奥斯本 英国外交舞台上的冒险者
George Osborne is Britain’s biggest political risk-taker; indeed, on a five-day tour of China the chancellor’s relish for the grand gesture suggests the mindset of the thrill seeker, constantly looking for an even bigger challenge.
乔治攠斯本(George Osborne)是英国政界最敢于冒险的人。这位财政大臣在为期五天的访华之旅中饶有兴致地摆出大度的姿态，实际表明了他寻求刺激的心态，他在不断寻找更大的挑战。
Mr Osborne calls his approach “bold at home, bold abroad” and his China trip is the clearest sign yet that he intends to deploy his radical approach to domestic policymaking on a much wider stage. A trade mission to Iran is next on his agenda.
奥斯本称自己的作风“在国内大胆，在国外也大胆”，而他的中国之行是最明显的信号，表明他打算将自己的激进作风应用到更广泛的国内政策制定上。他的下一行程是携贸易代表团前往伊朗。
The China tour, covering four cities and thousands of miles, saw Mr Osborne accompanied by a sizeable retinue of British officials, business and civic leaders, and the kind of security normally associated with a visiting head of state.
奥斯本此次中国之行共访问了四座城市，行程数千英里。他的随行代表团规模相当庞大，包括英国官员，商界和民间领袖，以及规格堪比国家元首出访的安保团队。
“I’m the prime minister’s envoy,” he tells the Financial Times during a trip on a high-speed train through the arid wastes of Xinjiang in north-west China. The 17-car convoy awaiting his arrival is on the scale of a prime ministerial visit.
奥斯本在乘坐高铁前往新疆的途中对英国《金融时报》表示：“我是英国首相的特使。”新疆位于中国西北地区，列车要穿过干旱的沙漠地区。由17辆汽车组成的车队等候着他的到来，迎接规模达到首相访问级别。
Mr Osborne, a Sinophile who backpacked around China after graduating from Oxford 20 years ago, designed the itinerary himself in the knowledge that it would generate criticism in the west and approbation in Beijing.
亲华派奥斯本从牛津大学(Oxford)毕业20年后，才开始了他的中国“背包”游。这一行程由他亲自安排，他很清楚此行会受到西方的批评，但会获得北京方面的赞许。
“I just want to do something different with these China trips,” he says. “I want to take a bit of a risk with the China relationship, pushing it so it really brings jobs and growth to our country.”
奥斯本说：“我只是希望此次访华之旅能做些不一样的事。我希望在对华关系上冒一点险，推动英中关系发展，从而真正为我们国家带来就业机会和经济增长。”
Mr Osborne’s visit to the Shanghai stock exchange was a gesture of economic solidarity, a defiant insistence that Britain should “run towards China” when others were suggesting it might be better to head to the exit.
奥斯本参观上海证券交易所展现出了要在经济方面与中国紧密团结的姿态，当其他人都认为最好逃离中国之时，奥斯本用这一挑衅式表态强调英国应该“奔向中国”。
His five-hour mission to Urumqi in the restive region of Xinjiang — a highly unusual visit by a western politician — was criticised by human rights groups concerned about Beijing’s curbs on the Muslim Uighur minority.
乌鲁木齐位于不安定的新疆地区，奥斯本对这座城市进行了5个小时的访问，这在西方政客中是极不寻常的。一些关注中国政府压制维吾尔少数民族穆斯林的人权团体对奥斯本此行提出批评。
Mr Osborne expected the reaction but his visit was appreciated in Beijing; only by conducting a walkabout in downtown Lhasa could Mr Osborne have raised the diplomatic stakes higher.
奥斯本对这种反应已有意料，但此行受到了北京方面的赞赏。除非奥斯本在拉萨市区漫步，才会导致更大的外交风险。
“Ultimately those who say don’t come to places like this don’t have an argument,” he says of his stay in Urumqi. “They are saying you can best advance the interests of people living here by not turning up. I think that doesn’t wash.”
奥斯本谈到乌鲁木齐之行时表示：“从根本上来说，那些说不要来这种地方的人毫无理由。他们说我不现身此地才能提高生活在这里的人民的利益，我认为这一说法无法令人接受。”
Mr Osborne says he raised human rights issues as part of a wider “grown up” conversation with his hosts. He says there is a false choice in public debate between “standing up to China and kowtowing to China”.
奥斯本表示，他在与中方进行更广泛的“成熟”对话中提到了人权问题。他说有关“对抗中国还是屈从于中国”的公开辩论其实并不存在非此即彼的选择。
China Daily, the state-run newspaper, purred in agreement that Sino-British relations presented “a desirable and harmonious picture” at the end of the chancellor’s visit, in contrast with the “downturn” in 2012 after David Cameron met the Dalai Lama.
中国官方报纸《中国日报》(China Daily)满意地赞同道，与2012年戴维愠蕓伦(David Cameron)会见达赖喇嘛(Dalai Lama)后英中关系的“低迷”状态相比，奥斯本此次访问结束之际，中英关系呈现出“理想而和谐的景象”。
But are the commercial gains worth the political risk? After all, the chancellor’s diplomacy will not look so good in the event of an ethnic bloodbath in Xinjiang or another stock market crash. Mr Osborne admits British exporters have not been a great beneficiary so far in China’s economic growth but he believes that is changing.
然而，为了获取商业利益是否值得冒政治风险？毕竟，如果新疆发生种族屠杀，或者中国股市再度崩盘，财相的外交手段看起来就不那么高明了。奥斯本承认，英国出口商迄今并非中国经济增长的重要受益者，但他相信这种情况正在改变。
“In the early stage of China’s development, frankly our economy didn’t have a huge amount to offer,” he says. But he argues that as China moves from an economy based on investment to one based on consumption, the country would want “to make use of services more: British high-end manufacturing, banking, pharmaceuticals, cultural products all come into play”.
“在中国发展的早期，坦白说我们的经济并没有很多可以提供的东西，”奥斯本说。但他认为，随着中国从依靠投资的经济转为依靠消费的经济，中国将希望“利用更多服务：英国的高端制造业、银行业、药物和文化产品都会开始发挥作用”。
He says the City of London could be the biggest beneficiary as China’s capital markets go global but it is a slow process. Mr Osborne says China is slowly opening its economy but has no qualms about the lopsided nature of the relationship. He says Britain’s “access all areas” offer to China is good in its own right. “There’s a powerful free trade doctrine,” he says. “We had that idea in the 19th century and it’s served us well ever since.”
奥斯本称，伦敦金融城(City of London)可能是中国资本市场走向世界的最大受益者，但这是一个缓慢的过程。他表示，中国正缓慢开放经济，但他对于两国关系的不平衡并无顾虑。他说，英国向中国提供“所有领域的准入”本身是不错的。“其中包含强大的自由贸易信条，”他说，“我们在19世纪萌生了这种思想，此后这一直让我们受益匪浅。”
As the train speeds from Urumqi to Turpan on the old silk road, the chancellor admits he has an appetite for risk — he cites his decision to bring a party of Labour leaders from northern cities with him from London — but he says he is guided by the national interest.
沿着古老的丝绸之路，火车从乌鲁木齐高速驶向吐鲁番，奥斯本承认，他有一种对冒险的渴望——比如说他决定带领英国北方城市的一些工党领袖一起从伦敦来华就是一个例子——但他表示，他是在国家利益的指引下这么做的。
At home, policies such as revolutionising the pensions sector, slashing the welfare state or introducing a 9 national living wage speak to his love of the bold move. He says he is confident those policies will work out, but he cannot be sure. Could the minimum wage end up as a millstone around the neck of the economy; will handing over pension pots to individuals leave the state to pick up the pieces if they squander the money, or result in a mis-selling scandal? With Labour’s opposition in turmoil, is hubris only a step away?
在英国国内，养老金改革、削减福利国家角色，或者引入9英镑的国家生活工资标准等政策，都表明他喜欢采取大胆举措。奥斯本说，他有信心这些政策将会奏效，但他不能确定。最低工资最后是否可能成为经济的负累？如果个人挥霍了移交给他们的养老金，国家是否要收拾残局，或者是否可能导致不当销售的丑闻？在一片混乱局势中不顾工党的反对，这离狂妄自大是否只有一步之差？
Mr Osborne says: “I think in this job you have a responsibility to shift the dial a bit and take the big decisions the country needs for its future. Ultimately I’m paid to make decisions with the prime minister on the country’s future.”
奥斯本表示：“我认为，身在这个岗位上，你有责任推动一些进步，做出国家未来所需要的重大决策。归根结底，我拿这份报酬是要和首相一起，为这个国家的未来做出决策。”
He argues that not making decisions is more dangerous: for example not pushing ahead with the HS2 train line or striking out into riskier export markets. “I don’t want us to slowly decline into the sunset,” he says, arguing that plenty of countries were following that route.
他认为，不做决策更为危险；比如，不推进英国HS2高铁项目，或者不去开辟风险更高的出口市场。“我不希望我们慢慢衰退，走向没落，”奥斯本说，他表示有许多国家正走上这条路。
“I’d agree with the broader point that if you take big bold decisions they won’t always be popular,” he says. “In that sense it’s a risk. But sometimes the absence of decision and the consequences can be much worse.”
“我认同一个更广泛的观点，也就是如果你做出大胆的决策，它们并不会总是受到欢迎，”他说，“就此而言，这是一种风险，但有时，没有决策，后果可能糟糕得多。”
One minister said before the trip that Mr Osborne’s China mission was “all about George becoming prime minister — but we can’t say that”. Even Mr Cameron’s team seemed surprised at the scale of the visit. “Five days?” said one ally.
一位大臣在这次出访前表示，奥斯本的中国之行“一切都在于乔治要成为首相，但我们不能说出来”。即使是卡梅伦的团队，似乎也对此次出行的规模感到吃惊。“五天？”一名助手说。
But Mr Osborne shrugs off suggestions he is auditioning for the top job. “I’m very focused on my job which is to deliver economic success for Britain,” he says. “Being here is about doing that. I do that in partnership with the leadership of DC without whom none of this would be possible.”
但奥斯本对于他在“试演”最高职位的说法不以为然。“我非常专注于我的工作，那就是实现英国经济的成功，”他说，“身处这里是为了做那件事情。我是在戴维愠蕓伦的领导以及与他的合作下做这些事情的，没有他这些都不可能。”
