BBC: Regina Ip: The 'Iron Lady' who wants to lead Hong Kong
30 December 2016 From the section China
叶刘淑仪女士的政治生涯充满坎坷
Regina Ip wants to become Hong Kong's most powerful politician - and she's not shy about it. The BBC's Helier Cheung profiles the straight-talking "Iron Lady" as part of a series on the Asian women likely to make the news in 2017.
叶刘淑仪女士意欲成为香港特区首长，对此她并不感到羞怯。BBC记者Helier Cheung在亚洲女性系列介绍节目中与这位“铁娘子”展开直接对话，这一采访很有可能成为新年热门。
Her uncompromising stance and her former roleas Hong Kong's first female secretary for security is what prompted the mediato nickname 66-year-old Regina Ip the "Iron Lady".
叶刘淑仪的强硬形象以及曾任保安局局长的经历让这位66岁的女政客获得了“铁娘子”的昵称。
While many of her likely competitors have been coy about their aspirations, Ms Ip has been openly ambitious for years. But then, she's always been more colourful - and confrontational- than many politicians.
与竞争对手遮遮掩掩不愿表达自己的雄心相比，叶刘淑仪女士一直都以直言心迹出名。然而，一直以来，与其他政客相比，她也是极具争议性的人物。
She has described Hitler as proof that democracy doesn't solve all problems, accused Filipino domestic workers of being sex workers for foreign men, and brushed off animal rights activists who criticised her for wearing fur, calling it "the same as eating beef".
她用希特勒打比方，说明民主不能解决所有的问题，控诉菲律宾国内工人沦为外国人的性奴，因动物保护组织批评她穿皮草，她就说“吃牛肉的人那么多你们动物组织怎么不去管？”
叶刘淑仪女士对自己爱穿皮草并不为意
She went from being Hong Kong's most popular government minister to its most reviled, left Hong Kong for the US after a row over national security legislation drove 500,000 to the streets, and then returned to lose, and then win, popular elections.
叶刘淑仪女士从香港最受欢迎的政府部长成为最受不受民众欢迎的政府官员，在2003年五十万人游行反对第二十三条立法后，她离开香港去了美国，2006年又回到香港参加竞选，败选后继续参选，直到赢得普选。
Now, many opposition politicians have rallied against her bid to be Hong Kong's next chief executive, saying she would spell"RIP" (a pun on her initials) for Hong Kong.
But, Ms Ip told the BBC her unpopularity with some doesn't bother her,since she's "used to criticism" and has been "doing tough and thankless jobs for a long time".
现在，有许多竞选对手攻讦叶刘淑仪，说她当选特区首长后一定会引起香港分裂。
但是，叶刘淑仪女士告诉BBC记者，人们不喜欢她并不会困扰自己，因为她已经习惯了责备批评，一直以来她都左右为难，做着吃力不讨好的工作。
Pragmatic student
The daughter of a trader and an actress, Ms Ip says her family struggled financially after her father's business ran into trouble.
作为商人和演员的女儿，叶刘淑仪女士说自父亲的生意陷入困顿之后家里度日艰难。
She studied English literature at the University of Hong Kong and the University of Glasgow, but despite her love of WB Yeats, she was pragmatic even as a student.
"I wanted to be an academic," she says, "but academic jobs in that area were very hard to come by."
她在香港大学学习英国文学，之后赴英国格拉斯哥大学继续读书，虽然她喜欢叶芝的诗歌，可是她到底是个务实的学生。
“我想成为一名搞研究的学士，”她说，“可是做诗歌研究工作是很难出头的。”
叶刘淑仪女士于上世纪九十年代出任入境事务处处长
So she applied to work in Hong Kong's civil service, knowing it would provide the "security of tenure and pay well", and eventually became Hong Kong's first female director of immigration.
因此叶刘淑仪女士在香港政务司工作，她认为这份工作“稳定，待遇又好”，最后在1996年8月出任第一位女性人民入境事务处处长。
Massprotests
But it is for her role as security minister, where she advocated for Article 23 - a controversial piece of national security legislation - that she is most well known.
Article 23 would have prohibited acts of treason and sedition and given Hong Kong the power to outlaw groups banned in mainland China.
可就是在她担任保安局局长之时，她开始推行基本法第二十三条，这一举动使她名望骤跌。
基本法第二十三条：香港特别行政区应自行立法禁止任何叛国、分裂国家、煽动叛乱、颠覆中央人民政府及窃取国家机密的行为，禁止外国的政治性组织或团体在香港特别行政区进行政治活动，禁止香港特别行政区的政治性组织或团体与外国的政治性组织或团体建立联系。
五十万人示威游行反对基本法第二十三条
Ms Ip was seen as out of touch when defending the bill. Ahead of a planned protest, MsIp said some might join the march for fun because it was a public holiday,rather than because they were actually opposed to the proposal.
In the end,half-a-million protesters rallied in one of the territory's largest-ever demonstrations.
Many chanted"Broomhead - step down!" - using a nickname Ms Ip had been given after critics mocked her bushy hairstyle.
叶刘淑仪女士在解释这条法规时被认为未体察实际民意。在游行开始之前，叶刘淑仪女士说有些人参加示威游行是出于玩乐心态，把游行当做公共假日，而不是因为他们真正反对这条法规。
最后，五十万人的抗议者聚集起来，演变成最大规模的游行集会。
许多人边走边说“扫把头下台”——批评家嘲笑叶刘淑仪的发型，用“扫把头”蔑称叶刘淑仪本人。
叶刘淑仪女士在捍卫基本法第二十三条时态度强硬
The government was forced to shelve the bill and Ms Ip resigned as security minister and went abroad to study at Stanford University.
"People remember mefor the national security law I championed and failed, but people have forgotten the contributions I made," she laments.
She admits she "did not do a good enough job" explaining it to the public, but has few regrets. What concerned her more was the impact on her daughter, who was a teenager at the time.
香港政府不得不搁置基本法第二十三条，叶刘淑仪随即辞去了保安局局长一职，之后赴斯坦福大学学习。
“人们记住我是为捍卫法律而辞职的，可是人民似乎忘记了我做出的贡献。”她痛心道。
她向公众承认自己的“工作没有做到很好”，但是她并不遗憾。她最担心的是对这些声音对女儿的影响，那时候她的女儿还处于青春期。
示威者穿上丑化叶刘淑仪女士和董建华先生的装扮
Ms Ip's husband died in 1997 and she describes balancing work and home life in the early 2000s as "truly very difficult, because I was a single parent".
She says her daughter was teased at school, with classmates calling her"little broomstick".
In the end, she sent her daughter to boarding school in the US, saying it offered a "less controversial environment", while she herself studied for a Master's - her third - at Stanford University.
叶刘淑仪女士的丈夫于1997年离世，之后的两三年里，她一直在工作和家庭生活之间艰难地维持平衡，“既要好好工作又要照顾家庭，我是单身母亲，平衡起来真的很愁人。”
她说女儿因为她在学校受到嘲笑，同学们讥笑女儿是“小扫把头”。
最后她不得不将女儿送到美国读书，国外的环境会平静一些，而她自己则去斯坦福大学攻读第三个硕士学位。
She says she needed the "three years outside government… to do some normal parenting", and her relationship with her daughter improved as a result.
On her return from the US, she started a think tank and stood in legislative council elections. She lost out to Anson Chan, a popular pro-democracy candidate, on her first attempt, but went on to win seats in the next three elections - coming out top in her constituency in the most recent vote.
她说自己需要三年的时间“远离政府……做一些普通父母会做的事情”，之后与女儿的关系自此也改善了不少。
自美国回来以后，叶刘淑仪女士成立了汇贤智库，并参与立法会选举。2007年港岛区补选中，她败于陈方安生女士，后者是泛民主派候选人；由于选民的支持，她在之后的三次选举中继续争取席位。
Open ambition
Ms Ip made a bid for the Chief Executive role in 2012 but had to drop out after failing to receive enough nominations. InMarch 2017's elections, she'll be competing against former judge Woo Kwok-hing.
Two political heavyweights, ex-Finance Secretary John Tsang and Chief Secretary Carrie Lam, are also expected to throw their hats in the ring.
叶刘淑仪女士曾在2012年竞选特区首长，最终因选票不足而不得不放弃。明年三月份大选，她将与香港前法官胡国兴角力竞逐。
两位政坛猛将，前财政司长曾俊华和政务司司长林鄭月娥也将有望参与明年三月的竞选。
So what sort of Chief Executive would Ms Ip be?
2007年叶刘淑仪女士败于陈方安生女士，随后她又三次参与竞选
She has pledged to improve Hong Kong's housing policy and narrow the income gap. More controversially, she has promised to revive the Article 23 bill, arguing that it does not threaten Hong Kong's freedoms.
She also intends to implement a contentious political reform package proposed by Beijing - that would give Hong Kongers the right to vote for their leader - but only from a list of candidates approved by a committee dominated by pro-Beijing groups. That proposal was voted down by parliament in 2015.
On social issues, shewould like to legislate against LGBT discrimination, and supports Hong Kong'sbid to host the Gay Games in 2022 - but has stopped short of stating her position (link in Chinese) on same-sexmarriage.
叶刘淑仪女士希望能改善香港的住宅政策以及缩小居民收入差距。颇受争议的是，她希望能重启基本法第二十三条，说这条法规对香港自由没有任何伤害。
她同时将完成一项由大陆政府支持的政治改革，这项政治改革将允许港民为自己的领导人投票，可是领导人候选名单需由亲大陆政府的建制派认定，这一政治改革充满争议。这一项提议已于2015年在港议会遭到否决。
在社会问题上，她会立法反对歧视LGBT群体，支持香港举办2022年世界同性恋运动会——可是在谈及同性婚姻时她又三缄其口（中国大陆尚未对同性恋群体做出明确表态）。
叶刘淑仪女士已参加三次立法选举
She says sexism still exists in Hong Kong politics and criticises the media for "focusing on a female politician's hairstyle, clothing and make up"rather than her work.
She'd like to see more young women enter politics, and would consider reserving some seats on Hong Kong's election committee (the 1,200-member panel that chooses Hong Kong's leader) for women.
叶刘淑仪女士称香港仍然残留着性别歧视，她批评媒体“过于集中女政客的发型，穿着和化妆”而不是评判女官员本人的政绩。
她也愿意看到越来越多的年轻女性走进政坛，会考虑在香港选举委员会为女性保留更多的席位，香港选举委员会由1200位成员组成，直接选出香港特区长官的选举委员会。
Murky elections ahead
If this were a popular election, Ms Ip's biggest challenge might be the perception that she is cold and out of touch.
John Tsang is considered more popular with the public and his Instagram page is peppered with photos of locals taking selfies with him.
By contrast, Ms Ip looked reserved and a little uncomfortable while doing a Facebook Live with the South China Morning Post, andher campaign logo was mocked on social media after people pointed out part of thelogo looked like a Chinese word that means "slowness due to old age".
如果这是一次普选，叶刘淑仪女士会因自己的不近人情的形象大吃苦头。
曾俊华在政坛上广受欢迎，他本人的instagram页面上充斥着他和各区选民的合照。
与他相反，叶刘淑仪女士看起来更保守，关于中国南海问题的在线讨论导致她对于脸书这类社交软并不热心，并且，她的竞选团队使用的竞选口号在社交媒体上受到讥笑，有人说那种图案看起来很像是中国汉字中的“衰”字（赢返香港）。
曾俊华先生，中间抱着宝宝的那位，似乎是一位众望所归的人选
Ms Ip has brushed off questions about Mr Tsang's popularity, saying that those who play nice aren't always the best leaders.
She points out that outof all four expected candidates, she is the only one to have been through popular elections.
But this is an election that will be decided by a small committee, and a majority of the electors will almost certainly vote for whichever candidate Beijing backs.
叶刘淑仪女士拒绝就胡国兴先生欢迎程度的问题作出回复，称形象好的官员并不一定是最好的领导人。
她同时指出在四个竞选人之后，只有自己有过直选经验。
可是这一次选举却是由一个小委员会决定的，其中大多数人会投票给最受大陆政府支持的那一位。
The Chinese government hasn't made its intentions clear, but many analysts believe Ms Lam or Mr Tsang are more obvious choices for Beijing, with Ms Lam likely to be the favourite.
It is clear that success for Ms Ip in next year's elections is far from guaranteed.
On the other hand, the"Iron Lady" has shown time and again that she isn't someone who gives up easily.
中国政府尚未作出明确表态，可是很多分析人士认为林鄭月娥女士和胡国兴先生会是中国政府偏爱的选择，其中林鄭月娥女士胜算更大。
对于叶刘淑仪女士来说明年特首选举胜算不大。可是，这位“铁娘子”已经再次证明了她不是会轻易放弃的女性。
Coy
shy or pretending to be shy and innocent,especially about love or sex, and sometimes in order to make people moreinterested in you （尤指对爱情或性爱）羞羞答答的，假装害羞无知的，故作忸怩的
She gave me a coy smile.
她羞答答地对我笑了笑。
~ (about sth) not willing to give informationabout sth, or answer questions that tell people too much about you 不愿提供信息的；不肯作答的；含糊其辞的
reticent
She was a little coy about how much her dresscost.
她对她那件衣服花了多少钱有点吞吞吐吐。
Confrontational
tending to deal with people in an aggressiveway that is likely to cause arguments, rather than discussing things with them 对抗性的；挑起冲突的
Revile
[动词 +名词短语][常用被动态] ~ sb (for sth/for doing sth) (formal) to criticize sb/sth in a waythat shows how much you dislike them 辱骂；斥责
popular elections 普选
Pun
~ (on sth) the clever or humorous use of aword that has more than one meaning, or of words that have different meanings but sound the same 双关语
We're banking on them lending us the money─no pun intended!
我们正指望他们借给我们钱呢——bank绝无双关之意！
Pragmatic
solving problems in a practical and sensible way rather than by having fixed ideas or theories 实用的；讲求实效的；务实的
同义词 realistic
a pragmatic approach to management problems
对管理问题采取的务实做法
Sedition
[不可数名词](formal) the use of words or actions that are intended to encouragepeople to oppose a government 煽动叛乱的言论（或行动）
同义词 insurrection
Demonstration 游行示威
Lament
(formal) to feel or express great sadness or disappointment about sb/sth 对…感到悲痛；痛惜；对…表示失望
同义词 bemoan, bewail
[动词 +名词短语]
In the poem he laments the destruction of the countryside.
在那首诗里他对乡村遭到的破坏流露出悲哀。
Constituency
[可数名词] a district that elects its own representative to parliament （选举议会议员的）选区
Unemployment is high in her constituency.
她的选区的失业人数居高不下。
He owns a house in his Darlingtonconstituency.
他在自己的选区达灵顿拥有一座房子。
[可数名词+单数/复数动词] the people who live in and vote in a particular district 选区的选民
constituency opinion
选区选民的意见
[可数名词+单数/复数动词] a particular group of people in society who are likely to support aperson, an idea or a product （统称）支持者
Contentious
likely to cause disagreement between people 可能引起争论的
a contentious issue/topic/subject
有争议的问题 / 话题 / 主题
Both views are highly contentious.
两种观点都很有争议。
反义词uncontentious
liking to argue; involving a lot of arguing 爱争论的；充满争吵的
a contentious meeting
争论不休的会议
Murky
(of a liquid 液体)not clear; dark or dirty with mud or another substance 浑浊的；污浊的
cloudy
She gazed into the murky depths of the water.
她注视着那幽暗的水底。
(of air, light, etc. 空气、光等) dark and unpleasant because of smoke, fog , etc. 昏暗的；阴暗的；朦胧的
a murky night
昏暗的夜
(disapproving,or humorous) (of people'sactions or character 人的行为或性格)not clearly known and suspected of not being honest 隐晦的；含糊的；暧昧可疑的
He had a somewhat murky past.
他有一段不清白的过去。
the murky world of arms dealing
黑暗的军火生意
to throw one's hat in the ring
在竞选的第一个阶段，那些认为自己有资格当总统的人经过多方考虑后作出决定究竟参不参加这次总统竞选。美国人经常用一个俗语来指决定参加竞选，就是：to throw one's hat in the ring。
To throw one's hat in the ring是指某人决定参加竞选。这个说法可能是来自很早以前的一种风俗。那时,有的职业摔交运动员经常到各地去旅行和当地的人才一比高低。如果当地有某个人决定和他比赛的话，那个人就把帽子往场里一扔，表示接受挑战。当然，这类到处旅行，像中国古时候摆擂台的那种方式现在很少见了，可是这个俗语却被普遍用来形容接受挑战，参加竞选。我们来举一个例子吧：
例句1: A former senator from Massachusetts named Paul Tsongas was the first Democrat to throw his hat in the ring for this year's presidential election.
这句话的意思是："麻省一位名字叫保尔？聪格斯的前参议员是第一个决定参加今年总统竞选的民主党人。"
在是否参加总统竞选的问题上，纽约州的州长科莫最晚作出决定：
例句2: People at first thought that the Governor of New York would throw his hat in the ring. But he waited and waited and announced at the last minute that he would not run for president.
这句话是说："人们开始都以为纽约州州长科莫会参加竞选。可是，他迟迟不作决定，直到最后一分钟才宣布他决定不参加总统竞选。"
在竞选总统的第二个阶段，那些决定参加竞选的人开始到各地去参加各州的初选。在美国的俗语中就是：stump。Stump在这里的意思是参加竞选的人到各处去发表讲演，争取选民的支持。你要是查字典的话，stump这个字的一个意思是：树墩。树墩和到处演讲这两者之间在美国是有历史性联系的。在美国刚成立的时候，人们为了开荒种地和建立新的城镇，砍掉了好多树。竞选公职的候选人往往站在树墩上发表演说。慢慢地，stump这个字就演变到现在的意思，就是竞选者到各处去演说争取选票。
我们再来举个例子吧：
例句3: The governor is running for reelection, and he's looking hard for votes--he'll stump the whole state next month and make speeches in over fifty cities and towns.
这句话的意思是："这位州长正在竞选连任。他在竭尽全力地争取选票。下个月，他要到全州五十个城镇去发表讲话，进行竞选活动。"
可是今年在竞选方式和去年有所不同：
例句4: Usually, candidates fly to different places to make speeches. This year, however, the Democratic candidates Clinton and Gore took a bus to make their stump speeches in order to meet more people at the grassroots level.
这句话里的stump这个字是个形容词。这句话是说："候选人一般都是乘飞机到各地去发表演说。可是，今年民主党的两位候选人克林顿和戈尔改乘大轿车去各地竞选，这样他们沿途可以见到更多的普通老百姓。"