双语时评│A show of soft power 藏在广州松园里的中国软实力

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IN Guangdong, tea is almost a necessity at gatherings of friends and family members.

在广东，茶几乎是朋友和家人聚会的必需品。

Two famed Guangdong tea varieties, black tea from Yingde and Fenghuang Dancong tea from Chaozhou, served at the informal meeting between President Xi Jinping and his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron at Baiyun Hall of the Pine Garden in Guangzhou on Friday, conveyed a personal touch after the two leaders held official talks earlier in Beijing.

4月7日，习近平主席与法国总统马克龙在广州举行非正式会晤。在松园，两位领导人品尝了广东两款名茶：英德红茶和潮州凤凰单枞茶。在北京举行正式会谈后，两位领导人品茗交谈，纵论古今，为他们的再次会面营造了轻松的个人氛围。

Chinese President Xi Jinping and French President Emmanuel Macron have tea by the water, enjoying the view and discussing the past and present, at the Pine Garden in Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, on Friday.  Xinhua

The two leaders listened to the Guqin melody “High Mountain and Flowing Water” at Baiyun Hall, with Xi explaining to Macron that the piece represents cherished friendship in Chinese culture.

茶韵之外，还有古琴。两位领导人在白云厅共同欣赏古琴演奏《高山流水》。习近平向马克龙讲解了高山流水遇知音的故事。

Xi and Macron also strolled through the Pine Garden, chatting and stopping at times to enjoy the unique scenery of the southern Chinese garden. 

两国元首在庭园散步，边走边聊，不时驻足，饶有兴致地观赏岭南园林的独特景致。

The dinner table’s elaborate and exquisite decorations showed how much importance the Chinese side attaches to the friendship with France and Macron. The decorations featured the miniatures of Guangzhou’s Pearl River and Paris’ River Seine merging as one, and the Pont des Arts in Paris linking with the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge, with the Eiffel Tower and the Canton Tower overlooking each other amid blooming flowers, alluding to “city of flowers” Guangzhou and “capital of flowers” Paris.

就连晚宴也有独具匠心的安排。餐桌花盘摆设里有融合为一的广州珠江和巴黎塞纳河，也有连接一起的巴黎艺术桥和港珠澳大桥，而巴黎的埃菲尔铁塔和广州的“小蛮腰”在花丛间彼此相望。满目的繁花似锦也是“花城”广州和“花都”巴黎的写照。

In the Pine Garden, Macron was greeted with France’s national flower iris and the world’s first hybrid tea rose, “La France,” created by Frenchman Jean-Baptiste André Guillot, in Guangzhou in 1867.

在松园，迎接马克龙的不仅有许多本地品种的花卉，还有法国的国花鸢尾花，以及法国园艺师Guillot于1867年在广州培育出的第一批现代月季品种“法兰西”。

The cultural elements displayed at the informal meeting shows the increasing role of soft power in China’s diplomacy as the country continues setting itself an example of a responsible, peace-loving great power, opposite to the warmongering, domineering U.S. hegemony. 

从这次非正式会晤中广泛使用的文化元素可以看到，软实力在中国外交中发挥了越来越重要的作用。与美国的好战、霸权主义相反，中国打造的是负责任的、爱好和平的大国典范。

On the other hand, the hospitality accorded to Macron is commensurate with his pragmatic and friendly approach in dealing with China, compared with the U.S., NATO and some hawkish EU states. Macron, who is often considered by diplomats an important driver of key policies within the EU, has publicly resisted U.S. pressures for allies to decouple from China. During his speech at the French Embassy in Beijing, Macron said Europe must not “separate” from China economically, declaring that France would “commit proactively to continuing to have a commercial relationship with China.” 

另一方面，马克龙受到的款待与他在处理对华关系的务实和友好态度相称。被视为欧盟关键政策重要推手的马克龙公开顶住美国压力，拒绝与中国“脱钩”。在法国驻华大使馆的演讲中，马克龙表示欧洲不应在经济上与中国“分离”，并称法国将“积极致力于继续与中国保持商业关系”。

Before Friday’s informal meeting between the two leaders, both countries had made significant advances during the talks in Beijing, with more than 20 deals and a joint declaration signed. 

在广州的非正式会晤之前，中法在北京的会谈中取得了重大成果，签署了20多个合作协议并发布了联合声明。

The deals went to many of the more than 50 chief executives flying to Beijing with Macron, including those from such big names as French energy giant EDF, European plane-maker Airbus, and Alstom, the French maker of high-speed and other trains. The deals include a Chinese order for 160 Airbus aircraft and a French order for 16 dual-fuel ultra-large container ships, the largest single order by value that Chinese shipbuilders have ever received. 

随同马克龙来访的有50多位首席执行官，包括来自法国能源巨头EDF、欧洲飞机制造商空中客车和法国高速列车制造商阿尔斯通等公司的商业领袖。这些商业协议包括中国订购的160架空中客车和法国订购的16艘双燃料超大型集装箱船。

While business deals are tangible achievements of the meeting between Xi and Macron, the French president also placed Ukraine diplomacy high on his agenda, saying he was counting on Xi to help bring an end to the war. After China helped broker a surprise detente between Saudi Arabia and Iran last month, European leaders have become more aware of the country’s diplomatic clout, with Macron seeing China as a possible “game changer” in the Ukraine crisis. Some French officials reportedly said that China is now considered the only country that is able to communicate with all parties in the conflict. 

虽然商业协议是元首会晤所取得的看得见的成果，但马克龙也将乌克兰危机视为重要议程，他表示寄望于习近平主席帮助结束俄乌冲突。上个月，中国促成沙特阿拉伯和伊朗的意外和解后，欧洲各国领导人更加意识到中国的外交影响力，马克龙甚至认为中国有可能为乌克兰冲突带来转机。据报道，一些法国官员称，中国现在被认为是唯一能够与冲突各方沟通的国家。

Macron landed in Beijing shortly ahead of EU chief Ursula von der Leyen. The duo’s visit came after visits by German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in November, European Council President Charles Michel in December and Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez in March. 

近几个月，欧洲各国领导人密集访问中国。4月5日，欧盟主席冯德莱恩紧随马克龙之后抵达北京。去年11月德国总理舒尔茨到访北京，欧洲理事会主席米歇尔和西班牙总理桑切斯也分别于去年12月和今年3月先后访问中国。

Macron’s visit will not only accelerate exchanges between China and France in fields ranging from business and innovation to culture, but also set an example for other European countries as, quote the headline of a Financial Times story, “Europe is feeling its way towards a new relationship with China.”

马克龙的访问不仅将加速中法在商业、创新和文化等领域的交流，还将为其他正在探索与中国建立新关系的欧洲国家树立榜样。

At the end of the informal talk, Macron thanked Xi for his hospitality and elaborate arrangements, and said that in addition to the friendly, in-depth exchanges between the two leaders, he is able to appreciate China’s long history and splendid culture, and has a better understanding of the concepts of modern Chinese governance.

在非正式会谈结束时，马克龙表示，非常感谢习近平主席为我此访做出热情精心安排。这两天里，我们的交流友好深入，使我进一步领略了中国悠久灿烂的历史文化，增进了对现代中国治国理政理念的了解。

Macron sent several enthusiastic tweets as he wrapped up his visit to China, with one of them saying in Chinese and French: “谢谢你，广州。法中友谊万岁！Merci Canton. Vive l’amitié entre la Chine et la France!”

马克龙在结束中国之行时还发了几条热情洋溢的推文，其中一条用中文和法文写道：“谢谢你，广州。法中友谊万岁！Merci Canton. Vive l’amitié entre la Chine et la France!” 

Macron also praised the “very fragrant tea” at the Pine Garden, according to the New York Times. “It was an exchange of remarkable intimacy, the two leaders, tieless, sharing pleasantries,” according to the Times report, written by the newspaper’s Paris bureau chief, who traveled to Beijing and Guangzhou to cover Macron’s visit. “But at a time when Sino-American relations are in a deep freeze, Mr. Macron staked out an independent European position, and both leaders repeatedly lauded a ‘multipolar world,’ thinly disguised code for one that is not American dominated,” the report said in a sour grape tone.

据《纽约时报》报道，马克龙还赞扬了“香气扑鼻的茶叶”。报道称，“这是非常亲密的交流，两位领导人没有系领带进行愉快的交谈”。 报道还酸溜溜地指出，在中美关系处于冰冻期之际，马克龙却在展示独立于美国的立场，两国元首也多次称赞“多极世界”，暗示他们希望看到一个不由美国控制的世界。

A textbook example of soft power at play.

这是运用软实力的教科书式范例。

The author is a deputy editor-in-chief of Shenzhen Daily.

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