『中文标题』别让他们吃切糕:为何民族紧张在中国街头爆发
『原文标题』Don't Let Them Eat Cake: How Ethnic Tensions in China Explode on the Streets
『登载媒体』TIME(记者Austin Ramzy)
『原文链接』http://world.time.com/2012/12/05/dont-let-them-eat-cake-how-ethnic-tensions-in-china-explode-on-the-streets
『译者』第一次用手机发布译文的高贵慈禧皇太后
『声明』严重不满意某些网站盗用翻译的新闻稿却绝口不提转自四月网及高贵慈禧皇太后
『译文』
2009年9月5日, 维族人望着中国新疆省的古城喀什葛尔.
它是中国街头一种常见的小吃,是一种由核桃,果脯,面粉和玉米麦芽糖制成的浓密的糖果,大家都叫它切糕---直译过来就是”切开蛋糕.” 它被制造成又大又厚密的样子,而且维族人是在摩托车后座上售卖,维族人是从中国边陲新疆地区来的中亚少数族群. 切糕是挺美味的,但如果你买过一次就可能不会再想买.那是因为切糕通常以敲诈的手段售卖. 单价常常是令人可以接受的,但小贩可能不会给你所想的量.相反,他可能会切下厚厚的一块, 最后的价格会远远超过你所预期的那样. 一旦切下就非买不可,并且,他可能会拿着一把长长的刀,同他争论显然是不理智的.
星期一,一篇关于湖南省的切糕纠纷的报道,马上就成了中国微博上最热门的话题, 揭示了关于中国少数民族政策的无奈.岳阳警方称,维族摊贩们和一位顾客的激烈争吵结果演变成一场大规模的殴斗,造成两人受伤,价值25000美元的切糕被损坏,外加6500美元的医药费和摊贩们的摩托车的修理费.一个本地的顾客被逮捕,并且16名维族人被遣返回新疆.
无罪释放(摊贩)的消息触发了一波汉族人的不满.许多人认为那些摊贩是所有切糕骗术中最成功的,所获得的切糕损坏赔偿金足够买一辆汽车.一张被不断转发的图片展示了一个像钻石一样的切糕戒指.最尖锐的批评涉及到一个政策,由于维族人是少数民族,所以处罚很轻.一个汉族人在微博上写道:”维族人在我生长的地方抢劫,打人和欺负人,每次都惊恐万分的走过人行天桥.我不懂为什么政府的政策允许他们欺负汉族人?”
中国承认的个少数民族有55个,占该国人口数量8%.他们大部分集中于中国的北部,西部和南部边境.中国遵循一种基于社会主义模式的少数民族自治体系,这意味着他们在自己家乡---新疆,西藏,和内蒙古有名义上的行政权,但是在实践中,他们很少能真正的自治.少数民族同时也不适用独生子女政策,并且他们也优先被大学录取.本来目的是在于打破少数民族和汉族之间的社会和经济障碍.但实际上,少数民族比如维族仍旧面对着严峻的经济歧视待遇,而且,对维族的优待也只是加剧了汉族的不满情绪.
有时候维族与汉族之间的仇恨因为一些小事情而激化.2009年的民族骚乱波及新疆首府乌鲁木齐,当时年轻人们暴怒的袭击汉族人,他们之中大部分是失业的维族人.一天过后,汉族人组成治安团队予以反击,并觉得政府不会保护他们.据官方媒体报道,总计约有200人死亡.
伊力哈木·土赫提是民族大学的维族经济学教授,他因为对中国的不公平现象直言不讳而时常遭到警方的骚扰. 他表示维族的犯罪问题,如切糕纷争,将进一步加剧维族与汉族的紧张关系.他周三在微博上写道:”维吾尔人的犯罪问题其实并不如有些媒体和人士宣传的那样可怕,这不仅损害了维族人的利益,也造成了汉人社会对维族人整理的排斥和偏见.”
周三,岳阳警方公布了他们的案件报告,声称被损毁的切糕总量超过6000磅,设预估价低于5美元一磅.这是一个合适的价钱,但是许多人仍将会三思而后买.
原文
Uighur men are seen in the old town Kashgar district, Xinjiang province, China, Sept. 5, 2009.
On the streets of China it is a common snack, a dense nougat made from nuts, candied fruits, flour and corn syrup known informally as qiegao—literally “cut cake.” It is shaped into large, thick sheets and sold on the back of motorized tricycles by Uighurs, a central Asian ethnic group from China's far northwestern Xinjiang region. The treat is delicious, but buy it once and you'll probably never want to again.
That's because the qiegao is often sold by extortionate means. The unit price is always reasonable, but the vendor might not give you the amount you request. Instead he'll cut off a chunk that ends up costing vastly more than you expected. Once the slice is cut the peddler won't take it back and, as he's probably holding a large knife, it is unwise to argue.
On Monday a report about an altercation over the cake in central Hunan province quickly became one of the most discussed items on Chinese microblogs, revealing a current of frustration about ethnic policy in China. Police in the city of Yueyang reported that a dispute between Uighur vendors and a customer ended in a mass brawl with two people injured and the destruction of about $25,000 worth of qiegao, plus $6,500 in hospital bills and damage to the peddlers' vehicles. A local customer was arrested and 16 Uighurs sent back to Xinjiang.
The since-deleted message touched off a wave of resentment from Han Chinese. Many felt that the peddlers pulled off the mother of all qiegao scams, receiving enough in damaged cake compensation to buy a car. One widely re-posted image showed a piece of the nut cake set in a ring like a diamond. The sharpest criticism touched on the idea that the Uighurs, as members of an ethnic minority, got off easy. “Uighurs where I live rob, beat and insult people,” wrote one person from central Henan province on Sina Weibo. “You can't cross a pedestrian bridge without trembling in fear. I don't understand why the government's policies allow them to bully Han people.”
China recognizes 55 ethnic minorities who make up just 8% of the country's population. They are largely concentrated in China's northern, western and southern border regions. China follows a system of ethnic autonomy based on the Soviet model, meaning they are given nominal administrative authority in their home regions—Xinjiang for the Uighurs, Tibet for the Tibetans and Inner Mongolia for Mongolians—but in practice they have little real autonomy. Ethnic minorities are also given exemptions from the one-child policy and favorable treatment in university admissions. The goal was to break down social and economic barriers between minority groups and the Han majority. In practice, minority groups such as the Uighurs still face significant economic discrimination, while preferential policies only heighten resentment from majority Han.
Sometimes the animosity between Uighur and Han explodes with little warning. In 2009 race riots swept the Xinjiang capital of Urumqi, where young, mostly unemployed Uighur men went on a rampage, attacking Han Chinese. Days later Han vigilantes retaliated, saying that the local government was failing to protect them. All told nearly 200 people were killed, according to official reports.
Ilham Tohti, a Uighur economic professor at Minzu University who is often targeted by police for his outspoken views on discrimination in China, said that while the problem of crimes committed by Uighurs exists, that the qiegao dispute risks further fanning Uighur-Han tensions. “The problem of Uighurs committing crime isn't as frightening as some media and public figures say it is,” he wrote on his microblog Wednesday. “This not only harms Uighurs, it also brings about Han society's rejection of and discrimination against Uighurs.”
On Wednesday the Yueyang police updated their report on the incident, saying the total amount of cake damaged was over 6,000 pounds, putting the assessed value at under $5 a pound. A reasonable price, but many people will still think twice about buying.
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