中国驻英国大使傅莹在英语联盟的演讲

更好地了解中国
——在英语联盟的演讲
中国驻英国大使傅莹
2009年12月10日
Understanding China
Speech at the English Speaking Union
China's Ambassador to UK. Fu Ying
10 December, 2009
尊敬的亨特勋爵，
女士们、先生们：
Lord Hunt,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
很高兴应英语联盟之邀做丘吉尔讲座，索姆斯女男爵（丘吉尔之女）的光临令我深感荣幸。

It is a great honor for me to be invited to speak at the Churchill Lecture. And it is a special honor to have Lady Soames with us in the audience.
丘吉尔爵士一生成就斐然，曾担任英语联盟的第一任主席，足见他致力于通过英语促进和平、增进了解的决心。

Sir Winston Churchill was a man of many great accomplishments. The fact that he was the first Chairman of the ESU, is a clear indication of his commitment to promoting peace and understanding across the world through the use of the English language.
24年前我在英国留学的时候，曾到查特韦尔的丘吉尔故居参观，在那儿买了一本丘吉尔自传。

当时对我来说，买课外书是一件很奢侈的事，所以很珍惜，把那本书一字不漏地从头读到尾。

When I was a student in the UK 24 years ago, I bought his autobiography when visiting Chartwell House. Buying books was luxury for me at that time and I valued it and read from cover to cover.
丘吉尔爵士勤奋好学的态度深深感染了我。

当他还是后座议员时，这位聪明的年轻人已经在下议院中脱颖而出。

他在自传中讲到，没有勤奋就不可能有聪明。

他谈到每次在议会发言，哪怕只是提一个2分钟的问题，都会花上几个小时甚至几天的时间在议会大厦走廊的图书架上查阅大量资料，研究事情的背景，做认真准备。

I was deeply struck by Sir Winston’s attitude towards learning. When still a backbencher, he already distinguished himself in the Commons and was seen as a bright young man. He explained that no one can be bright,
without learning and disclosed how he devoted hours and days finding the background of the facts from books in the corridors of Westminster every time before asking the two-minute question.
这对我很有启发，尤其是当我在学习中遇到困难的时候。

直到今天，我对自己做的每一场演讲和接受的每次采访都精心准备，当然也包括今天这场演讲。

我留学英国时，也曾在牛津大学参加过英语联盟办的演讲和辩论技巧培训班，我要借此机会表示感谢。

今天是检验培训对我是否起作用的好机会，如果今天我讲得不好，也有英语联盟的责任吧。

This inspired me greatly especially, when my classes got harder. To this day, I still work very hard on every speech or interview I take, including this one and I thank the English Speaking Union for giving me a unique training course in Oxford for speaking and debating skill during my study in UK. I hope the training worked for me or, if you judge me to be a poor speaker today, at least you know where part of the blame lies.
我演讲的主题是：更好地了解中国。

Today, I have entitled my speech as Understanding China.
根据美国一家专门跟踪全球媒体报道的研究机构—全球语言监控机构的统计，过去10年最热门的新闻中，中国崛起占据榜首，甚至大大超过9·11恐怖袭击和伊拉克战争。

According to Global Language Monitor, an American research body following the global media reporting, on its list of the Top News Stories of the Decade, the rise of China came as the first, even well ahead of 9/11 and the war in Iraq.
的确，2009年很可能将被作为中国迈向发挥世界大国作用的转折之年而载入史册。

But I think 2009 will probably be remembered in our history, as China’s transition into playing a major role in the world.
我在伦敦能清楚地感受到，中国正在走上世界舞台。

在G20伦敦金融峰会上，中国与美国、英国和其他国家的密切合作显示出，中国已经进入处理全球事务的中心舞台。

Here in London, I could clearly sense China’s emergence onto the world stage. During the G20 London Summit, the close cooperation between China, US, UK and other countries shows that China has come to the centre stage of addressing global issues.
美国总统奥巴马不久前访华时谈到，中国在全球事务中发挥更大的作用是过去20年最重大的事件之一。

他说，美国对此表示欢迎，并期待成为中国有效的伙伴。

During his recent visit to China, President Obama referred to China’s playing a larger role in global events as one of the most important things happened over the last two decades. He welcomed it and said that US looked forward to being an effective partner with China.
然而，西方世界的很多人仍然觉得了解中国是件很难的事。

而中国也有民众对西方世界到底用意如何有疑虑。

However, many people in the Western world find it difficult to understand China. On the other hand, there is also wariness on the part of the Chinese people about the Western world’s intention on China.
那么，中国到底是一个什么样的国家呢？其实很难用一句简单的话来回答，因为中国太大了，太多样化了，变化太快了。

在我看来，今天的中国究其实质，是一个具有多重性特征的大国。

So after all, how can one define China? I’m afraid it defies a simple answer. China is too big, too diverse and too fast changing to be characterized easily. I would say that China is a multi-faceted power.
下面请允许我具体介绍一下：
Let me explain what I mean.
第一，中国是一个在过去30年中实现高速发展的国家。

First, China is a country that is rapidly transformed over the past 30 years. China’s leapfrogging progress can be seen in the following figures:
1996年，中国GDP是1万亿元，到2008年则增长到20万亿元，13年的时间里增长了20倍，成为世界第三大经济体。

2008年，中国一天创造的经济价值超过1952年一年的总量。

中国利用快速增加的财富使2.5亿人在过去的30年里摆脱了贫困。

因此，当我看到联合国关于消除饥饿的报告时，不禁为中国取得的成就而感到自豪，中国用占世界仅7%的可耕地，养活了占世界20%的人口。

In 1996, China’s GDP was 1 trillion Yuan, that was about 100 billion Pounds. In 2008, it grew to20 trillion Yuan (2 trillion Pounds). This means that in 13 years’ time, the Chinese economy has grown 20 times, turning into the 3rd largest economy in the world. The national wealth created in one day in 2008 was larger than the total annual output of 1952. With
the newly gained wealth, China has lifted 250 million people out of poverty in the past 30 years. So when I read the UN hunger report, I do feel proud for what China has achieved, with only 7% of the world’s arable land feeding 20% of the world’s population.
在中国悠久的历史中，吃饭问题一直是头等大事。

记得一直到８０年代，人们见面打招呼的方式都是问：“吃了吗？”。

现在，如果你问我女儿这代人“吃了吗？”，他们会觉得你这人大概有毛病。

Throughout China’s long history, food was always a big concern for the Chinese people and I remember that until the 1980s, the Chinese people greeted each other by aski ng “Have you had your meal?” But for my daughter’s generation, if you greet them in this way, they might think you have a problem.
当然，中国缺乏在世界舞台上操作的历史经验，我们仍然在学习和适应自己新的全球角色。

而且我们仍然需要将大部分精力投入到处理国内问题上。

Naturally, China is still learning and adjusting to its new global role, as it lacks historical experience of operating on the global stage and also it is still very much preoccupied by domestic concerns and challenges.
这引出了我要说的第二点：中国仍然是一个发展中国家。

中国存在的弱点和挑战我们中国人自己看得最清楚。

That lead to my second point, China is still a developing country. We in China are more conscious of our weaknesses and the challenges facing our country.
中国人均GDP刚达到3000美元多一点，居世界104位，排在牙买加和纳米比亚之后。

而英国的人均GDP是中国的13倍。

各位是否还记得英国历史上哪一年处于同样的收入水平？根据英国经济学家安格斯·麦迪森的测算，那要追溯到1913年。

People tend to forget that China’s GDP in per capita term is only a little more than 3,000 dollars, ranking us as 104th in the world. We are behind countries like Jamaica and Namibia. UK’s per capita GDP is 13 times higher than China. I wonder if you remember when in history the United Kingdom was at this income level? According to British Economist Angus Maddison: It was as far back as 1913.
中国仍处在世界产业链的低端，中国产品的很多设计和关键部件都依赖进口。

中国也许要出口一个集装箱的鞋袜，才能买来一个小小的电脑芯片。

China’s manufacturing is at a fairly low value added level and most of the made in China products are made with the world as the design and key parts are often imported. We may have to export a container full of shoes and socks to pay for a tiny computer chip.
中国发展不平衡的问题也相当突出。

许多外国人看到北京和上海，以为那就是中国，但若去中国广大的西部地区看看，肯定会得出截然不同的结论。

中国还处在工业化、城镇化的早期，65%的人口是农民。

有1.35亿人每天生活费不足1美元。

我们不能因为所取得的成就而骄傲自满，这也正是为什么中国领导人常说，要有忧患意识，居安思危。

China also faces the serious challenge of uneven development. Many foreigners come to vibrant Beijing or Shanghai and think they have seen China. But for those who have visited China’s far west, will have a different experience and understanding. China is still in the early stage of industrialization and urbanization, with sixty five percent of its people live in the rural areas. You may be surprised to know that one hundred and thirty five million Chinese people live under less than one dollar a day. We can’t be conceited with what we have achieved. This is why Chinese leaders often say that we need to be aware of the difficulties and risks, even when we are enjoying stability and prosperity.
当然，这并不意味着我们会无视世界对中国承担全球责任日益上升的期待。

因此，我想说的第三点是，中国正在学习承担更大的国际责任。

That is not to say that China should ignore the growing expectations in the world for China to take on global responsibilities. So my third point is about China learning to undertake new international responsibilities.
正如国家主席胡锦涛所说，中国的前途命运与世界的前途命运前所未有地紧密联系在一起。

As the Chinese President Hu J intao remarked, China’s destiny has never been so closely linked with the destiny of the world.
我想，中国崛起之所以成为热门话题，也是因为许多人不确定中国强大后将如何运用自身实力，中国能否摆脱国强必霸的窠臼。

One of the reasons why the rise of China was such a hot topic is that, many people, especially scholars can’t be certain how China is going to exert its influence as a new world power and would China too fall into the track of military expansion of the previous powers.
事实上，中国作为经济大国对世界并不是什么新鲜事。

在18世纪以前的几个世纪里，中国一直是世界上经济发展最强盛的国家，GDP一度占世界一半以上。

但是，中华文明没有谋霸的基因，而只是一个朝代接一个朝代地修筑长城，以阻挡游牧部族。

What I want to say is that China being an economic power is not new to the world. It was the most important economic powerhouse for hundreds of years before the 18th Century. Its manufacturing was at times more than half of the world’s total. However, expansionism was not in China’s cultural genes. In Dynasty after dynasty, the Chinese built up the Great Wall to fend off the nomadic tribes.
进入21世纪，中国通过对外积极贸易获得经济发展，并且得益于相对和平的国际环境。

在当今全球化的世界里，各国的利益高度融合，相互联系和依存日益紧密。

因此，中国确定的对外关系的基调是追求和平、发展与合作。

Coming into the 21st century, China gained economic growth mainly through active trading with the world and by benefiting from a relatively peaceful world environment. Today we live in a globalised world with an unprecedented degree of interdependences among countries and the convergence of their interests. That is why China set the tone for its relationship with the world as: peace, development and cooperation.
美国国务卿希拉里访问中国的时候采用了一个中国成语“同舟共济”，这个成语表现了时代的精神，反映了金融危机中，中国与美国以及欧洲国家关系的状态。

Secretary Hillary Clinton, when visiting China, captured this spirit of the times with a Chinese idiom “fighting the storm in the same boat”. This accurately depicts the nature of China’s relationship with the United States, Europe and all other countries amidst the financial crisis.
1992年，当我参加联合国维和行动时，总有人问我，你是韩国人还是菲律宾人？现在，中国是联合国常任理事国当中参加联合国维和行动人数最多的国家，累计14000人次。

中国也为世界减贫和发展事业做出贡献，中非关系就是很好的例证。

In 1992 when I was serving with a UN peace keeping mission, I was always asked are you from Korea or Philippines? Now, among the P5, China is the largest troop contributing country to the UN peace keeping missions worldwide, totaling 14 000. China has also been a serious contributor to global poverty reduction and development efforts. China-Africa relationship is a good case in point.
温家宝总理在中非论坛上提出了推进中非合作的8项新举措，除了为非洲国家提供优惠贷款，免除最不发达国家债务等，还将在非洲建５０所学校，培训1500
名校长和老师，将奖学金名额增至5500名。

中英两国也在探讨在一些非洲项目上合作的可能性。

Premier Wen Jiabao announced at the recent China-Africa Cooperation Forum a series of assistance to African countries. Apart from offering concessional loans and removing debts, China will also build 50 new schools, train 1,500 headmasters and teachers, and give 5,500 scholarships. China and UK are also exploring possibilities working together on some of the African projects.
鉴于哥本哈根会议升温，我下面谈一谈中国在应对气候变化问题上发挥的作用。

中国赞同减排，以阻止全球变暖的趋势。

在中国，极端天气越来越多，另外在经济高速发展的同时，也带来了严重的环境问题，亟待解决。

Now, with the Copenhagen Conference heating up, I should also mention China’s role in the global fight against climate change. China believes in the need for cutting emission to counter global warming. We are experiencing more bouts of extreme weather. The fast economic growth has also resulted in serious environmental damages which urgently need to be addressed.
中国虽然仍然是一个发展中国家，也自愿采取了降低排放强度的措施，并制定了到2020年进一步将单位GDP碳强度降低40-45%的目标。

中国将把森林覆盖面积扩大4000万公顷，相当于英国国土面积的1倍半。

据国际能源署估计，如果中国到2020年能兑现上述目标，二氧化碳排放量将减少 10亿吨，这将是一个了
不起的成就。

Though a developing country, China started voluntary reduction of its emission intensity and set new targets for 2020 to further reducing its carbon intensity per unit of GDP by 40-45%. China will also continue to expand forest coverage by 40 million hectares, that is bigger than one and half times the size of UK. According to the International Energy Agency, if China fulfils its target for 2020, it will have reduced its emissions of CO2 by 1 billion tons. That will be a great achievement.
但我们在讨论气候变化时，不能只看到数字和现象，还要看到其中人的因素。

想像一下，当一个中国农村通上电以后，农民们能打更深的水井，他们的孩子也能第一次看上电视，从中了解多彩的外部世界。

他们当然期盼更高的生活水平、更多的物质享受。

But when discussing climate change, the issue in not only related to facts and figures, there is also the human dimension. Imagine when electricity reaches a Chinese village, not only are the farmers able to drill deeper for water, but also their children would be able to watch TV for the first
time and see the wonderful outside world. They of course will dream about a better life and all the things that come with it.
谁能对他们说，你们没有权利享受从电视里看到的上海人或伦敦人的生活？如何让13亿人民都有机会实现梦想，并且是以对环境负责任的方式来实现，这是中国面临的艰巨的使命。

我们实现这个跨越的唯一的出路在于加大科技的投入。

Who are we to tell them that they have no right to the kind of life in Sh anghai or London they see on TV? China’s difficult mission is to enable all of our 1.3 billion people to have the opportunity to realize their dreams, but to achieve it in an environmentally responsible way. The only way we will make that leap is through investing in science and technology.
中国主张权利与责任应当平衡。

中国人均排放二氧化碳4.6吨，而美国和英国人均分别为20吨和8.7吨。

从1750年到2005年，发达国家的排放占世界总排放的80%。

即使到今天，发达国家人口虽然只占世界人口20%，排放量仍占全球55%。

这就是为什么我们在哥本哈根会议上主张，发达国家应当根据“共同但有区别的责任”原则，承担减排的主要责任，并增加对发展中国家的技术转移和资金支持。

这是一个涉及公平和平等的发展权利的问题。

China believe s in a balance between rights and obligations. China’s emission per person is 4.6 tons, compared with 20 tons in America and 8.7 tons in Britain. Between 1750 and 2005, developed countries accounted for 80% of the world’s CO2 emissions. Even today, with on ly 20% of the world’s population, developed countries pump more than 55% of the total emissions into the atmosphere. That is why we support the idea that developed countries should take the lead in emission reduction in Copenhagen according to the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities, and that they should increase technology transfer and funding for developing countries. This is ultimately about fairness and equal right to development.
中国与世界的关系仍在演变之中。

扩大中国对外部世界的了解和外部世界对中国的了解，对增进彼此理解与合作至关重要。

中国热情地拥抱世界，英语热方兴未艾。

每年新增英语学习者超过2000万。

北京奥运会是一个重要的推动器，奥运前后，家庭主妇、出租车司机都在努力学习英语。

China’s relationship with the world is still evolving. Greater knowledge of the outside world and greater knowledge by the outside world of China are essential to greater understanding and cooperation between China and the world. China is embracing the world with enthusiasm and English learning has become very popular. 20 million more people take up English learning every year. Olympics was a great promoter and even housewives and taxi-drivers were learning English before the games.
事实上，语言障碍可以是影响理解的重要因素。

我可以举一个例子，邓小平在上世纪90年代提出，中国外交一个重要原则是“韬光养晦”。

当时世界进入重大变革，一些人想将中国拖入围绕冷战的是是非非而进行的争论中。

邓小平引用的这句古语是说，不要试图做超出自己能力的事情。

他是强调我们应当集中精力发展自己的经济。

直到今天，这仍然是中国外交的重要指导原则。

Indeed, the language barrier can be a big factor affecting understanding. To give you an example, an important principle in China’s diplomacy is “Taoguangyanghui”(stay away from the limelight), which was proposed by Deng Xiaoping in the 1990s. It was time of great changes in the world and some people wanted to draw China into the debate in the world about the right and wrongs of the cold war and its related issues. By quoting a historical proverb, Mr. Deng, wanted to say that we should focus on our own economic development and refrain from attempting things beyond us. This is still a guiding principle for us.
但不知道出于什么动机，一个美国学者将这句话翻译成：“咬紧牙关、等待时机”，不难想象这将如何为“中国威胁论”推波助澜。

For whatever reason, an American scholar translated it for the Pentagon as “biting the teeth and waiting for the time”. One doesn’t need much imagination to see how this can fuel the China threat theory.
很多关于中国的误解在某种程度上都因交流不畅造成。

奥巴马总统访华时，国际媒体完全忽略了中国网民们和中国媒体上关于中美关系、中国与世界关系的热烈讨论。

Many misunderstanding of China are to some extent a result of miscommunication. When President Obama was visiting China, some media completely ignored the warm debate among the Chinese bloggers on the Chinese web and media, about China US relations and about China and the world.
中国现在有2000种报纸、9000种杂志，每年出版新书23万种。

中国还有互联网用户3.6亿人，博客用户1.8亿人。

在中国，公众和舆论界言论活跃，对几乎每件事都发表看法，其中既有很多积极肯定的观点，也有不少批评的意见。

In China, there are 2000 newspapers and 9000 magazines. 230,000 books are published every year. There are 360 million internet users including 180 million bloggers. So there is a very lively public expressing their views sometimes positive and sometimes critical on almost everything.
但外部世界很少有人能够跟上这股快速发展的信息流。

在中西方信息交流中，中国读到关于西方的东西一向要远远多于西方读到关于中国的东西。

中国早在上世纪20年代就开始大量翻译介绍西方的文学和科学书籍，现在力度更大，翻译作
品有着广泛的阅读群体。

一个中国学生要考大学，就不可能不了解一些英国文学和工业革命的历史。

而且随着越来越多的中国人能阅读英语，在北京、上海的书店里能看到整架整架的英文原版书籍。

但这种双向交流并不平衡，在西方，甚至学校和图书馆都很少见到关于中国的书籍，更不要说在书店里了。

But very few people outside China follow this fast growing information flow. Between China and the Western world, China has always read more about the Western World than vise versa. Chinese translation of Western literature and science has grown in strength since the 1920s and is still very strong and are widely read. It is impossible for Chinese student to enter the university without knowing some British literature and the history of industrialization. Now with more Chinese reading English, you can find shelves of original English books in the bookstores in Chinese cities. However this two way traffic is not evenly matched, as you can find very little about China even in the school and university libraries, let alone in the book shops.
随着时间的推移，老一代翻译家渐渐淡出历史舞台。

翻译了中国古典名著《红楼梦》的牛津大学语言学家霍克思先生在今年夏天离世。

春天我到他家里访问时可以感受到先生的寂寥，他的译作在英国社会里也鲜有人知。

在中国，曾将不少中国名著和诗歌翻译成英文的著名翻译家杨宪益先生也与世长辞。

我们亟需培养新一代像霍先生、杨先生那样的翻译大家。

As time moves on we are seeing the older generation of language experts fading away. David Hawkes, a Sinologist at Oxford, who translated the ancient Chinese classic The Story of the Stone passed away last summer. When I visited him at his home last spring, I could not help realizing his loneliness. His great work is little known here. On the Chinese side, the famous Chinese translator who turn many Chinese classics and poems into English, Mr. Yang Xianyi also passed away recently. We now urgently need a new generation of Chinese-English translators to continue the work and efforts of great men like them.
中国已经向世界伸出了手，目前在包括英国在内的87个国家建立了282个孔子学院和241个孔子课堂。

我们高兴地看到，世界握住了中国伸出来的手。

China has stretched out its hand to the world. There are now 282 Confucius Institutes and 241 Confucius Classrooms set up in 87 countries, including in the UK. We are glad that the world is taking China’s hand.
在英国，越来越多的学校开设中文课程。

在中国有3000名英国留学生，在英国则有8万名中国留学生，我希望他们能建立起更多沟通的桥梁。

奥巴马总统在上海访问时宣布，今后4年，美国派往中国的留学生将增加到10万人，我也希望有更多的英国留学生到中国来。

Here in UK, more and more schools are taking up Chinese language teaching. There are about 3000 British students studying in China and 80,000 Chinese students in the UK. I hope more bridges will be built by them. President Obama announced in Shanghai that a hundred thousand American students will come to China in the next four years. Similar measures could also be taken by this country.
在结束之前，我要说，英语联盟多年来帮助中国开展英语教学，我们对此深表赞赏。

你们过去几十年的努力成果丰硕，为增进中国和世界的沟通做了很大贡献。

Before concluding, I want to say that we appreciate the ESU’s years of effort to cultivate the learning of English in China. What you did decades ago is bearing fruit and you can take some credit for China’s engagement with the world today.
现在世界需要更好地了解中国。

我希望英语联盟在新时期发挥更大的作用，成为中英伙伴关系中不可或缺的桥梁。

Now the world needs to know China better. I would like to see ESU playing a growing role in this new era and be an indispensable bridge for the partnership between China and the UK and China and the world.
谢谢大家！
Thank you.。