中国不想推翻全球秩序，而是想接管它China Doesn’t Want a New World Order. It Wants This One. 紐約時報 20200605

China is in the midst of a fierce battle to salvage its reputation.

中國正處於一場竭力挽回聲譽的鬥爭中。

 

Under fire for their part in the pandemic and reproached for their move to assert control over Hong Kong, the country’s officials are in firefighting mode.  Their approach has two parts.  First, sell the China story — emphasizing its success in the fight against the coronavirus and glossing over its initial errors.  Second, attack those who seek to tarnish the country’s image.

因疫情應對受到抨擊，並在著手對香港施加控制後受到指責，中國官員進入了救火模式。他們的方法分為兩個部分。首先，推崇中國故事——強調其在抗擊新冠病毒方面的成功，並掩蓋最初的錯誤。第二，攻擊那些試圖損害國家形象的人。

 

President Xi Jinping has left this battle to his subordinates.  As the United States falters and the world spins into crisis, he has a bigger campaign to occupy him: taking over the international institutions, like the World Health Organization and the United Nations, that manage the world.

習近平主席將這場戰鬥留給了他的屬下。隨著美國步履艱難，世界陷入危機，他手上有一場更大的運動要開展：接管世界的國際機構，例如世界衛生組織和聯合國。

 

The plan bears a suitably benign and innocuous title — “Community With a Shared Future for Mankind.”  First proposed by Mr. Xi in 2013 and introduced at the United Nations two years later, the concept revolves around the importance of consultation and dialogue, of inclusivity and consensus, of win-win cooperation and shared benefits.  It is, in short, entirely vague.  It contains no specific action points and no tangible outlines of a new world order.

他們給這個計畫取了一個人畜無害的恰當名字——“人類命運共同體”。這個概念最初是習近平於2013年提出的，並於兩年後在聯合國提出，其核心是磋商和對話、包容性和共識、合作共贏和共同利益的重要性。總之，是完全模糊不清的。它沒有具體的行動要點，也沒有新的世界秩序的具體輪廓。

 

That’s the point.

就是要這樣。

 

Contrary to speculation, China has always said it is not seeking to overthrow the global order.  We should listen.  Why would China go to the trouble of capsizing the global order when it can simply take it over, whole and intact?

與人們的猜測相反，中國一直說不尋求推翻全球秩序。我們該聽聽。當中國可以簡單地完好無損地接管全球秩序時，何必還要顛覆它？

 

After all, China is the biggest beneficiary of globalization.  It has systematically used Western-led multilateral institutions, such as the World Trade Organization, to advance its interests and influence.  Though still fighting for greater control of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, it has determinedly captured the leadership of four key United Nations agencies that set international rules and standards.  (It almost claimed a fifth, the World Intellectual Property Organization, this year.)

畢竟，中國是全球化的最大受益者。它系統性地利用了西方領導的多邊機構，例如世界貿易組織，以提高其利益和影響力。儘管它仍在爭取對世界銀行和國際貨幣基金組織的更大控制權，但它已果斷佔據了制定國際規則和標準的四個主要聯合國機構的領導地位。（今年，它差一點佔領了第五個——世界智慧財產權組織。）

 

No surprise then that China is now the second-largest financial contributor to the United Nations: It has steadily been building up its influence in international institutions for years.

因此我們毫不意外地看到，中國現在已經是聯合國的第二大財政捐助國：多年來，它在國際機構中穩步建立自己的影響力。

 

Far from opening up a new battleground, China’s plan is to fight on familiar territory.  Its message to the world is simple: China is ready to pick up the slack, as the United States retreats from its global responsibilities.  For a world exhausted and impoverished by the pandemic, it’s a seductive proposition.  Anybody who takes the reins will be good enough; few will ponder its significance for the global order.  Development and stability, not China’s ambitions to lead, are the priorities for most countries.

中國的計畫絕不是開闢新的戰場，而是在熟悉的領土上進行戰鬥。它向世界傳達的資訊很簡單：隨著美國退出其全球責任，中國已準備好拾起這一殘局。對於因疫情而疲憊和窮困的世界，這是一個充滿誘惑的提議。只要有人接手就是好的，很少有人會考慮其對全球秩序的意義。大多數國家的首要任務是發展與穩定，而不在意中國的領導野心。

 

There’s good reason for the gamble.  The pandemic may have exposed shortcomings of China’s system, but it also uncovered many deficiencies of the West.  The United States and Europe, each burdened by political difficulties and social challenges, are struggling to contain a virus for which they were unprepared.  The global institutions they created and nurtured after World War II are directionless.  The rest of the world has been left to fend for itself as best it can.

這樣賭博是有充分理由的。疫情也許暴露了中國體制的缺陷，但也暴露了西方的許多缺陷。美國和歐洲都面臨著政治困難和社會挑戰，它們正在沒有做好準備的情況下應對一場疫情。他們在二戰後創立和培植的全球機構毫無頭緒。而世界其他國家只能盡全力自謀出路。

 

China stumbled at the start of the pandemic, true.  But the West appears to be losing the moral high ground.  By the time the United States chooses its next president, after what is sure to be a divisive campaign played out against a backdrop of domestic disorder, China hopes to have regained the confidence of the world.  It will then firmly have the advantage.

中國在疫情初期處理失誤，這是事實。但是西方似乎正在失去道德制高點。在美國動盪的背景下勢必要進行一場分裂運動，直到美國選舉下一任總統前，中國希望重新獲得世界的信任。到那時，它將牢牢佔據優勢。

 

It’s hard to remain sanguine at such a prospect.  The world needs balance — at the moment, no country other than the United States has the means to ensure it.  At a practical level, its leadership is indispensable.

很難對這樣的前景保持樂觀。世界需要平衡——目前，除美國以外，沒有其他國家能夠確保這一平衡。在現實層面中，它的領導是不可或缺的。

 

But it’s more than that.  The world needs American leadership to remind it that respect for freedom and human dignity provides the best path to a shared future of humankind.  The Beijing model — where an authoritarian party-state single-mindedly exalts economic betterment over free political choice — may look attractive to some.  But it cannot be widely emulated.  Dependent on China’s unique culture and history, the method can work only there.  Democracy, by contrast, is based on universal principles that can be followed everywhere, by everyone.

不僅如此。世界需要美國領導層提醒人們，尊重自由和人的尊嚴是通往人類共同命運的最佳途徑。北京模式——一個專制的政黨國家一心一意地誇大經濟改善而不提自由的政治選擇——對某些人來說可能看起來很有吸引力。但是它不能被廣泛模仿。這個方法取決於中國獨特的文化和歷史，只能在中國使用。相比之下，民主是基於普世原則，在任何地方的每個人都可以遵循。

 

“Sit tight in the fishing boat,” a famous Chinese saying goes, “despite the rising wind and waves.” China, we can be assured, intends to ride out the storm.

中國人有一句著名的格言：“任憑風浪起，穩坐釣魚臺。”我們能肯定的是，中國想要度過難關。

 

And if the West can’t recover its faith in the universal power of democracy — from India to Indonesia, Ghana to Uruguay — China could then take the world, as it is.

同時，如果西方無法恢復對民主普世力量的信念——從印度到印尼，從加納到烏拉圭——那麼中國就可以如願佔領世界。