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【原文标题】A lesson from China in where Power Lies: China Believes its Economic Success Reflects its Superior Culture
【中文标题】谁更有权利？从中国学到的一个教训 — 中国相信其经济成就反应了它文化上的优越性
【登载媒体】英国每日电讯
【译者】Jackrain
【原文地址】http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ ... ere-power-lies.html
译文放弃版权。欢迎转载。
英国每日电讯，世界新闻网络版首页，2010年11月13日
G20集团发达国家和发展中国家的领袖们本周在汉城举行了一次很可能被称为“危机后”的第一次峰会。但它同时也给人第一次“西方后”峰会的印象。中国，这个世界上第二富有的国家，一个正在崛起的强权，认为这次金融危机实质上是一场“北大西洋危机”(注1) 。既然现在这场危机最危险的部分已经度过，那么北京政府看不出自己有任何“为别人的病吞下良药”的必要。峰会由此破裂了 — 甚至算不上友善地破裂 — 因为它连实质性地提一提导致这场危机的最根本原因，贸易上的不平衡，或者美国人对北京政府因为人为贬低其币值而获取的不公平的竞争优势的担忧，都没有过。相反，中国因为施展了灵活的身段获得了它想得到的东西：一个灌了水的，无法迫使它改变任何做法的声明。如果奥巴马总统希望这次G20能够在灾难般的中期选举之后为他世界领袖的形象增添光彩，这样的希望无疑失败了。
The leaders of the G20 group of rich and developing nations met in Seoul this week for what might reasonably be described as their first post-crisis summit. But it also had the feeling of the first post-Western summit. China, the world’s second richest(注2) nation and its rising power, believes that the financial crisis was actually a “North Atlantic crisis”. Now that the worst of it is over, Beijing sees little reason to swallow the medicine for someone else’s sickness. The summit therefore broke up – none too amicably – without really addressing the trade imbalances that were one of the root causes of the crisis, or America’s worry that Beijing is gaining an unfair advantage by artificially keeping its currency weak. Instead, China flexed its muscles and got what it wanted: a watered-down statement that will not force it to change course. If President Obama hoped that the G20 would burnish his image as a world statesman after the disaster of the midterm elections, those hopes were disappointed.
我们已经看到，世界经济的动力，正无可避免地从西方转移到东方。从大卫卡梅隆（英国首相，译者注）及其内阁成员本周早些时候与中国政府会晤时的小心谨慎中可以看出，他们已经体会到这一点。作为一个反对党党魁，英国首相抨击中国人权状况的力度还不如他在国会上反对执政党的力度。这样做是出自理智的判断还是神经短路(注3) ，目前还很难说。尽管中国对持不同政见者已经极端不人道，但是对中国这方面的说教越多，它就越不容易妥协。当然，从某种意义上讲，这对喀麦隆先生来说更方便了：如果对压迫的抗议会使问题变得更糟，那么英国将注意力集中到贸易上时良心上就完全没有负担了。
It is inescapable that we are witnessing a historic shift of economic power from West to East. David Cameron has certainly taken this on board, judging by the caution with which he and his Cabinet members treated China during their visit earlier this week. The Prime Minister approached the subject of human rights far more obliquely than he did as leader of the Opposition. Whether this was wise judgment or a failure of nerve is difficult to say. Although China treats dissidents with gross inhumanity, the more it is lectured on the subject, the more intransigent it becomes. In a sense, that is convenient for Mr Cameron: if protesting about repression makes the situation worse, then Britain can concentrate on trade with a fairly clear conscience.
毫无疑问，中国人离开汉城时的身形会更加趾高气扬。它在本区域内的野心根本没有被质疑：即使有，那么他们也会因为美国以“国家利益”为由坚持介入位于南中国海的领土争端而更加得寸进尺(注4) 。
Certainly, China is leaving Seoul with even more of a swagger in its step. Its regional ambitions are unchecked: if anything, they have been further provoked by America’s insistence that the resolution of territorial disputes in the South China Sea is a “national interest”.
当西方经济因为气急败坏而喷溅唾沫时，中国经济正在呼啸前行。实际上，华盛顿和北京仍然共同信奉的一个教条是，政治力量和经济力量，一直都是不可分割的。这就意味着，两国关系的恶化，甚至远甚于两国贸易表上的不平衡。中国相信，其经济上的成功反应了其文化上的优越性。正当西方国家因为道德沦丧，彼此分化而内省时 (注5)，其他亚洲国家，包括中国的传统对手，都正在逐渐认为，他们能够从北京当局的政府主导型资本主义制度中，而不是自由民主制度中，学习到更多的东西。因为如此，在G20上达成的限制“竞争性货币贬值”的协议变得毫无意义了 — 为什么要和一个以购买力平价衡量，很快就将比美国还要大的经济体对抗呢？
As Western economies splutter, China’s roars along. Indeed, one doctrine that Washington and Beijing hold in common is the indivisibility of economic and political power, meaning that the souring of relations between the two is about far more than the balance of payments. China believes that its economic success reflects its superior culture. With the West demoralised, divided and introspective, other Asian countries, including China’s traditional enemies, are coming to believe that they have more to learn from Beijing’s state-directed capitalism than from liberal democracy. Hence the meaningless agreement at the G20 to refrain from “competitive devaluation” – why antagonise a country whose economy will, in terms of purchasing power parity, soon be larger than that of the United States?
可以肯定的是，孔夫子的学说，从来没有教导过，一个被精确控制着的经济将永远繁荣下去。中国过于凶猛的投资和贬值型出口将会让这个国家止步不前：它最终必须要通过刺激国内需求实现内生性增长 (注6)。这其实是一个很危险的提议，因为在刺激内部需求增长的范围内，存在着大量的不稳定因素。“北大西洋危机”并没有产生大量的社会动荡 — 但是如果中国经济在有史以来最大规模的城市化过程中踌躇不前，那么它以前未曾挑明的，让民众以自由为代价换来增长的交易，将会大白天下(注7) 。对中国的领导者来说，拥有权力意味着为其民众提供持续的繁荣。西方社会在这个过程中的角色，应该是劝告中国政府和中国人民，最好的经济增长，不是通过独断的民族主义和大国沙文式的重商主义 (注8)，而是通过合作和自由贸易来实现的(注9) 。一旦成功(注10) ，这将是冷战结束后最伟大的外交成就 (注11)。
Of course, there is no Confucian law which dictates that a meticulously controlled economy will grow for ever. China’s ferocious investment and devalued exports will only take the country so far: it must also find a way to grow internally by stimulating domestic demand. That is a tricky proposition, for there are plenty of sources of instability on the horizon. The “North Atlantic crisis” did not produce significant unrest – but if the Chinese economy falters in the middle of the largest-scale process of urbanisation in history, then the unspoken deal which has seen its population trade freedom for growth could unravel. For China’s leaders, holding on to power means continuing to deliver prosperity to their population. The role of the West in this process must be to persuade the Chinese government, and the Chinese people, that growth will best be delivered not by assertive nationalism and chauvinist mercantilism, but by co-operation and liberalisation (in both senses of the word). If successful, this would be the greatest foreign-policy achievement since the end of the Cold War.
因为中国以超级大国形象出现而产生的冲击波已经开始反弹。随之而来的问题是，这将会是一个什么样的强权呢(注12) ？
The shock waves from China’s emergence as a great power are beginning to reverberate. The abiding question is what kind of power it will be.
×××××××××××
注1：对译者而言，这是最明显地挑拨中国和欧洲国家关系的典型例证。中国的新闻媒体上从未出现过这个词。至少译者从没有看见过。
注2：这个词使用了最高级，意在暗指中国已经是富有国家中的一员，而且是仅次于某大国，非同一般地富有。这个词和第一行里的rich一词相呼应，也有将中国和广大发展中国家对立起来的企图，因为第一行里的rich,就是和developing，发展中国家，并列的。
注3：神经短路一词，不知道是从东方翻译到西方，还是西方翻译到东方的。看上去，不同文化在竭尽讥讽嘲弄之事时，思路还是异曲同工的。
注4：If anything一句，译者已经黔驴技穷。欢迎智者指正。
注5：黔驴又计穷了。欢迎拍砖。
注6：每篇文章最后，总还是忍不住要给中国下药。哪怕是对症的药，也要让你吃不下去才心理平衡。
注7：又开始挑拨内部矛盾。毛主席他老人家说，帝国主义忘我之心不死，再次明证。
注8：两顶帽子来罗！
注9：美国航母顶到自家门口式的自由贸易？豁别个不懂所！
注10：要是不成功呢？不成功的时候会被强盗们落井下石到什么程度？无可奉告。
注11：能把帝国主义都忽悠成手下败将，才是最大的外交成就。别的成就，咱不稀罕。
注12：能让一切纸老虎们，在中国的成就和胜利面前迷惑就最好了。而中国人，是不会在暂时的胜利面前停步的。此文作者肯定没听过宜将剩勇追穷寇这话。 |
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狗仔卡
发表于 2010-11-17 02:19
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经济危机的本质是美国真正的统治阶级——大银行、大金融家及财团的贪欲已经大大超出了社会承受的能力！
