Charity or China?
要施舍还是要中国？
May 11th 2006 | ASUNCIÓN
From The Economist print edition
OF THE 25 countries around the world, all smallish, which choose to recognise Taiwan rather than China, almost half are in Latin America or the Caribbean.（1）In the past, their motives were often rooted in shared anti-communism. Nowadays, it is usually a matter of money. So it is with Paraguay. When Chen Shui-bian, Taiwan's president, visited the landlocked South American republic last weekend he paid homage[1] to the origins of their friendship at a reception, going out of his way to GREet the grandson of Alfredo Stroessner, Paraguay's fascistic dictator of 1954-89. Then he got out his cheque book.
全世界选择承认台湾而非中国（为主权国家）的25个国家（都是一些弹丸小国）中，有接近一半都位于拉丁美洲或加勒比海地区。过去它们这样做的动机通常都根源于反对共产主义（“be rooted in”表示“根源于”，“明显受……影响”），而现在则往往是钱说了算。巴拉圭也是如此。上周末，台湾“总统”陈水扁访问这个南美内陆共和国时，在一次招待会上对双方的友谊渊源推崇备至，竭尽全力讨阿尔弗雷多•斯特罗斯纳（1954至1989年巴拉圭法西斯独裁者）孙子的欢心。随后，他掏出了支票本。
In the past few years, Taiwan has given Paraguay grants of $30m for public housing and $20m for a new ConGREss building. Other donations—only Japan and Germany are more generous—pay for scholarships. Two Taiwanese banks offered a $400m loan, making the island Paraguay's biggest bilateral creditor.
在过去的几年里，台湾为巴拉圭的公共住房事业赞助了3000万美元，为一幢新建的国会大楼捐助了2000万美元，其它捐款则被作为助学金，其表现之慷慨，仅次于日本和德国。两家台湾银行还提供了一笔4亿美元的贷款，使台湾成为巴拉圭最大的双边债权“国”。
Paraguay has failed to turn this charity into a development partnership. In 1990, the average Taiwanese was three times better off than the average Paraguayan; now the gap is more than sevenfold. Of the 10,000 Taiwanese who migrated to Paraguay, many of them in the 1980s, only half remain. Taiwanese investment comprises little more than an ailing[2] industrial park—partly because skilled labour is short. （2）Taiwanese experts have passed on technical advice, but their lessons were ignored, says Carlos Paris, a trade official.
然而，巴拉圭没能将这种施舍转变为一种发展伙伴关系（没有与台湾一起实现同步发展）。1990年，台湾人平均收入是巴拉圭人的3倍，现在差距已经超过7倍。移民到巴拉圭的一万名台湾人中，许多都是上世纪80年代去的，如今只剩半数还继续留在巴拉圭。台湾的投资也大多集中在一个工业园，现已每况愈下，部分是因为缺乏技术熟练的劳工。贸易官员卡洛斯•巴黎说，台湾专家提供了很多技术方面的建议，但是却没有传授任何经验。（“pass on”意为“传递”，在本句中是指“先后”有很多专家前往巴拉圭进行技术指导，也就是技术援助。“be ignored”的主语也应该是“台湾专家”，就是说，这些台湾专家只给巴拉圭从技术方面建言献策，但他们“忽视了”介绍自身工作积累的一些经验和教训，于是乎，没有前车之鉴，巴拉圭就难免总是摔跟头了。意思是明白了，语言组织是一件难事，凑合着看吧。）
（3）Meanwhile, China looms larger. Last year, it supplied a quarter of Paraguay's imports, second only to Brazil. It buys much of the country's soya crop. For some Paraguayans, such as Jorge Samaniego, whose factory assembles Chinese motorcycles, lack of diplomatic ties is becoming a problem. It makes it harder for his Chinese suppliers to visit.
与此同时，中国越来越势不可挡。（“loom large”是指“to seem important, worrying, and difficult to avoid”，意思是“似乎很重要，令人焦虑，而且不可避免”）去年，中国占巴拉圭进口总额的四分之一，仅次于巴西。中国还收购了该国一多半的大豆作物。巴中之间缺少邦交关系，已经成为困扰某些巴拉圭人的一个难题，比如乔治•萨马尼戈，他的工厂负责组装中国摩托车，可就是因为这个问题使得中国供应商前来访问难上加难。
Pressure to switch diplomatic recognition lay behind Mr Chen's visit. “People see China's economic boom as an opportunity, but its voracious[3] appetite for energy and raw materials should be treated with caution,” he said. He unveiled a $250m fund to encourage Taiwanese firms to invest in the island's Latin American diplomatic allies. “We are talking about an investment plan. This is not dollar diplomacy,” said Mr Chen. （4）Perish the thought.
陈水扁是顶着巴拉圭人意欲转变外交认可态度带来的压力前往访问的。他说：“人们把中国的经济繁荣看成是一种机遇，但应谨慎对待中国对能源和原材料的巨大需求。”他透露，将赞助2.5亿美元，鼓励台湾公司到拉丁美洲台岛“邦交”国投资。陈水扁说：“我们正就一项投资计划进行商讨。这不是美元外交。”想得美哦！（“Perish the thought”是一句口语，表示“希望某人说的话永远不会发生”，如果是好事，就可以理解成“想得美”或“得了吧”或“做梦吧，你！”，如果是坏事，则表示“但愿不会”、“打消这念头”！等等。文章最后给出这样的评论，颇有讽刺意味。事实上，众所周知，以陈水扁为首的人搞的就是“美元外交”，他说“不是”，作者自然要“嗤之以鼻”了。对付这种外交方式最好的方法就是“以毒攻毒”，所谓魔高一尺，道高一丈。）
[NOTES](LONGMAN)
1．homage n. something you do to show respect for someone or something you think is important 尊崇，效忠（pay homage to对……毕恭毕敬）
2．ailing adj. an ailing company, organization or economy is having a lot of problems and is not successful困难重重的（公司、组织、经济）；境况不佳的
3．voracious adj. eating or wanting large quantities of food贪吃的；贪婪的；狼吞虎咽的
如：Kids can have voracious appetites.小孩会很贪吃。
[TIPS & BACKGROUND]
台湾的25个“邦交国”：
欧洲（1个）：梵蒂冈。
非洲（6个）：马拉维、乍得、斯威士兰、布基纳法索、冈比亚、圣多美和普林西比。
拉丁美洲（12个）：巴拿马、海地、巴拉圭、萨尔瓦多、多米尼加、哥斯达黎加、危地马拉、洪都拉斯、圣文森特和格林纳丁斯、圣基茨和尼维斯、伯利兹、尼加拉瓜。
大洋洲（6个）：瑙鲁、图瓦卢、所罗门群岛、马绍尔群岛共和国、帕劳、基里巴斯。（完）
