非自愿独立的中亚五国怎么样了
Twenty-five years ago this month, the five Central Asian states were cut off from the Soviet Union and forced to stand on their own. It was a shock to their systems.
正是在25年前的那个12月，五个中亚国家被迫从苏联(Soviet Union)脱离出来，不得不独立自主。对他们的体制来说，这是一场冲击。
In the turmoil that saw the break-up of the Union and all 15 of the Soviet republics regain their independence, the five Central Asian states of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan were reluctant participants.
在那场导致苏联解体、15个加盟共和国全部重新独立的动荡中，哈萨克斯坦、吉尔吉斯斯坦、乌兹别克斯坦、塔吉克斯坦、土库曼斯坦这五个中亚国家是身不由己的。
On a freezing night in December 1991, I stood on the tarmac of Ashkhabad airport in Turkmenistan as plane after plane carrying the CA heads of state and their delegations landed. The motley Turkmen band, their fingers frozen, struck up the new national anthems as scowling presidents shook hands with their hosts.
1991年12月的一个寒夜，我站在土库曼斯坦阿什哈巴德机场的停机坪上，一架架载着中亚各国元首及代表团的飞机相继着陆。脸色阴沉的各国总统与东道主一一握手，土库曼方面杂凑的、手指冻得僵硬的乐队在一旁奏响各国的新国歌。
The big story was in Moscow but although this scene was no less fascinating and historic, i was the only international correspondent monitoring the events here, from the perspective of Central Asia.
当时重头戏都在莫斯科，然而，尽管此情此景同样令人感慨和具有历史意义，我却是当时唯一在场观察的国际记者——从中亚的角度来看。
A few days earlier, on December 8 1991, Russia’s president, Boris Yeltsin, had signed a treaty with the those of Belarus and Ukraine formally disbanding the Soviet Union and creating a new Commonwealth of Independent States. Nobody had asked the CA leaders if they wanted to join. They had been abandoned by their overlord, Russia.
1991年12月8日，俄罗斯总统鲍里斯•叶利钦(Boris Yeltsin)与白俄罗斯、乌克兰两国总统签署了一项条约，决定正式解散苏联，新成立一个“独立国家联合体”(Commonwealth of Independent States)。没人问过中亚各国领导人是否也想加入。他们已被自己的宗主国俄罗斯抛弃。
That night in Turkmenistan I spoke to the leaders and other officials in the government dachas. They were furious, and depressed. The particular focus of their anger was Russia, whom CA officials accused of racial and ethnic discrimination and dictatorial behaviour. Moscow, however, had seen the CA states, despite their oil, gas and agricultural wealth, as an economic burden and was eager to be free of their dependency.
当晚在土库曼斯坦位于郊外的政府别墅中，我采访了几位领导人及其他官员。他们非常愤怒，神情沮丧。尤其让他们感到气愤的是俄罗斯，中亚国家官员指责俄罗斯的种族、民族歧视和独裁行径。而莫斯科方面已将拥有丰富石油、天然气和农业资源的中亚国家视为经济负担，迫切希望摆脱这些国家的依赖。
In previous weeks, As the break-up of the Union had loomed, the CA leaders had turned their Soviet socialist republics into independent republics, abandoned their titles of communist party bosses of their respective states and held hasty elections that were heavily rigged in their favour.
在前一段时间里，随着苏联濒临解体，中亚各国领导人已将各自主政的苏维埃社会主义共和国转变为独立共和国，放弃了作为各国共产党总书记的头衔，并仓促举行存在严重舞弊、使选情对自己有利的选举。
But in truth they wanted nothing to do with independence. Their economies, infrastructure, financial aid, exports and media had all been governed by Moscow. Now, after so long under the thumb of Russia, they feared that they would not be able to run independent states and did not have the skills to manage their own affairs.
但实际上，他们一点也不想独立。这些国家的经济、基础设施、财政援助、出口和媒体以前都由莫斯科操控。经过俄罗斯长时期的控制，他们现在担心的是，自己无法治理独立的国家，没有能力管理本国事务。
Once, the ‘’hordes’’ of the Mongol, Kazak and Uzbek tribes and clans had ruled Russia, but now their leaders were begging the country not to desert them. They feared that independence would unleash the genies of democracy and nationalism and demands for freedom among their tightly repressed and controlled populations.
历史上，蒙古、哈萨克、乌兹别克各族的游牧部落曾经统治过俄罗斯，但如今他们的领导人却乞求俄罗斯不要抛弃他们。他们害怕独立会在本国饱受压制的民众间释放民主、民族主义的幽灵并唤起对自由的要求。
The day after the Turkmenistan gathering the leaders went cap in hand to Moscow and demanded to join the CIS on an equal basis with the other nations. On December 21 in Almaty, then the capital of Kazakhstan, the CIS was formed with 11 out of 15 of the former Soviet republics as members.
土库曼斯坦峰会后第二天，这些领导人又毕恭毕敬地来到莫斯科，要求在与其他国家平等的基础上加入独联体。12月21日，在哈萨克斯坦当时的首都阿拉木图，独联体正式成立，成员包括前苏联15个加盟共和国中的11个。
The CA leaders promised at that time to work together to form an economic union to resolve their myriad problems. ‘’A Central Asian community is the need of the hour,’’ Askar Akayev, then Kyrgyz president told me in 1991. ‘’All the CA states must get together to form a new confederation or our economic development will be stalled,’’ said the Uzbek president, Islam Karimov, who died in September after 27 years in power.
当时，中亚各国领导人承诺共同努力建立一个经济联盟，以解决众多方面的问题。1991年，时任吉尔吉斯斯坦总统阿斯卡尔•阿卡耶夫(Askar Akayev)接受采访时对我说：“建立中亚共同体是当务之急。”乌兹别克斯坦总统伊斯兰•卡里莫夫(Islam Karimov)表示：“所有中亚国家必须团结一致，组建一个新联盟，否则我们的经济发展将陷入停滞。”掌权27年之久的卡里莫夫于今年9月去世。
Instead, they spent years bickering as their economies plummeted and living standards crashed. Today, many Central Asians remember the “glorious” period of communism when their basic needs were met and their health and educational systems flourished.
实际情况是，多年来他们一直不停地争吵，同时各国经济急剧下滑，人民生活水平一落千丈。如今，许多中亚人还怀念那段“光辉的”共产主义岁月，那时，人们的基本需求得到满足，医疗和教育体制蓬勃发展。
The CA republics’ political systems never developed after 1991 and with the exception of Kyrgyzstan they each remain in the grip of a single party. Their moribund political systems and refusal to change have plunged their populations into despair and led to a mass exodus of people into other states looking for work .
自1991年以来，中亚各共和国的政治制度毫无进步，除了吉尔吉斯斯坦，其他国家仍都处于一党控制之下。死气沉沉的政治体制和对变革的抗拒，已经让这些国家的民众陷入绝望，大批民众跑到其他国家寻找工作。
There have been disputes between the republics over borders and the control and flow of water, gas and electricity and political jealousies. And there are new threats on the horizon such as the rise of China on their borders, the dangers posed by Islamist extremists and continuing war in Afghanistan.
围绕边界以及水、天然气和电力资源，各共和国之间一直存在争端，还有各种政治猜忌。他们还面临新的威胁，如邻国中国的崛起、伊斯兰极端分子带来的危险以及阿富汗旷日持久的战争。
Uzbekistan, the largest and most powerful state under a new leader, Shavkat Mirziyoyev, is only now reaching out to its neighbours to try to resolve some of the bitter rivalries. After 25 years it is clear that the post-Soviet CA economies are not independently sustainable. They need reform, and they need each other.
作为中亚最大、实力最强的国家，乌兹别克斯坦在新上台的沙夫卡特•米尔济约耶夫(Shavkat Mirziyoyev)的领导下，现在才开始向邻国伸出橄榄枝，尝试解决一些存在激烈对抗的问题。经过25年，事实已经很明显，后苏联时代的中亚各经济体无法独自实现可持续发展。他们需要改革，也彼此需要。
