[E320]Xi's new model army|经济学人
本文音频及原文摘自杂志The Economist《经济学人》2016年第3期，China版块。
Xi Jinping reforms China’s armed forces—to his own advantage
| BEIJING
CHINA’S biggest military shake-up[(组织或体制的)重大调整，整顿] in a generation began with a deliberate[dɪˈlɪbərɪt][深思熟虑的, 从容的, 故意的] echo of Mao Zedong. Late in 2014 President Xi Jinping went to Gutian[古田], a small town in the south where[南方], 85 years before, Mao had first laid down[规定;制定;颁布] the doctrine that the People’s Liberation Army[人民解放军] (PLA) is the armed force[武装力量] not of the government or the country but of the Communist Party. Mr Xi stressed the same law to the assembled brass: the PLA is still the party’s army; it must uphold its “revolutionary traditions[革命传统]” and maintain absolute loyalty[保持绝对忠诚] to its political masters. His words were a prelude to sweeping reforms[全面改革;彻底改革] in the PLA that have unfolded[展现;呈现] in the past month, touching almost every military institution[军事机关].
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▷ doctrine [ˈdɑ:ktrɪn]
n. 教条,教义;法律原则;声明
It's the end of the doctrine in all but name.
这实际上已是该学说的终结，只是未被道明罢了。
▷ prelude [ˈprelju:d]
n. 序曲,前奏曲;开场戏,序幕;前兆,预兆
The discussions were a prelude to the treaty.
这些讨论是签订该条约的前奏.
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The aim of these changes is twofold—to strengthen Mr Xi’s grip on the 2.3m-strong armed forces, which are embarrassingly[ɪm'bærəsɪŋlɪ][使人尴尬地，使人为难地] corrupt[kəˈrʌpt][腐败的;贪污的] at the highest level, and to make the PLA a more effective fighting force, with a leadership structure capable of breaking down the barriers between rival commands[竞争对手] that have long hampered its modernisation efforts[现代化过程;(实现)现代化的努力]. It has taken a long time since the meeting in Gutian for these reforms to unfold; but that reflects both their importance and their difficulty.
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▷ twofold [ˈtu:foʊld]
adj.由两部分组成的,有两部分的;两倍的;
adv. 两倍地;
The case against is twofold: too risky and too expensive.
反对理由有两点：太冒险而且太昂贵。
▷ grip [ɡrɪp]
n. 紧握,抓牢;握力;掌握,理解;能力,胜任
How much can the President relax his grip over the nation?
总统可以对国家的控制放松到什么样的程度？
▷ hamper [ˈhæmpɚ]
vt. 妨碍，束缚，限制; 使困累
No attempts to hamper me, or capture me!
别尽想来与我找麻烦或者抓住我!
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The PLA itself has long admitted that it is lagging behind. It may have plenty of new weapons—it has just started to build a second aircraft-carrier[航空母舰], for instance—but it is failing to make effective use of them because of outdated systems of command and control[指挥和控制系统]. Before any substantial change[实质变化;本质变化] in this area, however, Mr Xi felt it necessary to strengthen the party’s control over the PLA, lest[唯恐;以免;惟恐;生怕] it resist his reforms and sink back into a morass of money-grubbing[向钱看].
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▷ lag behind
落后; 逾期付款; 落后于; 退步
As conceit makes one lag behind, so modesty helps one make progress.
骄傲使人落后, 谦虚使人进步.
▷ morass [məˈræs, mɔ-]
n. 缠作一团;困境;沼泽;陷阱
I tried to drag myself out of the morass of despair.
我试图从绝望的困境中走出来。
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The reforms therefore begin with the main instrument of party control, the Central Military Commission[中央军事委员会] (CMC), which is chaired by Mr Xi. On January 11th the CMC announced that the PLA’s four headquarters[ˈhedkwɔ:rtərz][总部; 总店; 司令部; 指挥部]—the organisations responsible for recruiting troops[征兵], procuring weapons[装备采购;采购武器], providing logistics[后勤服务;组织工作] and ensuring political supervision[政治监督]—had been split up[(被)拆分], slimmed down[消瘦;削减] and absorbed into[吸收; 把…并入] the commission. Once these were among the most powerful organisations in the PLA, operating almost as separate fiefs[各自为政]. Now they have become CMC departments.
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▷ procure [prəˈkjʊr]
vt. 取得，获得; 实现，完成; 导致
She managed to procure a ticket for the concert.
她好不容易弄到一张音乐会入场券。
▷ fiefs [fif]
n. 封地，采邑
Ms Rodin decided that the separate fiefs had to go.
罗丁决心消除这种各自为政的状态.
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Power to the party
The political headquarters was the body through which the party kept an eye on the ranks and ensured they were up to speed on Maoist texts and the party’s latest demands. The loss of its autonomous status[自主地位] may suggest that the party’s role is being downgraded[ˈdaʊnˌɡred][使降低; 使降职; 贬低; 低估]. Far from it[远非如此;根本不是;一点也不]. Now the party’s CMC (there is also a state one, which exists only in name) will be better able to keep watch. The body’s 15 new departments will include not only departments for politics but also for logistics[loˈdʒɪstɪks, lə-][后勤; 逻辑学; 物流; 组织工作], personnel management[人事管理] and fighting corruption[打击腐败;反腐]. Mr Xi has already turned his guns on graft, imprisoning[ɪmˈprɪzən][关押，下狱，监禁] dozens of generals.
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▷ graft [græft]
n. 移植; 嫁接; 渎职; 贪污，受贿
Owing to graft, the manager of this company was discharged from his post and prosecuted.
由于贪污, 这个公司的经理已被撤职查办.
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The second reform has been to put the various services on a more equal footing[公平/同等地位]. The land forces[陆军] have hitherto reigned supreme[称雄; 主宰; 享有至离无上的权威,呈盛极之势]. That may have been fine when the PLA’s main job was to defend[辩护; 保卫] the country against an invasion across its land borders[跨越国界入侵] (until the 1980s the Soviet Union was considered the biggest threat). But now China has military ambitions in the South China Sea and beyond, and wants the ability to challenge American naval and air power[海军和空军] in the western Pacific. A recent editorial in the Liberation Army Daily[解放军报], a PLA mouthpiece, berated the armed forces for their “army-centric mindset”.
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▷ hitherto [ˌhɪðərˈtu:]
adv. 到目前为止; 迄今; 至今
a hitherto unknown species of moth
迄今仍属未知种类的蛾
▷ mouthpiece [ˈmaʊθˌpis]
n. 喉舌; 乐器的吹口; 电话话筒; 代言人
He showed him how to blow into the ivory mouthpiece.
他给他演示如何吹奏象牙吹口乐器。
▷ berate [bɪˈret]
vt. 严厉责备; 痛斥
He feared she would berate him for his forgetfulness.
他担心,由于健忘又要挨她的训斥了.
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In addition to those for the navy and air force, a separate command has now been created for the army, which had previously run everything. On December 31st the CMC also announced the formation[形成; 构成，结构] of a command responsible for space and cyberwarfare[网络战], as well as one for ballistic and cruise missiles[弹道导弹和巡航导弹] (previously known as the Second Artillery Force[第二炮兵], part of the army). There is also a new joint command[联合指挥] with overall control of the various services, a little like America’s joint chiefs of staff[参谋长联席会议].
Big changes are also afoot in regional command structures[区域/地区指挥结构]. China used to be divided into seven military regions[七大军区]. These were powerful and relatively self-contained[独立的;自给自足的]; sharing or swapping troops and equipment was rare[共享或者交换部队、装备都比较少见]. Now, according to reports in the South China Morning Post[南华早报], a newspaper in Hong Kong, the number will be reduced to five. Troops will be recruited and trained by the various services before regional deployment. This will ensure greater central control over the regions.
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▷ afoot [əˈfʊt]
adj.& adv. 徒步的(地);正在进行的(地);活动着的(地);不对劲的(地)
Everybody knew that something awful was afoot.
大家都知道可怕的事近在眼前。
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China has been talking about military reform for decades, but change has been glacial. Opposition within the armed forces has been intense. “If [reform] is not done properly,” wrote Sun Kejia and Han Xiao of the PLA National Defence University last month, “it could affect the stability of the armed forces or even all of society.” (The article was promptly[ˈprɑ:mptli][敏捷地; 迅速地; 立即地; 毫不迟 49 31729 49 15537 0 0 1335 0 0:00:23 0:00:11 0:00:12 3344疑] removed from the Liberation Army Daily website.) Demobbed[(士兵)复员的;退伍的] soldiers could make trouble—Mr Xi wants the number of troops to be cut by 300,000. State firms have been ordered to reserve 5% of jobs for laid-off[被解雇的] veterans['vetərənz][退伍军人;老兵;老战士].
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▷ glacial [ˈɡleʃəl]
adj. 冷淡的;冷若冰霜的;冰川般运动的;极其缓慢的
Change occurs at a glacial pace.
变化极其缓慢。
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The recent reforms are more extensive than most Western observers had expected after the Gutian conference[古田会议]. But even so, they are incomplete. The army still holds sway[统治;支配;行使权力] over some appointments (all five chiefs of the new regional commands are army generals[军队将领], for instance). The PLA has traditionally given higher status to combat units[作战部队] than to those providing communications, logistics, transport and the like, a misplaced emphasis[搞错重点;轻重倒置] in an age when information and communications are crucial in warfare. The reforms do little to correct that bias. Moreover, many details about them remain unclear. No one knows, for example, where the troop cuts[裁军;裁减军队员额] will come from or what units will go into the new space and cyberwarfare command.
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▷ bias [ˈbaɪəs]
n. 偏见; 偏爱，爱好; 倾向; 斜纹;
Bias against women permeates every level of the judicial system.
各级司法机构普遍存在对女性的偏见。
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The first result of the reforms is likely to be confusion in the ranks, until the new system settles down. Dennis Blasko, an American observer of the PLA, says no one can be sure of the results until they are tested in battle. Amid the murk, only one man clearly seems to have got his way: Mr Xi.
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▷ murk [mɜ:rk]
n. 黑暗;深水;浓雾
All of a sudden a tall old man in a black cloak loomed out of the murk.
一位身着黑斗篷的高个儿老者突然从暗处闪了出来。
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