Shownotes Transcript
In response to Chinese Vice-Foreign Minister Le Yucheng's criticism that the so-called Summit for Democracy that the United States is hosting on the coming Thursday and Friday is intended to divide the world, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said: "That's nothing we're going to apologize for." 2021年12月2日，外交部副部长乐玉成表示，将于12月9日至10日召开的所谓“民主峰会”是在加剧世界的混乱和分裂。白宫新闻秘书普萨基却回应称，美方不会为此道歉。 It would certainly come as a surprise if it did. The United States never apologizes for anything it does. Certainly not its destructive attempts to graft its "model of democracy" on countries by orchestrating coups or inciting "people's revolutions"; nor has it apologized for its disastrous invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan. 确实如此，要是美国道歉，情状反倒稀奇。美国从未对本国的任何行径表露丝毫歉意。策划政变，煽动“人民革命”，将本国所谓“民主”的大帽扣在别国头上，种种破坏他国的企图，美国没有道歉；入侵伊拉克，进军阿富汗，民众怨声载道，苦不堪言，美国也没有道歉。 Although US President Joe Biden said "Democracy doesn't happen by accident. We have to defend it, fight for it, strengthen it, renew it" — the catchphrase the US State Department has quoted to promote the summit — the US pursues democracy-by-design in countries where it wants a more amenable regime, either through color revolutions or the ushering in of a so-called Arab Spring. 美国国务院援引拜登总统的言论作峰会口号：“民主不是偶然发生的，必须予以捍卫，为民主奋斗，强化民主，革新民主。”即便如此，为了他国政权更为顺从、更易控制，美国刻意追求民主，要么搞“颜色革命”强行移植，要么引发又一场所谓的“阿拉伯之春”。 The US attributed the end of the Cold War to the victory of "US-style democracy", which prompted some to hail it as the end of history. 美国将冷战的结束视为“美式民主”的胜利。一部分人欢呼雀跃，彷佛“美式民主”就是时间的终点、历史的目标。 But not only has "American democracy" failed in other countries, it has failed at home. The US is wracked by socioeconomic issues, ranging from racism and the failure to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic to an ever-widening wealth gap and the damaging tug-of-war of partisan politics. The divisions in US society culminated in the storming of Capitol Hill in January this year by some wanting to overturn the US presidential election result, and they are evident in the disproportionate toll the pandemic is having on vulnerable populations in the US. 然而这种所谓的“民主”不仅在其他国家四处碰壁，甚至在美国也披靡败退。从一开始的种族主义抬头、新冠疫情控制不力，到如今贫富鸿沟扩大、多党间的恶性博弈，美国已然饱受社会经济问题的困扰。新冠疫情对美国弱势群体造成的极大伤害，便是美国社会分歧的明证；而年初美国国会大厦暴乱，不少民众渴求推翻美国总统选举结果，彼时美国社会已近乎撕裂。 The US is not in a position to set tests and standards on what is democracy for others, nor does it have the right to demand others emulate its model of democracy. 美国没有资格对其他国家的民主指手画脚，乱设标准，更无权要求其他国家效仿本国的民主模式。 As such, to hold a "Summit for Democracy" while Washington openly identifies China as its No 1 challenge and priority, the Biden administration is only taking democracy as an excuse to advance the new Cold War it is trying to start. 如此一来，召集“民主峰会”，公开视中国为首要威胁和优先要务，皆只是美方假借民主之名，暗里盘算发动新冷战的幌子罢了。 Rather than being respected and promoted, democracy is being humiliated by such a hegemony-driven event, as it seeks to divide the international community with ideological prejudice, and wind the clock back to an era that the world has been glad to say good riddance to. 民主非但没有受到尊重，得以发扬，反遭这类霸权驱使的事件亵渎而蒙羞。此次“民主峰会”亦是如此，想渲染意识形态偏见，分裂国际社会，开时代的倒车。 The Information Office of the State Council issued a white paper "China: Democracy that Works" on Saturday displaying China's confidence in its own democratic path and process. In stark contrast with the money-talks democracy of the US, China's socialist democracy with Chinese characteristics is a whole-process people's democracy. Integrating two major democratic models — electoral democracy and consultative democracy — it is a complete system with supporting mechanisms and procedures, and has been fully tested through wide participation. 12月4日，国务院新闻办发表《中国的民主》白皮书，处处彰显着对国内民主道路与进程的中国自信。中国特色社会主义民主是全过程人民民主，具有完整的制度程序和完整的参与实践，使选举民主和协商民主这两种重要民主形式更好结合起来，与美国的“金钱民主”形成鲜明对比。 Democracy is a right of people of all countries, not the preserve of a few. Whether a country is democratic or not should be judged by its people; and whether or not a country is democratic should be judged by the international community. 民主是各国人民的权利，不是少数国家的专利。一个国家是否民主，当事国的人民最有发言权；一个国家是否民主，国际社会都看在眼中。 US democracy has become demo-crazy. The US' attempts to hijack democracy for its own ends should be boycotted by the international community. 美国的“民主”已然变味，说是“民谵”也不为过。美国为谋取本国私利，假民主之名、行反民主之实，应受国际社会共同抵制。 amenable 英 [əˈmiːnəbl]；美[əˈmiːnəbl] adj. 易控制的；顺从的 hail 英 [heɪl]；美[heɪl] n. 冰雹 v. 大声称颂；招手；跟…打招呼 disproportionate 英 [ˌdɪsprəˈpɔːʃənət]；美[ˌdɪsprəˈpɔːrʃənət] adj. 极为…的；不成比的 good riddance 英 [ɡʊd ˈrɪdns]；美[ɡʊd ˈrɪdns] （含愤怒、不耐烦等情绪）走好；总算摆脱了；终于结束了