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【变局·专栏】特朗普使中国人更爱国(中英双语)

王文 全球治理 2021-02-06

全文约2000字,读完约需3分钟。


编者按:中国人民大学重阳金融研究院执行院长王文在《环球时报》英文版专栏“Wang Wen on Changing World”的第六篇专栏文章《特朗普使中国人更爱国》于今日刊出,现将中英文内容转发如下:




“美国是很美的国家吗?”念小学的儿子突然问我这个奇怪的问题。我答道,不一定!如果是风景,许多地方很美;如果是社会或政治,那不一定美。


“那它(国名)为什么叫美-国?”儿子接下来的问题,我必须以长篇论文的方式才能回答。我于是反问,为什么这么思考?儿子说,经常听电视新闻里批评美国,尤其是特朗普对中国很不友好,很诧异为什么中国还要把它的国名翻译成“美丽的国家”。


这样的反思很单纯,或许折射了新一代中国人对特朗普政府对华政策的条件反射吧。过去两年来,特朗普几乎天天都“念叨”中国,促使每个中国人在另一个层面思考美国。


美国是民主国家吗?如果是,为什么没有任何实质力量去制衡特朗普呢?很多时候,他只需要发条推特,就立刻能“退出”某国际组织或国际条约?换成中国,或许得在外交部讨论、再递交中央、再由全国人大立法通过,得花个半年一年吧。


美国是市场经济吗?如果是,为什么总统一条推特即能命令所有公司对华为禁售?为什么白宫与各大公司的交流与互动如此紧密?要知道,在中国,即使许多国企,当他们接收到政府要求多购买美国大豆的指令时,他们或许还要考虑一下市场的需求而定吧?


美国尊重人权吗?如果是,为什么每隔几年就要对外发动战争,导致过去几十年全球上百万的民众死于美国大兵的枪炮之下?为什么美国搞全球监听?为什么在美国国内不控制枪支,导致每年死于枪支的人数达3万人,每天高达80人?


作为一名研究全球治理的教授,我当然熟悉这些反问背后的美式答案。20年前,在大学的美国政治课程中就曾学过,许多美国媒体也在为美国开脱。我只是代表许多普通中国民众而问,正如我儿子的朴实质问,美国真的是一个美丽的国家吗?


两年来,特朗普像是一个反面教师,赤裸裸地撕掉了美国的伪善面具,用行动抹杀了中国人多年来对美国的正面认知。更重要的是,特朗普让许多中国人回归现实主义,既认识到中国国家发展的不足与短板,又认识到国际竞争之激烈与残酷。


几周前,我在深圳、东莞、广州调研了许多企业。这些依靠外贸加工类的企业主们有了前所未有的危机感与忧患意识。一位老板憨憨地说,原来还都想退休安享晚年。现在特朗普给了那么大的压力,还要再奋斗多年,否则企业要死的。一位华为的高管说,原来一些计划跳槽的员工,纷纷留下来要与华为并肩,必须要战胜特朗普对华为的蛮横无理政策。


从这个角度看,我倒觉得,自信的中国人应该感谢特朗普。他比任何一位老师都更有实效地教育了中国人,要更好地爱国、爱家、爱工作、爱奋斗。


上一次有类似的外部紧迫感是在二十年前。1999年,美国轰炸中国驻南斯拉夫使馆,几百万大学生走上街头抗议美国。当时,还是大学生的我,走在游行队伍的最前列,喊得嗓子都哑了,所有年轻人痛哭流涕,在青春期第一次感觉到国家强大的重要性。后面的故事诚如所有人知道的,21世纪初最伟大的世界历史事件发生了:中国快速崛起。


所以,我相信,所谓中美贸易战,又教育了中国新一代人,最终损失的肯定不是中国,而是美国,更是全人类。为什么是全人类呢?因为美国崛起,实际上是全人类20世纪文明的结晶。特朗普用自私、专断、赤裸的方式,拉低了美国作为全人类最领衔国家的文明标准,实际上是标志人类文明的退步。这真是令人痛心的事情。



以下为英文版:

How Trump makes Chinese love China more


"Is the US a beautiful country?" My son, a pupil, suddenly raised an odd question.


"Not necessarily!" I answered. "If you mean landscape, then yes-many places of the US are quite beautiful. But if you mean the society or politics,  the answer is' not necessarily attractive.'"


"Then why do we translate the US as meiguo in Putonghua?" he asked. Mei literally means beautiful and guo means country.


I might have to write an essay to answer this question. So I asked him the reason for his palpable curiosity.


He said recent TV news often criticized the US, especially saying US President Donald Trump is not friendly toward China,so he was confused why China still calls the country meiguo.


My son's reflection was pure, and might represent the mind-set of the new generation of Chinese. In the past two years, Trump mentioned China almost every day. This has made the Chinese see the US in another perspective.


Is the US a democracy? If yes, why isn't there any real force to restrain Trump, who could withdraw the US from some international organization or treaty by simply tweeting? A similar decision would probably take six to 12 months in China-it may first be discussed and approved by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and then sent to the National People's Congress for approval.


Is the US a market economy? If yes, how can its president order all its enterprises to stop selling equipment to Chinese tech company Huawei?  Even in China, when state-owned enterprises receive a governmental order to purchase more soybeans from the US,they would think twice about the market demand before they place the order.


Does the US respect human rights? If yes, why did it repeatedly launch wars against other countries in the past few decades,which have taken millions of innocent lives? Why does it implement surveillance around the world? Why doesn't it control the possession of guns, which have annually killed over 30,000 people in the country?


As a professor studying global governance,I certainly know the US-style answers to the above questions. I learned 20 years ago that the US media outlets bleach their country. I just want to represent many ordinary Chinese to ask, " Is the US really a beautiful country? "


In the past two years, Trump has been acting as a negative force, ripping off the mask off US hypocrisy and obliterating Chinese people's positive perceptions about the US. More importantly, Trump has made many Chinese people realize the fierceness of international competition and that China is still in need of quality development.


I visited many export-oriented companies in South China's Shenzhen, Dongguan and Guangzhou cities a few weeks ago. The owners were unusually anxious. One of them said he planned to enjoy retirement but pressures due to Trump force him to work harder for more years.


A high- level manager from Huawei told me that some employees who planned job-hopping finally chose to stay and fight to win over Trump's groundless crackdown on the company.


In this context, I think Chinese people should appreciate Trump,who in fact has made them love their country, family and work more.


A similar sense of crisis swept China in 1999 when the Chinese Embassy in Yugoslavia was bombed by the US. I walked among tens of thousands of college students who protested against the US in the streets. We shouted and cried and felt for the first time at a young age the importance of China becoming strong. Then China has been rising,which becomes the greatest story in early 21st century.


Therefore, I believe the US-launched trade war against China has given a lesson to the new generation of Chinese that it is not China, but the US and even the human civilization that will finally suffer the loss, because the rise of the US was in fact the crystallization of 20th century's civilization for all mankind.


Selfishly and arbitrarily, Trump has lowered the standard of US being a leading country in the world. It signals the degradation of human civilization. This is really heartbreaking.





更多阅读:

【变局·专栏】中国知识的价格(中英双语)

【深度】“你讲的有意思,但太像中共宣传了”

【关注】原外交部副部长何亚非谈乡村振兴,这些话牛了!

【深度】沙特被袭,伊朗背锅?处处逢敌的伊朗究竟是什么样的存在

【深度】中俄总理第24次会晤,释放欧亚大陆的重大合作信号

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