While not writing in his native tongue is, in some respects, "a personal tragedy," writing in English has allowed his work to be translated into more than 30 languages. Which is to say that one of the greatest benefits of not writing in Chinese has been the acquisition of many, many readers from other language backgrounds.
不能用母語寫作雖是哈金「個人的悲劇」，但英語小說被翻譯成三十多種語言，在漢語世界之外找到了更多的讀者，這是最大收獲。