评论 | 中美关系需要加强透明性连续性和执行力
Editor's note: The 2020 U.S. presidential election is a once-in-a-lifetime event to watch. The American public and politicians are drowning in international conflicts, domestic crises, political divide and civil unrest. The U.S. and its relationship with other countries and the international system today stand at a crossroads. What's in store for us? What will the future look like after this crucible? CGTN is inviting scholars from U.S. think tanks and universities to break down the election and share their views on its various aspects. This is part six of the series, with William C. Kirby commenting on China's rise, its place in the international system and the future of China-U.S. relationship. He is Spangler family professor of business administration at Harvard Business School. Professor Kirby serves as chairman of the Harvard China Fund, the university's academic venture fund for China, and faculty chair of the Harvard Center Shanghai, Harvard's first university-wide center located outside the United States. The opinions expressed here are his own, and not necessarily the views of CGTN.
有人说 "中国逆袭"对美国而言既是挑战也是机遇。你认为都有哪些挑战和机遇？
Adriel Kasonta: It is said that the U.S. faces both challenges and opportunities from a "resurgent China." In your opinion, what are these challenges and opportunities?
关于"中国逆袭"对美国而言既是挑战也是机遇的这种说法，我认为“逆袭”一词略显不妥。我认为应该说是“中华复兴”。在18世纪至19世纪，中华文明曾是世界上最强大、最富有和最先进的文明之一 。从历史角度来看，如今中国在世界上的地位也是理所应当的。对于像美国这样的大国来说，挑战在于如何与中国这个全球创业中心、贸易中心和军事强国交往。
William C. Kirby: In my opinion, on the question of the Americans facing the challenges and opportunities of a "resurgent China," "resurgent" isn't a word that I would use, I would say a revived China, a China that at the turn of the 18th to the 19th century was among the more powerful, wealthy and sophisticated civilizations on earth. Today, it's taking a rather natural, in historical terms, position in the world. And a challenge for other powers, such as the United States, is how to interact with a place that is a center of entrepreneurialism, a center of global trade, and also a growing military presence.
纵观中美两国在18世纪末和19世纪初的交往史，两国关系主要植根于贸易和（人文）交流。直到二战期间，中美关系的战略意义才真正显现出来。当时中美两国在东亚地区与日本帝国作战。而那之后，中美两国在朝鲜半岛上展开惨烈的战争。这对两国领导人来说都是一个沉痛的教训，因为两国都为此付出了异常惨重的代价。
If you look at the history of China-U.S. relations going back to the late 18th and early 19th century, they were rooted primarily in trade and exchange. The strategic nature of the Chinese-American relationship really became apparent in a large way only in World War II when we fought as allies against the Japanese empire in East Asia. Since then, we have fought sadly and tragically against each other in Korea – a lesson that ought to be a sobering one for the leaders of both countries, because it was extraordinarily costly to both countries.
自20世纪70年代末以来，东亚地区经历了自鸦片战争以来最长的和平时期。中美两国得以繁荣发展。而对中美两国而言，维护这种和平才是最大也是最关键的挑战。因为任何危及这种和平的事情很可能首先危及中国的繁荣发展，中国的发展很大程度上依赖于和平稳定的大环境，同时也会危及东亚其他地区和全球经济。
And since the late 1970s, we have both prosper very significantly for the longest period of peace in East Asia since the Opium War. And it is the maintenance of that peace which is the greatest and most important challenge for both China and the United States. Because anything that endangers that peace easily, the first and foremost, endangers prosperity that China has enjoyed in large part as a result of that peace, but endangers the rest of East Asia and the global economy at the same time.
有人说19世纪由英国人主导 、20世纪由美国人主导，那中国是否会主导21世纪呢？
Kasonta: It is said that the 19th century was dominated by the British and 20th century by the Americans. Is it true that the 21st century will be dominated by the Chinese?
我不想用“主导”一词。因为如果你在主导，你实际上就输了。如果你在领导，而且别人愿意追随你的领导方式，那么可以说你就是赢家。你要让别人心甘情愿地分享你的价值观。中国在历史上的鼎盛时期里曾取得过这样的成就。韩国、日本、越南等地的民众心甘情愿地接受来自中国的价值观。那时，中华文明使用了非常强大的软实力。
Kirby: I wouldn't use the word "dominate," because if you're dominating, you are actually losing. If you're leading, and you're leading in a way that others can follow, then arguably you are winning. You want to be a place whose values are shared willingly by others. That was certainly true at the height of the greatest Chinese empires where the values coming from China spread to Korea, Japan, Vietnam and beyond willingly, not by imposition. China then, Chinese civilization at least, had very significant soft power.
我觉得中国最大的挑战在于制定标准。不仅让这套标准体系在全球领先，在科技等领域肯定可以实现。同时在治理、文明准则等方面也做到全球领先。那么其他国家自然会愿意效法。
I think the greatest challenge for China is to set out standards that they're not just absolutely the best in the world, certainly you can do that in matters technological and otherwise, but in terms of governance, in terms of principles of civilization that others will willingly follow.
眼下，关于"中国模式"的讨论很多，但几乎没有人能阐明这种模式到底是什么。在中文里，人们称之为“中国特色社会主义”。“特色”一词是指它仅适用于中国，并不适用于其他国家，也不寻求输出此制度。当我们在《中国可以领导世界吗？》一书的结尾谈到21世纪是否会成为中国世纪时，我们的回答是：会的，当然可以成为中国世纪，但并不意味着中国一家独大。一国可以通过合作来领导他国，可以以身作则来领导他国，也可以通过制定其他国家乐于接受的标准来进行领导。这对任何一个国家都是一个巨大的挑战，对当代中国也是一个巨大的挑战。
Right now, there's a lot of talk of a "China model," but there is almost no articulation of what that model is. In Chinese, people say that it's socialism with Chinese characteristics – zhongguo tese shehuizhuyi. What that tese means that it's just for China. It's not for anybody else, and it's not seeking to export that model. When we say at the end of our book "Can China Lead?": Will the 21st century, or can the 21st century, be the Chinese century? Our answer is: Yes, of course it can be the Chinese century, but not alone. One can lead in partnership, one can lead in example, and one can lead by setting out standards that others quite happily adopt for themselves. That's a huge challenge for any country, and it's a huge challenge for contemporary China.
在处理中美关系方面，你有什么建议？
Kasonta: What's your advice for managing the China-U.S. relationship?
我认为不仅我会提出以下建议，那些比我更适合提建议的人也会给出以下建议，即中美之间需要坦诚相待，确定并加强两国的共同利益。比如说，中美至少曾经就《伊朗核协议》这个战略问题持相同意见，也本应该继续保持一致意见，但美方却出尔反尔退出了该协议。
Kirby: I think the advice not just that I would give, but people who would be much better positioned than I, would be clarity and honesty in communication; setting out areas and trying to strengthen areas of our mutual interests and our shared interests. The United States and China, for example, at least on one critical strategic issue – the Iranian Nuclear Deal – we are on one page, and should have been on one page, but the Americans undid that.
因此双方要明确态度，行为要可预见，并开始采取一些建立信任的措施。比如说，重新开放中国驻休斯敦总领馆。我认为并没有特别严重的理由导致领馆关闭。就关闭领馆而言，事实上还有很多其他的处理办法。并努力建立一些稳定的和可预见的关系，继续支持两国经济和文化交流，也要在两国意见分歧之处坚定维护自身的原则底线。
So, to be clear, to be predictable, to begin some confidence building measures – for example, to reopen that consulate in Houston, which in my view was closed for no particularly strong reason, there are many other ways of dealing with the issues that were reported regarding that consulate – and to try to achieve some stable relations and predictable relations, to continue to support economic and cultural exchange, and to be strong in disagreement where the two countries will disagree.
从美国和欧洲的人权角度来看，中国的人权表现必将成为矛盾点。涉疆和涉藏方面的言论还会不绝于耳。可以想像在许多问题上，中美之间的辩论和拉锯还会继续。但这不妨碍两国在最重要的领域建立更强有力的关系，比如经济和安全领域，这对世界其他国家而言也很重要。中美之间的确存在很多很多的问题。两国需要加强透明性、连续性和执行力。
There are issues, at least American and European perspective, of human rights. Issues regarding Tibet and Xinjiang are not going to go away. So, one can imagine continuing discussion and difficulties over a number of issues, at the same time by trying to build stronger relations on those things that matter most to the both countries, for their economies and their securities, and that matter also to the rest of the world. There are many, many other issues, but clarity, continuity, competence – that's what's needed.