
After decades worrying about a mainland invasion, Taiwan is now courting one
數(shù)十年來(lái)臺(tái)灣擔(dān)心大陸入侵,如今卻汲汲以求。
IT WAS listed on the information board at Beijing’s Capital Airport as an international flight. It departed from the international terminal. Passengers had to clear customs and immigration before boarding. Upon landing in Taipei, the crew of Air China 185 made a cabin announcement warning passengers against taking fruit into the “country” they were about to visit. But on no account would anyone in China dare call this non-stop journey an “international” flight. Like the check-in clerk and the immigration official at Beijing’s airport, the flight’s co-pilot can only giggle uncomfortably when asked to explain the contradictions. It is, after all, an article of faith in Beijing that “Taiwan is part of China”.
在北京首都機(jī)場(chǎng)的信息公告板上這次航班被列為國(guó)際航班。它從國(guó)際航空站離開(kāi),登機(jī)前乘客需辦理清關(guān)和出境手續(xù)。著陸臺(tái)北后,國(guó)航185的乘務(wù)員在機(jī)艙廣播中警告乘客不要帶水果進(jìn)入這個(gè)他們即將訪問(wèn)的”國(guó)家”。然而在中國(guó)的任何人都決不敢稱此次直達(dá)旅行為“國(guó)際”航班。當(dāng)被問(wèn)起這些自相矛盾之處,航班的副駕駛員只能尷尬地傻笑,一如北京機(jī)場(chǎng)的地勤人員和出入境官員。畢竟,“臺(tái)灣是中國(guó)的一部分”是北京不言自明的信念。
The delicate and sometimes bellicose wrangling between China and Taiwan has long demanded painstaking terminological finesse. The opening on July 4th of regular direct charter flights between China and Taiwan marks important progress between the two sides. But the stubborn persistence of such word games also shows how far apart the two sides remain.
長(zhǎng)期以來(lái),中國(guó)與臺(tái)灣地區(qū)間微妙(有些時(shí)候甚至敏感)的爭(zhēng)執(zhí),需要令人痛苦的術(shù)語(yǔ)技巧。7月4日,中臺(tái)開(kāi)通了定期的直達(dá)包機(jī)航線,這標(biāo)志著雙方的重大進(jìn)展。不過(guò)對(duì)上述文字游戲的頑固堅(jiān)持,顯示雙方依然貌合神離。
As indeed do the “direct” flights. For a variety of reasons, suchas national security concerns and the lack of standard cross-strait aviation agreements, these charters must still take a lengthy detour through Hong Kong airspace. This is less cumbersome than the normal routine, which requires a landing and brief stopover in Hong Kong (or nearby Macau). But it still adds an hour and nearly 1,000km (625 miles) to the journey from Beijing to Taipei.
所謂的“直達(dá)”航班也是如此。出于一系列理由,如國(guó)家安全問(wèn)題,如海峽兩岸缺乏飛行協(xié)議標(biāo)準(zhǔn),這些包機(jī)航班仍須繞遠(yuǎn)經(jīng)過(guò)香港航區(qū)。當(dāng)然,這比在香港(或附近的澳門)經(jīng)停的舊例已經(jīng)方便不少。不過(guò)即便只是繞行,也給北京到臺(tái)北的航程增加了1個(gè)小時(shí),近1, 000公里(625英里)。
Niggling details aside, the arrival of the first flight on July 4th was treated as a big breakthrough. The plane was greeted in Taipei with celebratory arches of water blasted from airport fire-engines. Bigwigs on both sides were also in full-gush mode. Lien Chan, former chairman of Taiwan’s ruling Kuomintang (KMT) party, said the flights “would make people around the world proud of this generation of Chinese.” Wang Yi, Beijing’s senior official dealing with Taiwan saw off the first flight from Beijing, speaking of “a new start” and “a rare opportunity for development”.
拋開(kāi)細(xì)節(jié)不談,7月4日首航的到來(lái)被認(rèn)為是一大突破。為向該航班致意,臺(tái)北動(dòng)用機(jī)場(chǎng)消防車,噴出歡迎的水龍。雙方要人亦傾巢而出。臺(tái)灣執(zhí)政黨國(guó)民黨前主席連戰(zhàn)說(shuō),該次航班“會(huì)讓世界所有的人為我們這一代中國(guó)人感到驕傲。”北京對(duì)臺(tái)事務(wù)高級(jí)官員王毅在北京為本次首航送行,稱之為“新的起點(diǎn)”和“難得的發(fā)展機(jī)遇”。
For all the hullabaloo, though, these flights marked only an incremental advance. Similar flights began running five years ago during limited holiday periods, and have increased in frequency since. None of that dimmed the enthusiasm of the mainland tourists who enjoyed the chance to see for themselves a place they had heard so much about-for good and ill. Nearly 700 made the trip during the first weekend. They spent a short time taking in a carefully selected set of sights in Taipei before heading off to other parts of the island. One sensitive site they were not allowed to visit was the memorial to Chiang Kai-shek, a former KMT leader and bitter foe of Mao Zedong who brought his government to Taiwan in 1949 after losing China’s civil war.
動(dòng)靜雖大,這些航班不過(guò)標(biāo)志著更進(jìn)一步而已。類似航班從5年前便開(kāi)始在特定假日時(shí)段運(yùn)行,此后還增加了班次。不過(guò)這一切并沒(méi)有減弱大陸游客的熱情,他們興致勃勃地借此機(jī)會(huì)親眼目睹這個(gè)耳熟能詳卻毀譽(yù)不一的地方。在第一個(gè)周末,有近700人加入了這一旅行。啟程前往島內(nèi)其他地方前,他們?cè)谂_(tái)北一些仔細(xì)挑選好的景點(diǎn)短暫停留。有個(gè)敏感的景點(diǎn)他們不許參觀:蔣介石紀(jì)念館。蔣介石是前國(guó)民黨領(lǐng)袖,毛澤東死敵,在輸?shù)糁袊?guó)內(nèi)戰(zhàn)后于1949年率領(lǐng)他的政府退至臺(tái)灣。
The Chinese tourists were also prohibited from leaving their chaperoned groups. Taiwanese travel agents said this reflected concerns on both sides. Mainland authorities did not want to run the risk of attempted defections, and Taiwan wanted to keep potential spies from roaming where they should not. Exceptions, however, were made for shopping. Johnny Tsai, manager of the China Times Travel Service, said his group of 109 mainlanders were allowed to run off on their own at a department store in the southern city of Kaohsiung, and spent heroically there.
中國(guó)游客亦不得離開(kāi)受監(jiān)護(hù)的旅游團(tuán)。臺(tái)旅行社說(shuō)這反映了雙方的顧慮。大陸當(dāng)局不愿冒有人試圖叛逃的風(fēng)險(xiǎn),而臺(tái)灣則不希望可能的間諜現(xiàn)身他們不應(yīng)該去的地方。不過(guò),購(gòu)物除外。中國(guó)時(shí)代旅行社(意譯)的Johnny Tsai說(shuō),他的旅行團(tuán)109名大陸游客都被允許在南部城市高雄的百貨商店自由活動(dòng),結(jié)果是大肆血拼。
For the newly installed KMT government, that may be as important as any boost to the politics of cross-strait relations. Since taking office in May, President Ma Ying-jeou has faced pressure to reinvigorate the economy. Annual growth remains above the 4% mark and inflation below it, but share prices have been tumbling and concerns are growing over widening inequality and looming economic stagnation. Soaring fuel prices and a global slowdown limit Mr Ma’s room for manoeuvre. An influx of well-heeled, free-spending mainland tourists therefore seems just the ticket. Some economists predict it could add as much as 0.5 percentage points to the annual growth rate.
對(duì)于履新的國(guó)民黨政府來(lái)說(shuō),這可能與兩岸政治關(guān)系的任何進(jìn)展同樣重要。馬英九“總統(tǒng)”自5月上任后,面臨使經(jīng)濟(jì)復(fù)興的壓力。臺(tái)灣經(jīng)濟(jì)年增長(zhǎng)率停留在略高于4%大限,通脹則略低4%,然而股價(jià)正在下跌,對(duì)貧富差距擴(kuò)大和經(jīng)濟(jì)停滯隱現(xiàn)的擔(dān)憂在加劇。高漲的油價(jià)和全球經(jīng)濟(jì)放緩限制了馬英九先生的操作空間。因此,衣著光鮮、揮金如土的大陸游客的流入,就像天賜尤物。有經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)家預(yù)計(jì)他們將為臺(tái)灣的年增長(zhǎng)率增加多達(dá)0.5個(gè)百分點(diǎn)。
Others doubt that. Mr Tsai wonders whether his first carefully selected group of the rich and “high-level” will be typical of future visitors. Chen-wei Lin of the opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) says that the economic benefits of mainland tourism are unknown and that Mr Ma is overstretching when he promises worried Taiwanese that Chinese tourism will save their economy. Mr Lin also faults Mr Ma for failing to secure a matching cargo-flight arrangement, which he believes would be far more lucrative for Taiwan.
其他人對(duì)此有所保留。Tsai先生就懷疑他這個(gè)精挑細(xì)選、富有且“高端”的首航旅游團(tuán)是否會(huì)成為未來(lái)游客的主流。對(duì)手民進(jìn)黨的林陳威說(shuō),大陸游客帶來(lái)的經(jīng)濟(jì)效益尚未明了,馬先生承諾憂心忡忡的臺(tái)灣民眾中國(guó)旅游團(tuán)將拯救臺(tái)灣經(jīng)濟(jì),實(shí)屬言過(guò)其實(shí)。同時(shí),林先生指責(zé)馬先生未能促成同等的貨運(yùn)航班安排,他相信這對(duì)臺(tái)灣來(lái)說(shuō)有利得多。
Nevertheless, the talk of new beginnings is not all hype. After eight years in which it shunned and berated the previous president, Chen Shui-bian of the more independence-minded DPP, China was pleased to see the KMT return to power in March with the election of Mr Ma.
不管如何,“新的開(kāi)始”的言論并非純屬虛構(gòu)。8年來(lái),中國(guó)回絕并嚴(yán)厲斥責(zé)前“總統(tǒng)”陳水扁(他出身更傾臺(tái)獨(dú)的民進(jìn)黨),如今樂(lè)于見(jiàn)到馬先生在3月的選舉獲勝,使國(guó)民黨重掌政權(quán)。
By the time he took office, China had suffered a string of setbacks. Deadly unrest in Tibet had brought tension with the outside world. International sourness still lingers over its human-rights record, its links with repugnant regimes in Myanmar, Sudan and elsewhere, and its fitness to host the Olympics. It gained much kudos for its handling of the devastating earthquake in Sichuan in March. But in international affairs, China still badly needs to see something go right somewhere, and for the moment Taiwan is going least wrong.
在馬英九上臺(tái)之前,中國(guó)遭遇一系列不順。西藏致命的騷亂讓它與外部世界的關(guān)系驟然緊張。國(guó)際上對(duì)其不滿依舊著眼于人權(quán)紀(jì)錄,它與緬甸、蘇丹和其他地方惡政權(quán)的聯(lián)系,以及它是否適合舉辦奧運(yùn)。在5月四川的毀滅性地震災(zāi)難中,它處理得當(dāng),贏得了巨大的聲譽(yù)。但在國(guó)際事務(wù)中,中國(guó)依然極度需要讓事情對(duì)路。此時(shí)此刻,臺(tái)灣事務(wù)最對(duì)路。
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