新闻媒体对各个国家的命名,反映了其对这些国家的明确态度和评价。《参考消息》在编译中有时会保留美国媒体原有的偏向化命名。比如，美国媒体将巴基斯坦和尼泊尔分别称为印度的arch-rival (头号对手)和traditional ally (传统盟友)。《参考消息》译文中这些国家的称呼不变。
原文：Indian fears of encirclement by China date back decades but have been heightened in recent years by Beijing's tighter embrace of — and investment in — other South Asian countries, from India's arch-rival Pakistan to traditional ally Nepal, from Sri Lanka to Bangladesh to Burma. China, in turn, has its own fear of encirclement, by what former president George W Bush referred to as “the arc of Democracies” 一 India, Japan, Australia and the United States. (Washington Post, Nov. 28,2011)译文：印度对于受中国包围的担忧可以追溯到几十年前'但近年来由于中国更加紧密地拥抱以及投资于其他南亚国家——印度的头号对手巴基斯坦到传统盟友尼泊尔，从斯里兰卡到孟加拉国到缅甸——而有所加剧。而另一方面，中国自己也担心被美国前总统小布什所说的“民主之弧”——印度、日本、澳大利亚和美国——所包围。
《参考消息》更为常见的做法是将原文的命名加以编译改动，比如，美国媒体在将印度、日本、澳大利亚和美国称为the arc of Democracies (民主之弧) 时，更是把日本列为the region's largest democracy (亚洲地区最大的民主国家)。《参考消息》将the region's largest democracy加以编译改动，译为“本地区最重要的民主国家”。
原文：Yet a near crisis last year over Japan’s detention of a Chinese fishing vessel in waters around the strategically important Senkaku islands revealed that Beijing was not afraid to take on the region’s largest democracy. (New York Times, Nov. 25, 2011)译文：日本去年在极具战略重要性的钓鱼岛附近水域扣押了一艘中国渔船，由此几乎引发危机，从而表明北京并不惮于冒犯本地区最重要的民主国家。
从原文“最大的民主国家”到译文“最重要的民主国家”的编译改动，《参考消息》将美国媒体原文对日本的标识从“面积最大的”改动为“战略地位最重要的”，反映了《参考消息》与美国媒体对日本的态度的差异。
《参考消息》对美国媒体最为典型的两个编译改动案例是“中国”和“南中国海”。首先看一下《参考消息》对美国媒体对中国的称呼的编译改动。美国媒体指代中国时,除了使用 Beijing 和 China 外，使用了其他称呼。
参考消息译法：disruptive regime (不译)，the dragon(不译) ，rising hegemony (崛起的霸权) ，the Middle Kingdom (中国)，economic giant (经济大国)，the region's powerhouse, China (中国)，An insecure or weak leadership (不译)—irredentist and expansionist power(不译)
美国媒体用以指称中国时所用的八个称呼构成的称呼链中,只有一个中性称呼“经济大国”,其他七个都是负面的。《参考消息》译文对原文原有称呼加以编译后,对中国的称呼大致上是正面的，一个负面称呼、四个正面称呼、三个称呼被删掉。
被删掉的三个称呼都是负面的:“麻烦制造者、龙、民族主义和扩张主义国家”，disruptive regimes (麻烦制造国)和 liberal nations (自由国家)形成鲜明对照。该例中,美国媒体将中国和朝鲜归入明显负面的“麻烦制造国”之列，将菲律宾、越南、日本等国列入明显正面的“自由国家”。singed by the dragon (被龙烧焦)中的dragon,很明显是负面的。龙在是西方世界神话中邪恶的化身,比如,英格兰的守护神圣乔治就是传说中。“民族主义和扩张主义国家”偏向化的负面标签是由細强加给中国的。
《参考消息》对美国媒体未做改动的是“崛起的霸权”以及“经济大国”。改动的称呼有三个:首先是将the Middle Kingdom (中央帝国)改为“中国” 其次将the region's powerhouse China(地区强权国家中国)改为“中国”，最后是将An insecure or weak leadership 改成“中国政府"。尽管外国人有时将中国说成中央帝国，但“中央帝国”有时是负面的，美国媒体将the Middle Kingdom 与 tributary State相对照，强调中国会邪恶地成为細,然后将东南亚国家变成他的附属国。
原文: The more that China gets away with intimidating or interfering with its neighbors, the more other disruptive regimes, such as North Korea's, will be emboldened to do the same. The result is to increase the slow destabilization of the region and to make it much harder for, liberal nations to agree to play by international rules. (Wall Street Journal, June 5, 2011)
原文: Singed by the dragon
(Wall Street Journal April 1, 2011)
原文: Appeasing a rising hegemony carries a risk that one’s national interest will disappear down its maw.
(Wall Street Journal, June 10, 2011)译文：向一个崛起的霸权让步会带来本国利益被吞噬的危险。
原文：Most ASEAN members realized that this smile could quickly turn nasty once China labeled the South China Sea as a “core interest.” Unless they negotiated as a group, the Middle Kingdom would pick them off one by one and reconstruct the tributary-state system of imperial times.
译文：大多数东盟成员认识到，在中国把南中国海列为一项“核心利益”后，这种微笑可能很快就会变得邪恶。除非它们联合起来进行谈判，否则中国将把它们逐个击破，并重建帝国时代的朝贡制度。
原文：This is the increasingly unconvincing diplomatic default setting of an economic giant that is unable to exercise proportionate strategic leverage in its oven region. (Wall Street Journal, June 6, 2011)
译文：这是一个未能在本地区施展相应战略影响力的经济大国无法令人信服的外交说辞。
原文：Philippine President Benigno Aquino III Tuesday pushed other Southeast Asian nations meeting here in Cambodia to adopt a common stand on negotiating the flash point issue of territorial rights to the resource-rich South China Sea before bringing the region’s powerhouse, China, into the discussions.
译文：菲律宾总统阿基诺3日呼吁东盟峰会其他与会东南亚国家在南中国海领土争议问题上采取统一立场，之后再与中国进行磋商。原文：An insecure or weak leadership may try to buttress its position by pushing its claims even further and harassing its neighbors.
译文：中国政府可能会进一步提出领土主张并骚扰邻国，借以巩固自身地位。原文：Vietnam perceives China as an irredentist and expansionist power. It recently has increased coordination, military and diplomatic, with nations that also see China as a threat, to hedge against its neighbor.
《参考消息》对美国媒体中中国南海称呼的改动也很典型。南海命名涉及到主权问题，具有明确的意识形态意义。比如菲律宾政府2012年9月12日宣布将包括中国南海部分水域在内的菲律宾群岛以西海域命名“西菲律宾海”之后，中国台湾和中国大陆次日都分别表示强烈反对和拒绝承认。中国外交部2012年9月13日在例行记者会上明确指出南海一直是国际社会公认的地名。
参考消息译法：Reed Bank, (礼乐滩) The semi-submerged islands and reefs of the South China Sea (especially the Spratly Islands and the Paracels) (南中国海，斯普拉特利群岛，即我南沙群岛，本报注), Pagasa, a Philippine-controlled island in the Spratlys (斯普拉特里群岛中由菲律宾控制的帕加萨岛，即我中业岛，本报注)。
参考消息中对美国媒体中南海称呼链进行的便已改动情况，比如美国媒体中的Reed Bank，《参考消息》编译为“礼乐滩”，标注中国领土。
原文：In the latest move, an evergy company controlled by Philex Mining Corp, of the Philippines plans to drill at least two wells and conduct more seismic survey starting next year in a natural-gas prospect in the Reed Bank， one of the most-disputed areas in the South China Sea near the Philippines.
……准备明年开始在靠近菲律宾的南中国海最有争议、可能储藏天然气的礼乐滩进行地震学方面的勘测。
原文：The semi-submerged islands and reefs of the South China Sea, especially the Spratly Islands and the Paracels, are believed to lie atop significant reserves of oil and natural gas.
译文：人们普遍认为，南中国海海底蕴藏着大量油气。
因为Spratly Islands and the Paracels分别是我南沙群岛和西沙群岛，《参考消息》直接用“南中国海”代称。
原文：Maybe they need energy more than they need their image,” said Abraham Mitra, the governor of Palawan. Along with Sabban, the governor this summer took a military plane to a Pagasa, a Philippine-controlled island in the Spratlys with a population of 50 and a small garrison, and waved their country’s flag. China accused them of trepassing on Chinese turf.
译文：菲律宾巴拉望省省长亚伯拉罕-米特拉说：“或许与形象相比，他们更需要能源。”这名省长今年夏天与萨那搭乘一架军用飞机前往斯普拉特利群岛(即我南沙群岛——本报注)并在岛上挥舞菲律宾国旗。
《参考消息》将美国媒体中Pagasa, a Philippine-controlled island in the Spratlys翻译成“斯普拉特利群岛中由菲律宾控制的帕加萨岛”，通过加注方式，注明即我南沙群岛，帕加萨岛即我中业岛。
《参考消息》还会将美国媒体原文中的褒贬义进行改变。如将encourage分别翻译为“鼓动”和“怂恿”。
原文：It stepped up bilateral trade, announced joint oil exploration and even fostered ties with the People’s Liberation Army, all encouraged by Beijing’s “smile diplomacy.”
译文：它加强与中国的双边贸易，宣布联合勘探石油，甚至加强与解放军的关系，所有这些都是由北京的“微笑外交”鼓动的。
原文：Beijing believes all this has been encouraged by Japan and the U.S. To contain China.
译文：北京认为，所有这些演习都是日本和美国怂恿的，目的是遏制中国。
美国新安全研究中心亚太安全计划高级主管说中国tacked back and forth(变来变去)，强调中国多变和犹豫不决，基本为负面意义。《参考消息》将其编译为“试探”，倾向于中性，弱化了对中国的负面描述。
原文：China has tacked back and forth, when it senses the region ganging up and balancing against China, it has become more accommodating but the accommodation has never had traction or enforcement.
译文;中国一直在不断试探……
徐英：外交学院英语系副教授
《中国翻译》2014年第3期
