Curtis Melvin was interviewed for a China Newsweek article (“平民间谍”总动员). The article recounts his mapping of North Korea using Google Earth, and other topics relevant to the discussion. This part was somewhat peculiar, especially the editorial comment after the quotation:

“这个国家（朝鲜）的变革需要强大的国内支撑才可能实现，而这个进程不可能由外国强加，尤其不可能由美国来进行。”柯蒂斯·梅尔文非常清醒。

“This country [North Korea's] transformation requires strong internal support, and only then will it be possible to bring about, and this process cannot be imposed by foreign countries, especially it cannot be imposed by the United States.” Curtis Melvin is extremely clearheaded.

That didn’t seem right. So I asked Curtis, “What did you say?” He replied: “Hmmm. I think my original words were: Western governments have applied external pressure in the form of both carrots and sticks to encourage the North Korean government to reform its economic policies to little avail.”

Chinese media consulting: pre-translate any of your talking points. Mandarin is a subtle language, and due to retroflexive verbs and complicated parts of speech it is often very difficult to find a direct analogue to many of the primitive ideas expressed imperfectly in the vulgar tongue of English. It is therefore to your benefit to be direct. For example, if you want to say:

“The worldwide response to H1N1 illustrates the complexities and tensions between public health and globalization. Though on one hand we must preserve freedoms and human rights, pandemics could also present serious existential threats. Therefore, concerned institutions should move to set up a redundant system of detection and quarantine that respects individual rights while simultaneously preserving the need for collective protection.”

Instead, cut to the chase with:

“Awful dirty barbarian American imperialists infect the world not only with capitalist pig disease but also real pig disease!”

邪恶的美帝国主义不但用资本主义猪感染了世界，也用了真的猪流感！

Or maybe you want to address the importance of global trade flows. You’d be wrong to suggest that:

“Global trade imbalances represent a significant challenge to would-be reformers of the modern world economic policy. Net exporter nations, particularly those in Asia, have built up considerable capital reserves while pegging their exchange to support the development of their domestic economies; simultaneously subsidizing imports to wealthier countries. This system has led to a reversal of the normal debtor-creditor relationship in terms of relative levels of development.”

Instead just get to the point:

“Stupid miserly Americans should use their credit cards more!”

苯的美国人要多用信用卡！

Doing so will avoid messy multi-lingual ambiguities.