A Report On Liaison Interpreting At The Second Coordination Meeting Of China-ASEAN Joint Maritime Search And Rescue Tabletop Exercise

This report elaborates on the author's practice as a liaison interpreter for the Second Coordination Meeting of China-ASEAN Joint Maritime Search and Rescue Tabletop Exercise,which was held in Zhudao Hotel,Guangzhou from July 27 to 29,2016.The attendees included officials from China Maritime Rescue Center,Department of Foreign Affairs,Guangzhou Maritime Rescue Center and related departments,and thirteen representatives from five ASEAN member states,namely Myanmar,Malaysia,Thailand,Laos and Cambodia.The author received the task from a public relations company,which was the co-organizer of the meeting.As required,the author was responsible for the interpreting of the daily conversation between the foreign representatives and the director of the company.Besides,she was also asked to be the assistant to the director.Although no formal meetings were involved in the task,the author encountered challenges because of cultural elements,the size of the meeting,the change of places,and the bad weather condition.With the experience,the author realized that being a qualified liaison interpreter calls not only for linguistic competence and flexible strategies,but also for a complete understanding of the intercultural communication awareness and competence.This report analyzes the author's performance from the perspective of intercultural communication in order to shed light on the implementation of liaison interpreting tasks in intercultural situations and on a better understanding of the interpreter's role as a cultural mediator.