Flight crew operating into zbaa encountered difficulty with ATC due to language issues in instructio...

Narrative:

Descending into zbaa; controller required a 2000 FPM rated of descent for traffic. Poor controller language skills made setting cleared altitudes very difficult. Copilot flying; autopilot on 2000 FPM descent and 280 speed selected. Controller required an increased descent rate of 3000 FPM to a new altitude we could not understand. While attempting to understand the confusing clearance and set the correct altitude; the overspeed warning sounded. Copilot disconnected autopilot; verified throttles idle and pulled up as I extended the speed brakes to recover to normal speed. Deviation was written up. Contributing factors; fatigue. No sleep on break due to turbulence. Distraction brought about by poor controller language skills and need to verify his clearance over and over. Unusually large sink rates demanded by controller to mitigate his poor traffic separation skills. Location: north of beijing.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: Flight crew operating into ZBAA encountered difficulty with ATC due to language issues in instructions for increased descent rate; resulting in distractions; which contributed to speed deviation.

Narrative: Descending into ZBAA; Controller required a 2000 FPM rated of descent for traffic. Poor controller language skills made setting cleared altitudes very difficult. Copilot flying; autopilot on 2000 FPM descent and 280 speed selected. Controller required an increased descent rate of 3000 FPM to a new altitude we could not understand. While attempting to understand the confusing clearance and set the correct altitude; the overspeed warning sounded. Copilot disconnected autopilot; verified throttles idle and pulled up as I extended the speed brakes to recover to normal speed. Deviation was written up. Contributing factors; fatigue. No sleep on break due to turbulence. Distraction brought about by poor controller language skills and need to verify his clearance over and over. Unusually large sink rates demanded by controller to mitigate his poor traffic separation skills. Location: North of Beijing.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of April 2012 and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.

Attributes
ACN	833695
Time
Date	200904
Local Time Of Day	0001-0600
Place
Locale Reference	ZBAA.ARTCC
State Reference	FO
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	B777-200
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Descent
Flight Plan	IFR
Person 1
Function	Captain Pilot Not Flying
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 240 Flight Crew Total 15000 Flight Crew Type 4000
Events
Anomaly	ATC Issue All Types Deviation - Speed All Types

Flight crew operating into zbaa encountered difficulty with ATC due to language issues in instructions for increased descent rate; resulting in distractions; which contributed to speed deviation.