flirtatious 復習
外務大臣の河野氏がツイッターに載せた中国外務省の女性とのツーショットが話題となっています。
Foreign Minister Taro Kono’s selfie with China spokeswoman draws mixed reactions
Foreign Minister Taro Kono’s Twitter selfie with Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying has created a buzz — but not everyone is smiling.
The photo was posted on Kono’s Twitter account on Jan. 28, when he held talks with his Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi, in Beijing. Hua, known for her tough looks, was smiling in the photo with Kono.
“With a famous Chinese lady!” Kono wrote in English.
Many Twitter users welcomed the post, seeing it as a sign of friendly Japan-China ties.
But Hiroyuki Konishi of the opposition Democratic Party, a member of the Upper House, criticized Kono on Twitter.
“She is just a spokesperson of the Chinese government. She is a lower-ranking person, not a partner of diplomatic negotiations,” Konishi said. “Taking a photo with such a person with a flirtatious grin is not diplomacy but tributary.”
In response, Kono expressed surprise that somebody might care about a person’s “rank” when taking photos. “That sounds exhausting,” Kono said in a posting.
Kono told a news conference Friday that he has no plans to give up his Twitter diplomacy.
取り上げる単語は"flirtatious"/fləːrtéɪʃəs/です。『ジーニアス英和辞典』で確認してみると、「いちゃいちゃしている、浮気な、軽薄な、うわついた」とあり、"flirtatious grin"で「うわついたような笑顔」と解釈できるかと思います。動詞"flirt"は以前にも"with"と共起して取り上げられており、「浮気をする、ふざける、いちゃいちゃする、なれなれしくする」という意味で使われます。LDOCEでは、 "behaving in a way that deliberately tries to attract sexual attention"と定義されています。
今回の投稿には賛否両論あり、日本と中国の友好の印であり、微笑ましいというコメントもあれば、尖閣諸島問題など含め、中国に関する外交問題にもっと危機感を持つべきだという意見もあります。(Akim)
