经济学人53:中巴关系,真的能甜蜜吗?

 　　Pakistan and China

　　巴基斯坦与中国

　　Sweet as can be?

　　真的能甜蜜吗？

　　Even an all-weather friendship has limits

　　哪怕是永不背弃的友谊都有其极限

　　May 12th 2011 | BEIJING AND ISLAMABAD | fromThe Economist¹ print edition

　　Come rain or shine

　　风雨无阻

　　PAKISTAN’S ambassador to Beijing, Masood Kahn, was this week fully² armed with metaphors³ to describe the robust⁴ friendship between the two countries. “We say it is higher than the mountains, deeper than the oceans, stronger than steel, dearer than eyesight, sweeter than honey, and so on.”

　　巴基斯坦的大使Masood Kahn带着形容两国坚固友谊的隐喻于这个星期到达北京。“我们说它比山高，比海深，比金属坚硬，比视野珍贵，比蜂蜜甜蜜，以及其他。”

　　The relationship is indeed a geopolitical keystone for both countries. Pakistan serves as China’s closest friend both in South Asia and among Islamic countries. So close, indeed, that many suspect China has asked Pakistan for the valuable remains⁵ of the American stealth helicopter abandoned during the bin⁶ Laden⁷ raid. Meanwhile, China can help counterbalance Pakistan’s arch-rival, India, including in Afghanistan.

　　这段友谊对于两国而言确实如同地理学上的一块楔石一般。在南亚以及伊斯兰教国家中，巴基斯坦充当着中国最亲密的伙伴。如此的亲密，甚至于许多国家怀疑中国向巴基斯坦索要了在本拉登袭击事件中珍贵的美国秘密遗弃的直升机残骸。同时，中国帮助制约巴基斯坦的主要竞争对手印度，以及阿富汗。

　　Pakistan seems keen to foster the impression that new tensions with America might nudge it even closer towards China. In his blustery speech to parliament on May 9th Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani struck out on an odd tangent to praise China as an “all-weather friend”, providing Pakistan with strength and inspiration. Not to be outdone, President Asif Zardari issued an effusive⁸ statement of his own about a friendship “not matched by any other relationship between two sovereign countries”.

　　巴基斯坦看起来热衷于促进新的与美国关系的紧张状态，而这种热衷则可能会让其与中国的关系更进一步。在其总理Yusuf Raza Gilani 于5月9号对国会充满争议的演讲中，他突然提出了一个奇怪的话题——中国是一位永不分离的伙伴，她给巴基斯坦提供力量与灵感。

　　But if Islamabad is worried about falling out with Washington and hopes to get more out of Beijing, it may be in for disappointment. According to Zhu Feng of Peking University, such calculations based on “the traditional mentality⁹ of power politics” are misplaced. China’s robust, longstanding ties with Pakistan stand on their own merits, he says, and owe nothing to America’s standing¹⁰ in Pakistan. Both China and America want a stable Pakistan.

　　但是如果伊斯兰堡担心与华盛顿关系破裂，又想从北京得到什么的话，那它就会失望了。按照北京大学的Zhu Feng所说，这种立足于“政治强权的传统思维方式”的推断是错误的。中国与巴基斯坦这种坚固的，长时间存在的友谊立足于他们共同的利益，他说，而不是美国占领巴基斯坦。中国与美国都希望有一个稳定的巴基斯坦。

　　For all that, China’s dealings with Pakistan have always been conducted with one eye on India. Last year Beijing chose to supply Pakistan with two new civilian¹¹ nuclear reactors¹², even though the deal appeared to violate Chinese non-proliferation commitments. It was a boon¹³ not only for Pakistan’s energy-starved economy. It was, as Mr Zhu points out, also a way for China to counterbalance a controversial nuclear deal reached earlier between America and India.

　　因此，中国与巴基斯坦的交往一直都以关注印度来实施的。去年北京选择支援巴基斯坦两个新的核反应堆，即使这个配给违反了中国的不扩散承诺。这个恩惠并不仅仅针对巴基斯坦的能源短缺经济。这个措施，Mr Zhu 指出，同样也是一种对早期有争议的美国与印度关于核交易事件的一种抗衡方式。

　　China and Pakistan have a lustily growing trade relationship, worth almost $9 billion last year. China provides military gear, including fighter jets and frigates¹⁴. Some Chinese infrastructure¹⁵ projects in Pakistan have strategic implications. They include ports on the Arabian Sea and a proposed rail project which has yet to be approved, but which would arouse controversy¹⁶, and Indian ire, by running through contested territory in Kashmir.

　　中国和巴基斯坦有一种稳步发展的贸易关系，且在去年价值将近90亿美元。中国提供军事设备，包括战斗机与快速军舰。中国的一些基础设施项目也战略性的存在于巴基斯坦。包括在阿拉伯海岸的港口和尚在核准中的铁轨建设提议，但是可能会引起社会矛盾和印度的愤怒，因为铁轨提议穿越正处于领土纷争中的克什米尔。

　　Still, China’s commitment to Pakistan has its limits. After devastating¹⁷ floods last year, America gave Pakistan $690m, 28% of all international aid. China’s contribution was a mere¹⁸ $18m. According to Andrew Small of the German Marshall Fund, an American policy institute, Pakistan may be “talking up the ‘China option’ beyond where the Chinese are willing to go.” China, he reckons, will be reluctant to tilt¹⁹ too far towards what might look like an anti-India alliance”. Despite border disagreements, China wants to keep its relations with India in reasonable order.

　　然而，中国对巴基斯坦的承诺还是有其限制性的。经过去年毁灭性的洪灾后，美国给予了巴基斯坦690,000,000美元，相当于28%的国际援助。中国的捐款则仅仅是18,000,000美元。根据德国马歇尔基金的Andrew Small所说，美国制定了一种政策，巴基斯坦就可能“在中国确定想要前进的方向之前大声谈论‘中国的选择’”。虽然有着边界纷争，中国仍然想与印度保持一种合理的秩序。

　　What is more, Pakistan’s chronic²⁰ instability and its failure, whether by design or incompetence²¹, to suppress extremism make Pakistan as hard a partner for China to trust as for America. “Sweeter than honey” may be plenty sweet enough.

　　而且，巴基斯坦慢性的不稳定和它的失败，不管是因为计划还是无能，都抑制了巴基斯坦成为对于美国来说的就像对于中国而言一样可靠的能信任的伙伴的这种极端。“比蜂蜜更加甜蜜”可能足够甜了。

1 economist   

n.经济学家，经济专家，节俭的人

参考例句：

• He cast a professional economist's eyes on the problem.他以经济学行家的眼光审视这个问题。
• He's an economist who thinks he knows all the answers.他是个经济学家，自以为什么都懂。

2 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

3 metaphors   

隐喻( metaphor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• I can only represent it to you by metaphors. 我只能用隐喻来向你描述它。
• Thus, She's an angel and He's a lion in battle are metaphors. 因此她是天使，他是雄狮都是比喻说法。

4 robust   

adj.强壮的，强健的，粗野的，需要体力的，浓的

参考例句：

• She is too tall and robust.她个子太高，身体太壮。
• China wants to keep growth robust to reduce poverty and avoid job losses,AP commented.美联社评论道，中国希望保持经济强势增长，以减少贫困和失业状况。

5 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

6 bin   

n.箱柜；vt.放入箱内；[计算机] DOS文件名:二进制目标文件

参考例句：

• He emptied several bags of rice into a bin.他把几袋米倒进大箱里。
• He threw the empty bottles in the bin.他把空瓶子扔进垃圾箱。

7 laden   

adj.装满了的；充满了的；负了重担的；苦恼的

参考例句：

• He is laden with heavy responsibility.他肩负重任。
• Dragging the fully laden boat across the sand dunes was no mean feat.将满载货物的船拖过沙丘是一件了不起的事。

8 effusive   

adj.热情洋溢的；感情(过多)流露的

参考例句：

• Every visitor noticed that her effusive welcome was not sincere.所有的客人都看出来她那过分热情的欢迎是不真诚的。
• Her effusive thanks embarrassed everybody.她道谢时非常激动，弄得大家不好意思。

9 mentality   

n.心理，思想，脑力

参考例句：

• He has many years'experience of the criminal mentality.他研究犯罪心理有多年经验。
• Running a business requires a very different mentality from being a salaried employee.经营企业所要求具备的心态和上班族的心态截然不同。

10 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

11 civilian   

adj.平民的，民用的，民众的

参考例句：

• There is no reliable information about civilian casualties.关于平民的伤亡还没有确凿的信息。
• He resigned his commission to take up a civilian job.他辞去军职而从事平民工作。

12 reactors   

起反应的人( reactor的名词复数 )； 反应装置； 原子炉； 核反应堆

参考例句：

• The TMI nuclear facility has two reactors. 三哩岛核设施有两个反应堆。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法
• The earliest production reactors necessarily used normal uranium as fuel. 最早为生产用的反应堆，必须使用普通铀作为燃料。

13 boon   

n.恩赐，恩物，恩惠

参考例句：

• A car is a real boon when you live in the country.在郊外居住，有辆汽车确实极为方便。
• These machines have proved a real boon to disabled people.事实证明这些机器让残疾人受益匪浅。

14 frigates   

n.快速军舰( frigate的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Frigates are a vital part of any balanced sea-going fleet. 护卫舰是任何一个配置均衡的远洋舰队所必需的。 来自互联网
• These ships are based on the Chinese Jiangwei II class frigates. 这些战舰是基于中国的江卫II型护卫舰。 来自互联网

15 infrastructure   

n.下部构造，下部组织，基础结构，基础设施

参考例句：

• We should step up the development of infrastructure for research.加强科学基础设施建设。
• We should strengthen cultural infrastructure and boost various types of popular culture.加强文化基础设施建设，发展各类群众文化。

16 controversy   

n.争论，辩论，争吵

参考例句：

• That is a fact beyond controversy.那是一个无可争论的事实。
• We ran the risk of becoming the butt of every controversy.我们要冒使自己在所有的纷争中都成为众矢之的的风险。

17 devastating   

adj.毁灭性的，令人震惊的，强有力的

参考例句：

• It is the most devastating storm in 20 years.这是20年来破坏性最大的风暴。
• Affairs do have a devastating effect on marriages.婚外情确实会对婚姻造成毁灭性的影响。

18 mere   

adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过

参考例句：

• That is a mere repetition of what you said before.那不过是重复了你以前讲的话。
• It's a mere waste of time waiting any longer.再等下去纯粹是浪费时间。

19 tilt   

v.(使)倾侧；(使)倾斜；n.倾侧；倾斜

参考例句：

• She wore her hat at a tilt over her left eye.她歪戴着帽子遮住左眼。
• The table is at a slight tilt.这张桌子没放平，有点儿歪.

20 chronic   

adj.(疾病)长期未愈的，慢性的；极坏的

参考例句：

• Famine differs from chronic malnutrition.饥荒不同于慢性营养不良。
• Chronic poisoning may lead to death from inanition.慢性中毒也可能由虚弱导致死亡。

21 incompetence   

n.不胜任，不称职

参考例句：

• He was dismissed for incompetence. 他因不称职而被解雇。
• She felt she had been made a scapegoat for her boss's incompetence. 她觉得，本是老板无能，但她却成了替罪羊。