Chinese Translation Rules (zh / 中文)

Distilled from the production translation prompts (zh.ts, zh-hant.ts, zh-hant-tw.ts, zh-hant-hk.ts) AND domain knowledge of Chinese localization politics. Follow these rules verbatim — they are model-agnostic and produce consistent native-quality output without political missteps.

⚠️ READ FIRST — Political Red Lines

These rules apply across ALL variants. Violating any of them can cause real customer escalation, public backlash, app store removal, or legal exposure (especially in HK post-2020). They override every other rule in this skill.

1. NEVER mix Simplified and Traditional characters in one output. Mixing 软件設定 or 軟體设置 is the single most damaging error possible — perceived as lazy/AI-slop and sometimes politically careless. Particularly watchful pairs: 设/設, 体/體, 国/國, 个/個, 这/這, 们/們, 时/時, 后/後, 发/發, 会/會, 学/學, 实/實, 应/應, 当/當, 还/還, 关/關, 开/開, 听/聽, 见/見, 业/業, 处/處, 务/務. Validate the entire output is 100% one script.
2. NEVER write 中國台灣 / 中国台湾 in Taiwan-targeted content. Use 台灣 alone.
3. NEVER write 祖國 / 祖国 (motherland) in TW or HK content unless the source explicitly contains it and the user has confirmed the framing.
4. NEVER use 內地 (inner land) in TW content — 內地 is the PRC-framed term implying Taiwan is peripheral. Use 中國大陸 or 大陸 for TW.
5. NEVER use 中華民國 (Republic of China) in CN content unless quoting historical source.
6. NEVER use bare $ for NTD or HKD — always NT$ or HK$ to disambiguate from USD/CNY.
7. NEVER mix 民國 calendar with 公元/西元 dates in the same document.
8. DEFAULT to "Country/Region" labels (國家/地區 Traditional, 国家/地区 Simplified) instead of "Country" — universal safe choice for dropdowns containing Taiwan/HK/Macau.
9. NEVER ship CCP, KMT, DPP, or leader names unsolicited; treat as red-flag terms requiring user confirmation.
10. In HK content (post-2020 NSL), AVOID restricted political phrases (光復香港, 時代革命, 2019 protest slogans) — these have legal implications under the National Security Law.