白宮20161216年終記者會（雲程譯）

Q    Your successor spoke by phone with the President of Taiwan the other day and declared

subsequently that he wasn’t sure why the United States needed to be bound by the one-China policy.  He suggested it could be used as a bargaining chip perhaps to get better terms on a trade deal or more cooperation on North Korea.  There’s already evidence that tensions between the two sides have increased a bit, and just today, the Chinese have evidently seized an underwater drone in the South China Sea.  Do you agree, as some do, that our China policy could use a fresh set of eyes?  And what’s the big deal about having a short phone call with the President of Taiwan?  Or do you worry that these types of unorthodox approaches are setting us on a collision course with perhaps our biggest geopolitical adversary?

日前，你的繼任者與台灣總統蔡英文通電話，並順道宣稱他不確定美國是否需要受一中政策所約束。他暗示著這或許是個談判貿易或朝鮮問題的籌碼。已有證據顯示，（美中）雙方的緊張稍微升高些，中國人已經在南海搶走（美國的）無人底下載具。一些人贊成，但你同意應重新看待我們的中國政策？一通與台灣總統的簡短的電話，到底有何了不起？你是否憂慮這些非正統的接觸，會使與中國對撞，而造成或許是最大的地緣爭議？

THE PRESIDENT:  That’s a great question.  I’m somewhere in between.  I think all of our foreign policy should be subject to fresh eyes.  I think one of the -- I’ve said this before -- I am very proud of the work I’ve done.  I think I’m a better President now than when I started.  But if you’re here for eight years, in the bubble, you start seeing things a certain way and you benefit from -- the democracy benefits, America benefits from some new perspectives.

這是大問題。我一半一半。我認為我們所有外交政策都應重新看待。我認為其中，如我先前所言，我對自己的所做感到非常驕傲。比起剛就任時，我認為我現在是個不錯的總統。假使你在此職位上八年，就在經濟泡沫中，你開始為一些事情做一些改變，而獲致成果，民主的成果，美國從新的願景中獲益。

And I think it should be not just the prerogative but the obligation of a new President to examine everything that’s been done and see what makes sense and what doesn’t.  That’s what I did when I came in, and I’m assuming any new President is going to undertake those same exercises. 

我認為去檢視所有已經完成的事情，判定何者有理或無理是新總統的義務，而不應只是選擇性的。當我就任時，我就是這樣做，我認為新總統就任職務時也應做相同的事情。

And given the importance of the relationship between the United States and China, given how much is at stake in terms of the world economy, national security, our presence in the Asia Pacific, China’s increasing role in international affairs -- there’s probably no bilateral relationship that carries more significance and where there’s also the potential if that relationship breaks down or goes into a full-conflict mode, that everybody is worse off.  So I think it’s fine for him to take a look at it.

我來說明美國與中國關係的重要性，說明其對於世界經濟、國家安全、我們在亞太的駐留、中國在國際事務逐漸增加份量，沒有其他雙邊關係負有更大的重要性。美中關係若可能破壞了，或走向全面對抗的模式，大家一體受害。所以，我認為為他做一概述是很恰當的。

What I’ve advised the President-elect is that across the board on foreign policy, you want to make sure that you’re doing it in a systematic, deliberate, intentional way.  And since there’s only one President at a time, my advice to him has been that before he starts having a lot of interactions with foreign governments other than the usual courtesy calls, that he should want to have his full team in place, that he should want his team to be fully briefed on what’s gone on in the past and where the potential pitfalls may be, where the opportunities are, what we’ve learned from eight years of experience, so that as he’s then maybe taking foreign policy in a new direction, he’s got all the information to make good decisions and, by the way, that all of government is moving at the same time and singing from the same hymnal. 

我建議總統當選人的，是跨越國境的外交政策，必須確認是處在系統脈絡下、有意識的、有目的的方式。由於，一次只有一位總統我對他的建議是，就他先前已經與各外國政府進行非僅禮貌性電話，那必須在他幕僚全員就位，必須接受包括過去已經發的、可能的陷阱、可能的機會和在的完整簡報，這是我們八年的經驗，在掌握所有充分資訊來做好的策略之後，才能制訂全新方向的外交政策。另外，讓所有政府都同時順應動態變化，並齊唱相同讚美詩。

And with respect to China -- and let’s just take the example of Taiwan -- there has been a longstanding agreement, essentially, between China, the United States, and, to some degree, the Taiwanese, which is to not change the status quo.  Taiwan operates differently than mainland China does.  China views Taiwan as part of China, but recognizes that it has to approach Taiwan as an entity that has its own ways of doing things.  The Taiwanese have agreed that as long as they’re able to continue to function with some degree of autonomy, that they won’t charge forward and declare independence. 

有關中國，我們以台灣為例來說明。美中之間有長久的，本質性的協議，在某方面，不許台灣人改變現狀。台灣與中國大陸運作相當不同。中國視台灣為其一部份，但承認要視台灣有自己一套做事方法的實體。台灣人已同意只要能夠保持一定程度的自治，他們就不進一步改變與宣稱獨立。

And that status quo, although not completely satisfactory to any of the parties involved, has kept the peace and allowed the Taiwanese to be a pretty successful economy and a people who have a high degree of self-determination.  But understand, for China, the issue of Taiwan is as important as anything on their docket.  The idea of one China is at the heart of their conception as a nation. 

此現狀，雖然並不令相關各方所滿意，但已經保持和平，與允許台灣人創造相當成功的經濟，以及允許人民擁有高程度的自決。我們理解，對中國而言，台灣是最重要的議題。一個中國的概念，是中國認知其作為國家的核心。

And so if you are going to upend this understanding, you have to have thought through what the consequences are, because the Chinese will not treat that the way they’ll treat some other issues.  They won’t even treat it the way they treat issues around the South China Sea, where we’ve had a lot of tensions.  This goes to the core of how they see themselves.  And their reaction on this issue could end up being very significant. 

因此，由於中國將此視為最重要的，若要翻轉此諒解，就要先全盤考慮後果。我們在南海已經很緊張，但對他們而言，南海問題與此無法相提並論。台灣議題是他們自我認同的核心。他們對此事的反應，將可能非常巨大。

That doesn’t mean that you have to adhere to everything that’s been done in the past.  It does mean that you’ve got to think it through and have planned for potential reactions that they may engage in.

但這不表示新總統必須蕭規曹隨所有過去的事情，而是新總統必須全盤思考並對中國可能的反應做好準備。

20161215

https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2016/12/16/press-conference-president