Functions of Pragmatic Vagueness in Diplomatic Language

唐乙平

【Abstract】It is favorable for diplomats to employ pragmatic vagueness during the process of diplomacy，because it can help diplomats to create harmonious atmosphere，achieve politeness，shed off responsibilities ，protect interests，，and keep flexible and tactful.

【Key Words】pragmatic vagueness； diplomatic language； functions

Diplomatic language is a formal，cautious，polite，and tactful language，and pragmatic vagueness make much contribution to this kind of language.The study of the functions of vague language in diplomacy will be of theoretical and practical significance.In this article，the author will manifest some functions of pragmatic vagueness to see how it helps diplomats，politician or spokesperson withstand all situations.

1.Creating Harmonious Atmosphere and Achieving Politeness

During the interaction between nations，diplomats and government officials often try to maintain good relationship and improve cooperation so as to attain more support for a certain issue.More often than not，what they discuss and concern is closely related to their own interests，in order to achieve a good result and not to break the atmosphere，diplomats tend to make the atmosphere as harmonious as possible.And once the ancient Indian saga Manu once pointed out that a good diplomat might “Speak the pleasant，but not the untruth； speak the truth，but not the unpleasant”，which somewhat implies the functional vagueness in obeying the maxim of quality and the principle of politeness.

It doesnt mean that countries，United States and China，will always agree.I frankly think，as we have said today，there are many points of mutual agreement.But where we dont agree we can partially manage those disagreements just as the United States does with other countries that are good partners and friends.

Diplomats will often meet the situation that it is difficult for them to smoothly precede a negotiation or a conversation because of disagreement，at this time，there must be some measures to deal with，and the art of pragmatic vague words is a good strategic.In the above example those boldfaced words are vague expressions，which help the diplomats ease the tension between the US and China and create a harmonious atmosphere for the later negotiation when disagreements arise during their negotiation.

2.Shedding off Responsibility

Another important function of pragmatic vagueness in diplomatic language is avoiding or shifting responsibility on the part of the diplomats or politicians.See the following instances：…However，China and the US are at different stages of development and under different national conditions.The US is the largest developed country while China is the most populous developing country.When dealing with climate change，we follow the principle of“common but differentiated responsibilities”，enhance mutual understanding and broaden consensus through consultation and dialogue，and encourage other countries to join in the international campaign against climate change…（Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Hong Lei's Regular Press Conference on October 8，2014）

the negotiations on cutting carbon dioxide emissions has lasted for a long time between the US and China，because the US doesnt want to perform its own responsibility，instead，it requests China should take more responsibility for Chinese industrial development is fast and emit too much carbon dioxide.With this background，the spokesperson knows what the meaning behind the question，so he shows Chinese stance that China wouldnt take unequal and unnecessary responsibility.“at different stages of development and under different national conditions” ，this sentence of pragmatic vagueness has the function to mean that the US and China should take differentiated responsibilities，which can shed off needless responsibilities.

3.Protecting Interests

As is known to all，politicians and diplomats represent their own countries； they are the image of their country，their statements or remarks about the sensitive issues may undermine the country image if they are not careful with their words.And at this time，vagueness can serve as a good safeguard to reduce the danger of stirring up unnecessary troubles or to avoid breaking diplomatic relationship with other countries if they can adroitly employ the skill of using pragmatic vagueness in their diplomatic language.

Q： How much money does the Bank of China have？

A： As far as Im concerned，it should be eighteen yuan and eight jiao and eight cents.Because our local currency at present has these kinds note： ten yuan，five yuan，two yuan，one yuan，five jiao，two jiao，one jiao，five cents，two cents，one cent.And they are in total eighteen yuan and eight jiao and eight cents.

This is a classic diplomatic answer made by Zhou Enlai.His wise respond won warm applause from all the people in presence，and even the journalist who asked the question was amazed at his quick and bright respond.In order to avoid answering the question directly and to protect the secret of China，Zhou Enlai purposefully misinterpreted what the journalist asked by using the exact number to convey a vague meaning with the help of shield “as far as Im concerned” and the module verb of hedge “should”.Though Zhou Enlai has clearly answered this question，however，the journalist couldnt get what he wanted，and he couldnt condemn China at all，because it was just a personal saying，which couldnt be taken seriously.

4.Keeping Flexible and Tactful

When facing sensitive issues，politicians must be flexible and tactful to handle those maliciousness questions or unreasonable request.In order not to hurt the interest and image of country and not to give detailed and exact information to other diplomats or politicians，the employment of vague language makes it possible for politicians to be flexible and tactful.

“…… Please convey to the Chinese people and to the family of the pilot Wang Wei that we are very sorry for their loss… We are very sorry the entering of Chinas airspace and the landing did not have verbal clearance，but very pleased the crew landed safely……”

In this example，the wording of “very sorry” is very abstract and it is very vague.The so-called “very sorry” can be understood as sadness and sympathy as well as slight apology.Besides，form the view of style，“sorry” is often used in oral English，which means sadness and regret for minor things in daily life.The use of “sorry” in formal apology letter is not serious and solemn.In order to strengthen their tone，the US tactfully added a degree adverb “very”，which can help them express their vague apology and save their faces.In this way，the pragmatic vagueness，“very sorry”，made the two parties acceptable and made the event go to better direction and successfully handled the dilemma during the difficult negotiation.

Conclusion

Diplomats will meet different kinds of situations and difficulties，if they know the functions of pragmatic vagueness in diplomatic language，then they can have a better strategy and method to deal with those thorny problems，in this way，not only diplomats can avoid being stuck in embarrassment but also establish a good image and protect interests for their respective nation.

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