前沿 | Blaming China（责怪中国：感觉不错，但救不了美国经济）

让每一个人自由地理解政治

让世界各地的学人成果互联互通

让政治学人的核心关切得到传播

让每位闪烁的政治学人共享这片充满思考和情怀的天空

政治学人始终在路上

本期国际化部为大家带来了《责怪中国：感觉不错，但救不了美国经济》（Blaming China: It Might Feel Good But It Wont't Fix American's Economy by Benjamin Shobert）的书评编译。

编译属国际化部译者志愿提供，如有不妥欢迎指正；如对我们的工作有什么建议，欢迎到后台留言；如有转载请注明出处。学术公益是一条很长的路，我们诚邀您同行，欢迎留言您希望编译的政治学期刊，感谢您的支持。

PART
一

书评作者

KA ZENG，阿肯色大学政治学教授兼亚洲研究主任。她的研究重点是中国在全球经济中的作用，特别是中国的贸易政策，中国在世界贸易组织中的行为以及与中国相关的贸易争端动态。她担任China’s Foreign Trade Policy (Routledge 2007)、 China and Global Trade Governance (Routledge 2013), 和 Handbook on the International Political Economy of China (Edward Elgar 2019)等期刊丛书的编辑或共同编辑，在International Studies Quarterly, Review of International Organizations, World Development, Review of International Political Economy, Journal of Experimental Political Science, Journal of World Trade, International Interactions, China Quarterly, Journal of Contemporary China, International Relations of the Asia-Pacific等知名期刊上发表论文数篇。本篇书评摘自Political Science Quarterly 2019年第3期。

PART
二

书评译文

In this book, Benjamin Shobert does a wonderful job of dispelling the myth that China is to blame for America’s problems. Shobert uses his in‐depth knowledge of American and Chinese politics to illuminate the complex interdependencies between the world’s two largest economies. Blaming China makes the compelling argument that what is at the heart of America’s malaise is not the competitive challenge posed by China but the failures of the American political system. At a time when politicians are increasingly pointing to China as the scapegoat for America’s problems, the book provides some much‐needed clarity that could help the steer readers clear of viewing China as the root cause of America’s ongoing struggles. 

在这本书里，Benjamin Shobert很好地澄清了，美国的麻烦并非中国之过。作者用他对中美两国政治的深度理解来阐明这两个世界最大经济体的复合相互依赖。《责怪中国》掷地有声地指出，美国问题的症结并不是中国强有力的挑战，而是它自己政治体制的失灵。恰逢政客们趋之若鹜地把中国当成美国问题的替罪羊之时，本书提供了必要的清晰解读，来帮助读者们不再把中国当成美国现存矛盾的根源。

Shobert opens the book by presenting two alternative views of China. On the one hand, there are the so‐called Dragon Slayers, who are highly critical of China’s slow pace of political liberalization and oppressive domestic policies and therefore advocate a hawkish stance toward China. On the other hand, there are the Panda Huggers, who believe that the country would have been far less open and stable than it is today had the United States refrained from pursuing a policy of constructive engagement with China during the earlier years of its reform process. This discussion sets the stage for Shobert to lay out two competing visions within the United States about how to deal with China—that is, whether it would play to the American interest to adopt a values‐based or realpolitik approach toward China or whether inclusion and conciliation would be more likely to lead to meaningful changes compared with exclusion or crisis. 

作者在书的开头展示了两种不同的对中国的看法。一方面，有种所谓的“屠龙者”，他们嫌中国政治自由化的进程慢、嫌中国的对内政策具有压迫性，从而提倡对中国采取鹰派立场。另一方面，有种“拥抱熊猫的人”，他们认为，要不是美国在中国刚开始改革的那几年出手相助，中国远不会像现在这般开放和稳定。作者以这种讨论为基础来展示在美国两种不同的关于如何应对中国的展望——一种是：在以价值观为基础和现实政治之间，哪种方法更符合美国利益？另一种是：包容与和解是否比排斥与冲突更能让中国发生有意义的变化？

The growing popularity of the Dragon Slayers’ views, fueled by rising popular discontent against the forces of globalization, leads Shobert to consider the domestic sources of America’s ongoing challenges. In the second half of the book, Shobert takes the reader on a panoramic view of America’s insecurities, both economically and politically and with regard to the country’s place in the world. Shobert rightly points out many of the failures of the American system, including the inability of its economic policy to address the negative fallout of globalization and to create manufacturing jobs at home; the tendency to treat China as a potential security threat in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks; and its dysfunctional political system. In each of these areas, Shobert does a superb job of detailing the challenges confronted by the American system. 

由于针对全球化的不满越来越多，屠龙者的观点越来越受欢迎，这让作者思考美国所面临的挑战的国内根源。在本书后半部分，作者既从政治经济方面出发，又从美国的世界地位出发，向读者全面揭示了美国的不安全感。他一针见血地指出美国体制的多个失败之处，包括：美国的经济政策无法应对全球化的副作用、无法在国内提供制造业工作岗位；美国在遭遇恐怖袭击之后却有将中国当成潜在安全威胁的倾向；美国失灵的政治体制。在以上各个方面，作者都非常出色地详尽阐述了美国体制所遇到的挑战。

So what does this bode for the future? Shobert does not believe that conflict is inevitable or that the predictions of the Thucydides Trap will necessarily materialize. Instead, he argues that treating China as the source of America’s problems will increase the likelihood that the two countries will head down a path toward conflict. While continued engagement of China faces its own set of challenges, efforts to refine the engagement model and to focus on making the American system work may be more conducive to maintaining stable and peaceful relations between the two countries. 

那以后会怎么样呢？作者认为，冲突是可以避免的，修昔底德陷阱不一定会成真。相反，他提出，把中国当成美国问题的罪魁祸首倒更可能把这两国拽向冲突的深渊。正当与中国的持续往来遭遇重重挑战的时候，美国努力改善交往方式、努力专注于让本国体制有效运作，也许更有助于保持两国稳定和平的关系。

Overall, Shobert should be applauded for writing an insightful book about the sources of tensions in America’s relations with China. His extensive background in U.S.‐China relations and deep knowledge of the two countries enabled him to produce a book that is highly sensitive to the historical, political, and cultural contexts of this complicated relationship. At a time when the “China‐bashing” sentiment permeates much of the American political system, both the scholarly and policy communities as well as the general public could benefit from Shobert’s cool‐headed and realistic analysis of China’s influence on the United States. 

总体上，这本书鞭辟入里地探讨了美中关系紧张的根源，作者值得称赞。作者对中美关系的广泛了解和对两国的深刻理解使他能够写出这本书。两国的复杂关系有着历史、政治和文化上的背景，深深影响了这本书。如今美国政治体制里的许多地方正弥漫着“抨击中国”的情绪，作者就中国对美国的影响所进行的分析既冷静又现实，学界、政界，还有普通大众都可以从他的分析中受益良多。

编  译：夏夕钦

审  校：王汉林

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编辑：欧阳星

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二审：宋    婷