社评：默克尔离任，中德友好是政治遗产｜Merkel Leaves Positive Legacy

‍With Olaf Scholz becoming the new chancellor of Germany on Wednesday, the curtain falls on the leadership of Angela Merkel, who has been at the helm of the country for 16 years, serving four consecutive terms.

12月9日，奥拉夫·朔尔茨当选德国总理，安格拉·默克尔的执政生涯正式落幕。默克尔四次连任德国总理，已掌舵德国16年。

What she did for the country and beyond during her chancellorship will be long remembered, especially the exemplary role she played during the difficult times of the global financial crisis, Europe's sovereign debt crisis and the 2015-16 influx of refugees to Europe.

世人将长久铭记默克尔在担任总理期间为全世界做的一切。在全球金融危机、欧洲主权债务危机以及2015至2016年欧洲难民潮等艰难时期，她均发挥了模范作用。

European Council President Charles Michel was certainly forthcoming in his praise for her contributions when he told Merkel, "you are a monument", at her final European Union summit in Brussels in October, saying a summit without her would be like "Rome without the Vatican or Paris without the Eiffel Tower". Indeed, Merkel has gained many labels throughout the years including "a compromise machine", "a crisis manager" and "the world's most powerful woman". All of them pay tribute to her forceful character.

今年10月，默克尔于布鲁塞尔出席她总理生涯中最后一场欧盟峰会。当时，欧洲理事会主席夏尔·米歇尔（Charles Michel）盛赞默克尔：“你是一座丰碑”，并表示峰会没有默克尔，就像是“罗马拿掉梵蒂冈，巴黎失去埃菲尔铁塔”。事实上，执政多年的默克尔获得了许多荣誉称号，包括“和解机器”、“危机管理者”和“世界上最有权势的女性”。人们称赞她为“铁娘子”。

In China, she will forever be called "an old friend of the Chinese people", for the contributions she made to promoting Sino-German and Sino-EU relations. "We will always keep the door open for you," President Xi Jinping told Merkel via video link in October. Never has any other contemporary Western leader attached so much importance to building a pragmatic partnership with China than Merkel. She visited the country 12 times during her tenure, leaving her footprint in almost all the major cities and regions of China. Merkel also co-chaired all the six rounds of intergovernmental consultations initiated in 2011 to expand and strengthen cooperation between China and Germany; talks that also covered thorny issues such as the rule of law and human rights, on which the two sides have their differences.

默克尔为改善中德关系和中欧关系作出了许多贡献，她永远被视为“中国人民的老朋友”。今年10月国家主席习近平同默克尔举行视频会晤。其间，习近平对默克尔表示：“中国的大门随时向你敞开”。现代西方领导人从未有谁像默克尔那样重视与中国建立务实伙伴关系。在任期内，她曾12次访问中国，足迹遍及中国几乎所有主要城市和地区。默克尔还参与主持了六轮中德政府磋商。该磋商于2011年启动，旨在扩大和加强两国合作，并主持多次会谈，涉及诸如法治和人权等双方存在分歧的棘手问题。

Her commitment to engagement was based on her realization that China is playing an irreplaceable role in economic globalization and other major international affairs. "We will neither be able to cope with climate change nor solve WTO (World Trade Organization) issues or other global issues without or against China," she rightly said.

默克尔认识到，中国在经济全球化和其他重大国际事务中发挥着不可替代的作用。因此，她致力于促进中德关系。默克尔表示：我们要想应对气候变化、解决世贸组织等全球性问题，就不能“撇开中国或是和中国对抗”。

And she pushed hard for the signing of the China-EU Comprehensive Agreement on Investment in December last year because she appreciated that China is indispensable as an economic partner to Germany and Europe, even though the agreement, unfortunately, was later frozen by the European Parliament.

默克尔深知中国是德国和欧洲不可或缺的经济伙伴。她曾大力推动于去年12月签署的中欧全面投资协议，尽管后来该协议不幸被欧洲议会冻结。

Yet even after being constantly criticized over her "soft approach" to China, Merkel insisted that Germany, and more broadly the EU, should continue to cooperate with China. "Total decoupling wouldn't be right in my view, it would be damaging for us," she said.

默克尔因其对中国的“温和方式”不断受到批评，但她仍坚持认为德国和欧盟应该继续与中国合作。默克尔强调：“和中国完全脱钩是不对的，这会对我们造成损害。”

Now that a new German government is in office and Sino-German relations are set to enter a new chapter, there are reasons for optimism so long as Merkel's legacy is inherited.

如今，德国新政府上台，中德关系进入新篇章。愿默克尔留下的政治遗产能得到传承。

重点词汇：

helm

英 [helm]；美[helm]

n. 舵柄；舵轮

vt. 指挥；给…掌舵；给…戴上头盔

exemplary

英 [ɪɡˈzempləri]；美[ɪɡˈzempləri]

adj. 模范的；典范的；严厉的；儆戒性的；惩戒性的

tenure

英 [ˈtenjə(r)]；美[ˈtenjər]

n. 任期；（尤指重要政治职务的）任职；（尤指大学教师的）终身职位；长期聘用；（房地产的）保有权；保有期

thorny

英 [ˈθɔːni]；美[ˈθɔːrni]

adj. 多刺的；棘手的；麻烦的；引起争议的；有刺的

decouple

英 [diːˈkʌpl]；美[diːˈkʌpl]

vt.（使两事物）分离，隔断

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社评：默克尔离任，中德友好是政治遗产｜Merkel Leaves Positive Legacy