Actually there are two instances of という in this sentence (regarding the recent nsa scandal)
そのスノーデンは、「ＮＳＡは中国に対するハッキングをやっていた」という[暴露]{ばくろ}を行なってアメリカの中国に対する「人権外交」にダメージを与えたり、Ｇ８会議が北アイルランドで始まるというタイミングで、...
I understand the basic use of という and it meaning "called" i.e.
アダムという男性 the man called Adam.
But what about in these two cases.
I will attempt to answer this, as no one else has, Below is my attempt at a translation (my apologies, all, for any mistakes.) I believe the the first という can be interpreted as "of" (as in "disclosure of") and the second という can be interpreted as "of which" (as in " the timing of which.") I surmise that if you think of how の can connect ideas as a particle, then maybe という is serving that function, but in a vaguer, more conjectural sense. I think if you translate という in a literal way, it becomes something like "to say/called thusly/meaning/in other words/so to say." One could try and convey this meaning in an English translation but I think it would become overly polite and unwieldy.
という can also have the meaning of the "quotative particle," more casually seen as って, and understanding this may serve to explain some of its meaning and usage.
そのスノーデンは、「ＮＳＡは中国に対するハッキングをやっていた」という 暴露 を行なってアメリカの中国に対する「人権外交」にダメージを与えたり、Ｇ８会議が北アイルランドで始まるというタイミングで、...
Snowden, whose disclosure of "NSA hacking towards China" resulted in damage to America's "Human rights diplomacy" towards China, at the start of the G8 meeting in North Ireland, the timing of which...
Perhaps one could replace という with の as follows:
そのスノーデンは、「ＮＳＡは中国に対するハッキングをやっていた」の 暴露
With という, there is the implication of " the 'disclosure' of Snowden... "
While with の it would just be "the disclosure of Snowden..."
Please note that in informal English, the equivalent of the Japanese って is often the use of the physical gesture of "air quotes." という, in contrast, can be more directly translated, but if translated literally it can often weigh down an otherwise fluid English sentence, in ways that does not happen in Japanese.
References:
http://tangorin.com/general/というのは
In addition to yadokari's great answer and for lack of space in his comments I'll write up what ive found here.
Amongst other uses of という one is often used to attach a modifier to a noun clause.
From the given example 「ＮＳＡは中国に対するハッキングをやっていた」is the modifer and 暴露 を行なって the noun clause.
It's often used especially when the modifer is either
Heresay i.e. information received from other people that cannot be adequately substantiated or a rumor.
Relating to
「ＮＳＡは中国に対するハッキングをやっていた」という 暴露
It would indeed make sence to use という here to connect the noun clause 暴露をおかなう with its preceeding modifier. After all the reporter can only allege that the NSA is hacking China (at the time anyway, its been verified as true i now believe) so its heresay.
This I believe is what people mean by air-quoting.
Now onto the last sentence in the example
Ｇ８会議が北アイルランドで始まるというタイミングで
I believe this is just because the writer felt the modifier Ｇ８会議が北アイルランドで始まる was long and felt the need to join it to タイミング with という。Just to help it read better.
This is why という isn't always translatable into English - its merely serving to make things flow. Just as Yadokari said, if you were to translate it, the most suitable direct translations like "to say/called thusly/meaning/in other words/so to say." would result in stuffy english.
As for using という to connect a question modifier with a noun clause I'll demonstrate with this example
どうやって経済を強化するかという話がありました。
there was a conversation of how to strengthen the economy.
どうやって経済を強化するか modifier (question form)
話がありました。noun clause.
Thanks again to yakokari's answer.
