, as in a nation of peoples as opposed to a nation state.

Translation is not a one-to-one mapping between words. The act of translating a text will always distort the meaning a bit. It's good to consider what may have been lost in the process of translation, especially when a contentious translation seems to align with a position that is geopolitically convenient.