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In the celebrated “special relationship” between Britain and the US, it is unusual for one side to rebuke the other publicly. This week a senior White House official delivered a rare, if unattributable broadside against the UK over its China policy.
在英美这段著名的“特殊关系”中，其中一方公开指责另一方的情况非同寻常。上周，白宫一位高级官员罕见、或者说让人摸不着头脑地炮轰了英国的对华政策。
The trigger was a decision by David Cameron’s government to join China’s Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, one of a constellation of institutions that China has set up to promote international development. The US had lobbied allies in the G7 and Asia not to join the institution and Britain’s defiance is the latest sign of how the bilateral relationship is under pressure. But the spat should also prompt some hard thinking in the US about its approach to China’s rise as a global economic power.
事件起因是戴维•卡梅伦(David Cameron)政府决定加入中国主导的亚洲基础设施投资银行（Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank，简称亚投行）。该银行是中国为推动国际化发展而设立的一系列机构之一。美国曾游说其在七国集团(G7)和亚洲的盟友不要加入亚投行，而英国的决定成了反映英美双边关系承受压力的最新迹象。但此番争执也应该引起美国慎重思考其对中国崛起为全球经济大国的应对方法。
America’s sensitivity to the creation of banks such as AIIB is understandable. Rivalry between Washington and Beijing for global economic influence is intensifying. Since the end of the second world war, the US has been the dominant voice, partly thanks to the creation of the Washington-based World Bank and International Monetary Fund. China is now challenging the Bretton Woods set-up by creating financial bodies to help it gain greater political influence in the Asia-Pacific region and other parts of the world.
美国对成立亚投行之类的银行态度敏感是可以理解的。华盛顿与北京方面争夺全球经济影响力的竞争日益激烈。自第二次世界大战结束后，美国一直掌握着主导话语权，这部分得益于总部位于华盛顿的世界银行(World Bank)与国际货币基金组织(IMF)的成立。如今，中国通过建立金融机构，来帮助其在亚太地区与世界其他地区获得更大政治影响力，并以此挑战布雷顿森林体系。
The US may want to stop the growth of these bodies. But its lacklustre stewardship of the Washington-based international financial institutions is one of the reasons rivals are proliferating.
美国也许希望阻止这类机构的发展。但是，美国对位于华盛顿的国际金融机构庸庸碌碌的管理，也是竞争对手不断涌现的原因之一。
The influence of the World Bank as a lending institution has declined, partly because of more restrictive lending focused on poorer countries. At the IMF, the US has proved incapable of helping to give the fund more firepower and a more representative share of votes that reflects the rising power of emerging markets. Having agreed changes to the funding quotas that determine voting rights on the IMF’s board, the US has been unable to get its contribution past an isolation-minded Congress.
世界银行作为贷款机构的影响力已经下降，部分是由于其以较贫穷国家为重点对象的贷款的限制性加深。而对于IMF，在帮助该机构拥有更多资金，以及进行更具代表性的投票权分配、以反映新兴市场日益增加的影响力的问题上，美国已经表现出无能为力的一面。在同意改革IMF出资份额（决定各国在IMF理事会的投票权）后，美国却无法让一意孤行的国会通过改革方案。
George Osborne, UK chancellor, claims that Britain is joining the AIIB in order to help to bind China into a global rules-based system rather than encouraging Beijing to press ahead without western countries. Others see opportunism with Mr Osborne pitching for the City of London in its attempt to capture a portion of the renminbi trade and other Beijing goodies.
英国财政大臣乔治•奥斯本(George Osborne)声称，英国加入亚投行是为了更好地帮助中国融入以规则为基础的全球体系，而不是鼓励北京方面在没有西方国家参与的情况下继续推进。其他人则视之为一次投机主义行为，认为奥斯本是在推销伦敦金融城(City of London)，帮它从人民币交易以及北京的其他好处中分一杯羹。
By becoming the first G7 country to join the institution, Mr Osborne will have endeared himself to Beijing. But Britain’s move will also encourage China to continue pursuing its strategic goals through a policy of divide-and-rule. It would have been preferable had the G7 adopted a united strategy towards the AIIB rather than seeing one nation break away in its own interest.
通过使英国成为七国集团中首个加入亚投行的国家，奥斯本将会赢得北京的青睐。但是英国此举也将鼓励中国继续通过分而治之的政策来实现其战略目标。如果七国集团能对亚投行采取一个统一策略，而不是任由一个国家出于自身利益而脱离整体，可能对他们更有利。
The UK’s move serves as another warning to the west of how unco-ordinated its policy towards China has become. Within the UK it should also prompt some hard thinking about what kind of role Britain wants to play in the world. For most of the postwar period, Britain punched above its weight as a staunch ally of the US. Today, that alliance is under strain, even if the common interests ultimately prevail over present tiffs.
英国的举动也再次向西方警示，西方国家的对华政策是多么不协调统一。在英国内部，它也应引起一些关于英国希望在世界上扮演何种角色的深思。在战后的大部分时间内，英国勉力充当了美国的坚定盟友。如今英美同盟关系承受着压力，即便共同利益最终会压倒目前的争执。
The stewardship of the global financial system is up to the US. Washington seems flatly opposed to anything which raises China’s financial profile and threatens the status of the dollar. It does not like being left out of new arrangements. In the last resort, the US must decide how to integrate China into the pre-existing financial order without sullying free market principles. Keeping China at bay at all costs will likely encourage Beijing to build its own parallel system from scratch.
全球金融体系的管理取决于美国。华盛顿似乎一味反对任何提升中国金融影响力并且威胁美元地位的事。美国不喜欢被冷落在新安排之外。在不得已的情况下，美国必须决定，如何在不破坏自由市场原则的情况下把中国融入业已存在的金融秩序之中。不惜一切代价把中国拒之门外的做法，很可能将刺激中国从零开始建立自己的并行体系。
