posted by grum.ben on July 24, 2015 | 2 comments
I've been working on reading BBC news in Mandarin and Xinhua news. I constantly see 称 in sentences like the one below. Can someone help me understand what this means & when it is used?

称伊拉克为自身而战才是唯一可持续的解决途径。

And, while I'm posting, I just wanted to say that I'm new to this site & am enjoying it very much. Thanks for all the work and help that is involved in making this available!
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243756984 on August 2, 2015 | reply
称 here means claim,usually it's used in the news or writing
sercharles19920620 on April 6, 2016 | reply
As the other answer pointed out, 称 means claim or declare here on its own. A breakdown of the sentence:

(称 claiming that)(伊拉克为自身而战 Iraq is fighting for herself)才是唯一(is the only)可持续的解决途径(sustainable solution)。

BTW I feel this sentence to be awkward a little.