中美阿拉斯加首次会晤开场就破局
中美在拜登当选美国总统后的首次阿拉斯加会晤撞到了城墙。双方均派出了豪华的阵容,中国方面是中央外事工作委员会办公室主任杨洁篪、与国务委员兼外交部长王毅,美国是国务卿布林肯和国家安全顾问沙罗文。
美国大政经常是哈佛或耶鲁人掌控,这次也是哈佛人布林肯和耶鲁校友沙罗文坐在桌子上。中国的最高外交官杨洁篪也是耶鲁老爸,所以大家还是有些亲戚关系滴。
中美关系的寒冬将会持续很长的时间,绝不可能是仅经历一个阿拉斯加的冰雪天。或许这些措辞激烈的语句只是说给各自的国内观众听的,我希望随后的几天会谈不要触碰到谷底。已经有人将此相互的针锋相对,与WWI 的前夜相类比了。
这次中美关系可不仅仅是经济问题,通过多买什么东西就能够解决的。这次是全方位的,美国已经团结了他们的世界盟友,覆盖欧洲和亚洲,这样可能也会促使中俄联盟的加强。
中方愤怒的原因可能是会谈前美国宣布新一轮制裁中国官员的名单,所以中方才会有这么重的火药味。我们测试美国盟友已经形成的指标是,欧盟近期也启动了对华制裁。美国似乎没有提供工作午餐,杨洁篪吃的是泡面。
拜登是美国长期的外交领袖,担任参议院外交委员会主席很多年。他刚上任说的先团队盟友,再对付中国,现在看来正在按照他所说的一步步地向前走。我今早读了新闻简报后,非常佩服福山在川普主义盛行时对民主党上台后中美关系走向的预测,他当时认为会更难办。以前意识形态的差异就很大,只是川普对这些不感兴趣,现在重提意识形态时发现问题更多。
中美谈判基本上破局了,双方几乎出现了人身攻击,这在大国之间是很少出现的。美国在对伊拉克空袭的前夜,伊拉克外交官在美国电视的访谈都是彬彬有礼的。中美交锋最激烈的时候,杨洁篪甚至对美国国务卿布林肯这样的话都说出:“我们以为你们会遵守基本的外交礼节”。
中方两位外交官使用非常严厉的语句批评美国,不惜把美国近期出现的种族冲突都用上了,可以想像美国人会有多么恼火。杨洁篪好像沒有女儿在耶鲁读书似的,这些便宜的东西都用作武器,他这次一改内敛的形象,炮火连天。但是布林肯不亏是哈佛人,他这样回答:“我知道我们美国的不完美,我们会犯错,我们遭遇挫折,我们会退步,但在历史中我们所做的就是面对这些挑战,以诚实、公开、透明的态度,而不是去忽略这些错误,也不是假装不存在,或者隐藏这些缺失。经历这些困境有时很痛苦,有时令人难堪,但每一次的经验,都让我们国家变得更强、更好、更团结”。
以前的梦想是耶鲁校友坐在一起谈天说地,因为他们分别是中美两国的总统,谈的是在耶鲁美轮美奂的住宿学院的共同美好人生。美国和日本交战时,双方的将军都有出自美国军校的,包括西点军校的毕业生。如今的形势使耶鲁校友担任大国的General Secretary的可能性几乎是零,除非他脱胎换骨骂遍那些呕心沥血教育他的耶鲁教授。现在这场面实现了,Jake Sullivan (沙利文)作为耶鲁校友很有可能孩子在耶鲁读书,杨洁篪是耶鲁老爸无疑,所以现在是耶鲁老爸们在指点中美的江山。
我己经从美国媒体核实了,杨洁篪确实是耶鲁老爸,他在担任驻美大使时女儿毕业于克林顿和奥巴马总统的女儿就读过的私立高中,他们三位的女儿分别读了斯坦福、哈佛和耶鲁。记得克林顿竞选总统时,一直宣扬公立学校的重要性,结果入主白宫后仍然把女儿送入私立高中。欢迎杨洁篪加入到这些人士的光荣行列中,他们只有一个共同的头衔,那就是耶鲁老爸:布什总统,John Kerry, Bob Woodward, 骆家辉,李政道,肖传国,饶毅,林璎和雅美之途。
杨洁篪指责美国方面“严重超时,违反外交礼仪”,这个似乎站不住脚。因为以现场视频为依据,美国国务卿布林肯和国家安全顾问沙利文的讲话时间分别是2分27秒和2分17秒。杨洁篪主任和王毅外长的讲话时间分别为16分14 秒和4分9秒,王毅讲话锋芒毕露,但是这次教训美国人的重担落在了耶鲁老爸杨洁篪身上。取鲁校友沙利文应该也是始料不及,不知他是否在耶鲁政治联盟里学到了真本事。我读了规则,开场白是每人两分钟,杨洁篪使用了八倍的规定时间。美国无论是报告的开始和长短都是非常注意时间的,这个我们熟知, 这次谁违规已经很清楚了。
我们不清楚杨洁篪说那番话的前后语境是什么,但是布林肯说:“杨主任,王国委,鉴于你们超时的讲话,请允许我在进行下一步工作之前,再说几句。 我想,沙利文先生也想说几句”,所以可以肯定的是中国外交官拖了时间。很有可能,布林肯想在记者离开前再加些想说的内容,这时杨洁篪迎头痛击你们太沒教养。
如果我的这个猜测是对的,这已经是人身攻击了,将会导致美国人很不高兴。虽然有报道称随后的闭门会议进行的顺利,但是我不认为美国人会咽下这口气的。我觉得为了搏得粉红们热血沸腾而采取这种对抗的方式,真的是很不值得。这几乎将中美关系定格在了阿拉斯加寒冷的冬天里,春天会很久以后才能来临。
再说一说有人认为:“在翻译杨委员的英文中,却错误的把”position of strength”翻译为 “以实力的地位出发。”。他认为应该翻译成:“我们应该扬长避短,当我们把伙伴和盟友联合起来,那么中国将不得不更加重视”。
这人应该是在国内,不太懂美国人的语境和美国在世界的地位。“strength”就是指力量、实力和优势,美国人说这话时就是认为自己的实力超强,当然需要团结盟友。
为此我专门咨询了儿子,看来老子没有白花钱让他在耶鲁读英文:
我问:What did Blinken mean here concerning “from a position of strength “?(布林肯说“from a position of strength”是什么意思?)
儿子:Basically that the US will have a better negotiating position if it talks to and gets support from its allies. (基本上是说美国如果与自己的盟友商量并得到他们的帮助,美国将会有更好的谈判位置)
我再问:“But the interpreter translated “from a position of strength “ into “以实力的地位出发” right?”(但是翻译将“from a position of strength “翻译成“以实力的地位出发”正确吗?)
儿子:“Doesn’t seem wrong to me but you need the next few sentences for people to understand what it means ”(没有觉得错,但是你需要随后的几句话看它的意思)
下面是谷歌翻译的中美双方官方的发言,我只是调整了些句子结构,错的地方怪谷歌,别怪我。我也附上英文原文:
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken:
I said that the United States relationship with China will be competitive where it should be, collaborative where it can be, adversarial where it must be. Our discussions here in Alaska, I suspect, will run the gamut. Our intent is to be direct about our concerns, direct about our priorities, with the goal of a more clear-eyed relationship between our countries moving forward.
... I have to tell you in my short time as secretary of State, I've spoken to I think nearly a hundred counterparts from around the world. And I just made my first trip, as I noted, to Japan and South Korea. I have to tell you what I'm hearing is very different from what you described. I'm hearing deep satisfaction that the United States is back, that we're reengaged with our allies and partners. I'm also hearing deep concern about some of the actions your government is taking.
We'll also discuss our deep concerns with actions by China, including in Xinjiang, Hong Kong, Taiwan, cyberattacks on the United States, economic coercion toward our allies. Each of these actions, threaten the rules-based order that maintains global stability.
美国国务卿布林肯:
我说过美国与中国的关系将在应该的地方竞争,在可能的地方进行合作,在必须的地方进行对抗。我展望我们在阿拉斯加的讨论将会是全方位的。我们的意图是直接表达我们的关切,关注我们优先考虑的地方,以期望我们两国之间的关系更加清晰。
...我必须告诉您,在我担任国务卿的短时间里,我已经与世界各国的近一百位同行进行了交谈。正如我指出的,我刚刚去过日本和韩国。我必须告诉您我听到的与您描述的完全不同的声音。我听到对美国重返国际舞台非常满意的讯息,我们与盟国和伙伴将会重新密切合作。我还听到了对贵国政府正在采取的某些行动的深切关注。
我们还将讨论对中国采取的行动的深切关注,包括在新疆,香港,台湾,对美国的网络攻击,对盟国的经济胁迫。这些行动的每一个都会威胁到维护全球秩序稳定的规则。
China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi:
China certainly in the past has not and in the future will not accept the unwarranted accusations from the U.S. side. In the past several years, China's legitimate rights and interests have come under outright suppression, plunging the China-U.S. relationship into a period of unprecedented difficulty.
... China urges the U.S. side to fully abandon the hegemony practice of willfully interfering in China's internal affairs. This has been a longstanding issue and it should be changed. It is time for it to change.
中国外长王毅:
中国肯定在过去没有,将来也不会接受美方的无端指责。在过去的几年中,中国的合法权益遭到了彻底的压制,使中美关系陷入了崩溃。关系陷入前所未有的困难时期。
……中国敦促美方完全放弃故意干涉中国内政的霸权主义作法。这是一个长期存在的问题,应予以更改。现在是时候改变它了。
Chinese Director of the Central Foreign Affairs Commission, Yang Jiechi
China and the United States are both major countries, and both show the important responsibilities. We must both contribute to the peace, stability and the development of the world, in areas such as Covid-19, restoring economic activities in the world and responding to climate change.
There are many things that we can do together and where our interests converge. So what we need to do is to abandon the Cold War mentality and the zero-sum game approach.
... So let me say here that, in front of the Chinese side, the United States does not have the qualification to say that it wants to speak to China from a position of strength. The U.S. side was not even qualified to say such things even 20 years or 30 years back, because this is not the way to deal with the Chinese people. If the United States wants to deal properly with the Chinese side, then let's follow the necessary protocols and do things the right way.
Cooperation benefits both sides. In particular, this is the expectation of the people of the world. Well, the American people are certainly a great people, but so are the Chinese people.
中国杨洁篪主任:
中美都是主要国家,都负有重要责任。我们都必须为世界的和平,稳定与发展作出贡献,这些领域包括新冠、恢复世界经济活动以及应对气候变化。
我们可以一起做很多事情,而且我们的利益汇合在一起。因此,我们需要做的是放弃冷战思维和零和博弈方法。
……所以我在这里说,在中方面前,美国没有资格拿实力与中国对话。美方甚至没有资格在20年前或30年前说出这样的话,因为这不是与中国人民打交道的方式。如果美国想与中方妥善打交道,那么让我们遵循必要的程序,以正确的方式做事。
合作对双方都有好处。尤其这也是世界人民的期望。美国人民当然是伟大的人民,但是中国人民也是。
U.S. national security advisor Jake Sullivan:
Secretary of State Blinken laid out many of the areas of concerns from economic and military coercion to assault on basic values that we'll discuss with you today and in the days ahead.
... We've heard each of these concerns from around the world, from our allies and partners and the broader international community during the intensive consultations we've undertaken these last two months. We'll make clear today that our overriding priority on the United States side is to ensure that our approach in the world and our approach to China benefits the American people and protects the interests of our allies and partners.
We do not seek conflict but we welcome stiff competition and we will always stand up for our principles for our people and for our friends.
美国国家安全顾问沙罗文:
国务卿布林肯提出了许多方面的问题,从经济和军事胁迫到侵犯基本价值观,我们将在今天和未来几天与您讨论这些基本价值观。
在过去两个月的密集磋商中,我们已经听到了来自世界各地的关切,他们来自我们的盟友、合作伙伴以及更广泛的国际社会。今天我们要明确指出,我们美国方面的首要任务是确保我们在世界上的行动和对中国的做法使美国人民受益,并保护我们的盟国和伙伴的利益。
我们不寻求冲突,但我们欢迎激烈的竞争,我们将始终坚持我们为我们的人民和我们的朋友奉行的原则。
Yang:
It's also important for all of us to come together to build a new type of international relations, featuring fairness, justice, and mutual respect. And on some regional issues, I think the problem is that the United States has exercised long jurisdiction and suppression and over stretched.
... The United States itself does not represent international public opinion and neither does the Western world. Whether judged by population scale or the trend of the world, the Western world does not represent the global public opinion. So we hope that when talking about universal values or international public opinion on the part of the United States, we hope the U.S. side will think about whether it feels reassured saying those things because the U.S. does not represent the world. It only represents the government of the United States.
中国杨洁篪主任:
对我们所有人来说,共同建立一种新型的国际关系也很重要,这种国际关系应具有公平、正义和相互尊重的特点。在某些地区性问题上,我认为问题在于美国行使了长期的管辖权、压制和过度干预。
...美国本身不代表国际舆论,西方世界也不代表。无论是从人口规模还是从世界趋势来看,西方世界都不代表全球舆论。因此在谈论美国方面的普遍价值观或国际舆论时,我们希望美方再说这些话时重新考量,因为美国不代表世界。它仅代表美国政府。
Sullivan:
Secretary Blinken and I are proud of the story about America we're able to tell here, about a country that under President Biden's leadership has made major strides to control the pandemic, to rescue our economy and to affirm the strength and staying power of our democracy. We're particularly proud of the work that we've done to revitalize our alliances and partnerships, the foundation of our foreign policy.
美国国家安全顾问沙罗文:
布林肯国务卿和我为我们能在这里讲述美国的故事感到骄傲,这个国家在拜登总统的领导下,已经在控制新冠大流行,挽救我们的经济和确认我们的实力和持久性民主方面取得了重大进展。我们为振兴我们的联盟和伙伴关系而做出的工作感到特别的自豪,这是我们外交政策的基础。
Yang:
And the United States has its style, United States-style democracy. And China has the Chinese-style democracy. It is not just up to the American people, but also the people of the world, to evaluate how the United States has done in advancing its own democracy. In China's case, after decades of reform and opening up, we have come a long way in various fields.
... We believe that it is important for the United States to change its own image and to stop advancing its own democracy in the rest of the world. Many people within the United States actually have little confidence in the democracy of the United States and they have various views regarding the government of the United States in China.
中国杨洁篪主任:
美国也有自己的风格,即美国风格的民主。中国拥有中国式的民主。评估美国在推进自己的民主方面的成就不仅取决于美国人民,还取决于世界人民。就中国而言,经过几十年的改革开放,我们在各个领域都取得了长足的进步。
...我们认为,对于美国而言,改变自己的形象并停止在世界其他地区推进自己的民主至关重要。实际上,美国内部的许多人对美国的民主制度几乎没有信心,他们对美国政府对中国的态度也有不同的看法。
Blinken:
A hallmark of our leadership, of our engagement in the world is our alliances and our partnerships that had been built on a totally voluntary basis. And it is something that President Biden is committed to reinvigorating and strengthening. And there's one more hallmark of our leadership here at home and that's a constant quest to as we say, form a more perfect union.
And that quest, by definition, acknowledges our imperfections acknowledges that we're not perfect. We make mistakes. We, we have reversals we take steps back. But what we've done throughout our history is to confront those challenges, openly, publicly, transparently. Not trying to ignore them. Not trying to pretend they don't exist. Not trying to sweep them under the rug. And sometimes it's painful. Sometimes it's ugly. But each and every time we've come out stronger, better, more united, as a country.
I recall well when President Biden was vice president and we were visiting China ... and Vice President Biden at the time said it's never a good bet to bet against America, and that remains true today.
美国国务卿布林肯:
我们的领导层,我们参与世界的标志是我们的联盟和伙伴关系完全是自愿的。拜登总统致力于复兴和加强这一点。而且,我们领导力在国内的一个标志是,正如我们所说的那样,我们在不断寻求形成一个更完美的国家。
我知道我们美国的不完美,我们会犯错,我们遭遇挫折,我们会退步,但在历史中我们所做的就是面对这些挑战,以诚实、公开、透明的态度,而不是去忽略这些错误,也不是假装不存在,或者隐藏这些缺失。经历这些困境有时很痛苦,有时令人难堪,但每一次的经验,都让我们国家变得更强、更好、更团结
我记得当拜登总统担任副总统时,我们当时去访问中国……而当时的拜登副总统说,选择与美国对抗从来都不是一个好的赌注,今天仍然如此。