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【中文标题】 罗姆尼尖刻抨击中国的演讲能使其选举获胜吗？ 【原文标题】 Would Romney's Tough China Talk Survive Election? 【登载媒体】NPR 美国国家公共电台 （National Public Radio） 【来源地址】http://www.npr.org/2011/11/22/142606484/would-romney-s-tough-china-talk-survive-election 【译者】fukgm
【翻译方式】人工
【声明】欢迎转载，请务必注明译者和出处 bbs.m4.cn。
【原文库】http://bbs.m4.cn/thread-3241400-1-1.html 【译文】
Eugene Hoshiko/AP（美联社）
A worker stands in front of containers at the Yangshan deep-water port in 2005 in Shanghai. Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney has promised to take a hard line against China's trade policies. But he is not the first politician to find in China a convenient campaign foil.
图为2005年的上海洋山深水港，一名工人正站在集装箱前 共和党总统候选人米特·罗姆尼（Mitt Romney）号称当选后将对中国的贸易政策采取强硬措施，但他不是第一个摸中国这位小尼姑头的竞选人。
November 22, 2011
Within the Republican presidential field, no one has talked tougher about China than Mitt Romney. He has vowed to go after that country from his first day in office, threatening to slap tariffs on Chinese imports to make up for its artificially low currency. 纵观共和党内各路竞争上岗的总统候选人，在对华强硬态度这点上没有人能比罗姆尼叫的更响。他发誓在屁股坐上总统宝座的那一刻起便将带领美国迎头赶上中国，威胁对中国进口货物以提高关税的方式来补偿其人为压低的汇率对美国造成的损失。
"We can't just sit back and let China run all over us," Romney said. "People say, 'Well, you'll start a trade war.' There's one going on right now, folks. They're stealing our jobs. And we're going to stand up to China."
“不能什么都不做就听任中国从我们身上碾过去，”罗姆尼呼吁，“人们会说：‘喂，你这是要发动贸易战争啊。’伙计们，这场战争早开打了，中国人正在偷我们的工作，现在是我们美国人民站起来并正视他们的时候了。”
In the Republicans' last foreign policy debate 10 days ago, the former Massachusetts governor argued that the U.S. still has plenty of leverage over China that it could use to demand more favorable trading terms.
"We have right now something they need very badly, which is access to our market," he said. "And our friends around the world have that same power over China."
在十天前的那次共和党关于外交政策的最新辩论会议上，这位马塞诸塞州前州长认为美国还是有足够的对华影响力来要求更有利的贸易条款。“现在我们手头上还剩点中国人非常想要但却只能在美国市场上才看得到的货色，”罗姆尼说，“我们遍布天下的朋友们也拥有跟这一样的对华优势。”
For longtime observers of U.S.-China relations, Romney's campaign rhetoric has a familiar ring.
对于那些长期观察中美关系的人们来说，罗姆尼在竞选中的花言巧语似曾相识。
Back in the spring of 2008, then-presidential candidate Barack Obama said China's economy is dependent on its exports to the U.S.
回到2008年的那个春天，之后成为总统的候选人巴拉克·奥巴马也曾说过中国经济的成长依赖于对美出口贸易。
"What we need to do is to just be better bargainers and say, 'Look, here's the bottom line: You guys keep on manipulating your currency; we are going to start shutting off access to some of our markets,' " Obama the candidate said. “我们现在需要的就是（对中国）发出卖家的声音，‘瞧，底线在这儿：如果你们继续操纵你们的汇率，那我们也得开始着手关闭我们的市场。’” 候选人奥巴马当时就是这么说的。
But President Obama never made good on that threat. And Scott Paul, who keeps a wary eye on China as head of the Alliance for American Manufacturing, is skeptical that a President Romney would be any different.
但总统奥巴马却不复当年之勇。长期对中国保持警惕的全美制造业联盟负责人--死磕忒·饱骡（Scott Paul），质疑罗姆尼的对华态度问题上是否会重蹈奥巴马的覆辙。
"We've seen presidential candidates in the past talk about China in a very aggressive way, only to back off once they become president," he says. "So I think that there is still a gap between rhetoric and performance." “我们曾经看到那些总统候选人竞选时对着中国大放厥词，当选之后立马自食其言，”他说，“所以我认为对他们不但要听其言，而且要观其行。”
While U.S. officials continue to complain about China's undervalued currency — and the disadvantage it creates for American manufacturers — the Obama administration has stopped short of branding China a "currency manipulator," or cutting off its access to U.S. markets. 就在美国的官员们还在抱怨中国被压低的汇率及其对美国制造业所造成的损失时，奥巴马政府不再将中国列为“汇率操纵国”，更不要说对其关闭美国市场了。
Instead, the administration has pursued more targeted actions. In 2009, for example, it attached a 35 percent tariff to Chinese tires. Paul says that provided much-needed breathing room for domestic tire makers faced with a flood of imports. 作为交换，奥政府加强了对对华贸易个案层面上的关注。举个例子，2009年政府对从中国进口的领带增收了35%的关税。饱骡认为这个举措为那些在倾销巨潮的冲击中挣扎求生的国内领带企业开辟了一块避风塘。
"The tire case meant jobs for American workers," he says. "Since the tire decision, we have seen several companies hire back workers, invest in new factories. We've seen these tire makers gain market share."
“美国的工人们在这次对领带进口政策的调整中获益，他们得到了工作。”饱骡说，“当这个政策落实下来之后，我们看到多家企业正在回聘工人和扩大投资以建立新的工厂。国内的领带制作商们重新占据了（相应的）市场份额。”
But Romney opposed the administration's tariff measure. In his 2010 book, No Apology, Romney called it "protectionism."
但这次的总统候选人罗姆尼却对政府的行动持反对观点。在他2010年的大作《美国不道歉》（No apology）中他这么评价该项措施：“贸易保护主义”。
"President Obama's action to defend American tire companies from foreign competition may make good politics by repaying unions for their support of his campaign," Romney wrote, "but it is decidedly bad for the nation and our workers. Protectionism stifles productivity."
“奥巴马总统的政治措施以使美国领带业避开国外激烈竞争的代价来换取工会对他的支持，”罗姆尼指出，“但这项举措无论对我们国家还是工人来说都是决定性的错误，保护主义扼杀了生产力。”
Romney appears to draw a distinction in his book between actions to protect a specific industry, such as tires, and those that target economy wide threats — like an undervalued currency. 在罗姆尼的书中，他试图勾画及区分政府在对待特定企业（如保护领带业）及应对更高层面上的经济威胁（如被人为压低的人民币汇率）等问题上所表现出的不同态度。
Some observers say the currency issue is overblown. Nick Lardy of the Peterson Institute for International Economics says China's currency has been rising, albeit slowly, so the artificial advantage that Chinese exporters get is now the smallest it's been in several years.
有些观察家则认为汇率问题炒作得过头了。彼得森国际经济学院的尼克·拉笛（Nick Lardy）先生觉得中国的汇率是在上升，虽然缓慢，但却使中国出口商其人为优势在当前落到了最近几年最低点。
"The government would never admit that it was responding to pressure," says Lardy. "There is certainly a very, very strong case to be made that it is in China's own interest to allow their currency to appreciate." “政府不会承认这种现象是在回应之前的施压，”拉笛说，“肯定将会出台一个非常给力的政策来应对中国根据自身利益来操纵汇率的行为。”
Lardy says he'd like to see the government pursue more trade complaints against China. But he recognizes trade is just one element of a complex relationship. China is the world's second-biggest economy, with growing strategic influence. So Lardy says this year's confrontational campaign rhetoric may give way, just as it has in the past.
拉笛表示更希望看到政府能够持续性地对中国提出商业指控，但他意识到贸易只不过是复杂的中美关系中的一小部分。中国是当前世界第二大经济体，其战略影响力更是在不断扩大。故而拉笛认为今年竞选时期的这些信誓旦旦的保证到时候还得打水漂，就像之前的情况一样。
"Everybody recognizes that in campaigns, candidates say things that they think might gain votes," he says. "When they get into office and see the complexity and the challenges that they face, they find that they're a bit more constrained." “大家现在都开始意识到那些候选人在竞选时为了拉票会说些什么话，”他说，“一旦他们踏进白宫，面对江湖上各种错综复杂的关系和挑战时，劈头盖脸地压迫感将使得他们身不由己。”
Officials in China know that too. So like American voters, they're listening to what the presidential candidates have to say, and taking their words with a grain of salt. 和中国的官员们一样，美国选民们当然也明白这点：总统候选人说的话当然得听，但不再会是全盘接受。
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