奧巴馬訪華遭遇中國直言不諱

China's top banking regulator issued a sharp critique of U.S. financial management only hours before President Barack Obama commenced his first visit to the Asian giant, highlighting economic and trade tensions that threaten to overshadow the trip.
　　就在美國總統奧巴馬(Barack Obama)開始首次訪華之行數小時前，中國銀監會主席劉明康尖銳地評價了美國金融管理，這彰顯出了兩國之間的經濟和貿易緊張狀況，可能會給奧巴馬此次訪問蒙上陰影。

　　Liu Mingkang, chairman of the China Banking Regulatory Commission, said that a weak U.S. dollar and low U.S. interest rates had led to 'massive speculation' that was inflating asset bubbles around the world. It has created 'unavoidable risks for the recovery of the global economy, especially emerging economies,' Mr. Liu said. The situation is 'seriously impacting global asset prices and encouraging speculation in stock and property markets.'
　　劉明康說，美元的持續貶值和長期低利率狀態對全球投機推波助瀾，投機催生了全球資產泡沫，對全球經濟的復蘇，尤其是新興市場經濟的復蘇形成了不可避免的風險。他說，這種狀況嚴重影響了全球資產價格，使得股市和樓市的投機行為更加興盛。

　　His comments signaled that Mr. Obama -- on the third leg of a four-country Asian tour -- can expect blunt talk from Chinese leaders on the economy. The issue could complicate his broad agenda in China that also includes efforts to extract new commitments on climate change and to encourage them to take a more active role to defuse nuclear threats in Iran and North Korea.
　　劉明康的言論預示著，奧巴馬此次訪華可能會遭遇中國領導人在經濟問題上的直言不諱。中國是奧巴馬此次出訪亞洲四國中的第三站。這個問題可能會令奧巴馬此次訪華的整體議程變得復雜，奧巴馬此行的議程還包括了推動中國就氣候變化作出新承諾，督促中國發揮更為積極的作用，以化解伊朗與朝鮮的核威脅。

　　Before heading to China, Mr. Obama underscored the urgency of his agenda on Iran by joining Russian President Dmitry Medvedev in warning Tehran that 'we are now running out of time.'
　　動身前往中國之前，奧巴馬與俄羅斯總統梅德韋杰夫(Dmitry Medvedev)共同警告伊朗“所剩時間已經不多”，強調了他關于伊朗問題議程的緊迫性。

　　The trip has already had some hiccups. Wrangling between the administration and Beijing over Mr. Obama's town hall meeting with university students in Shanghai on Monday was intense, with China wanting to screen the audience and its questions, and the U.S. wanting a freer exchange.
　　奧巴馬此行已經出現了一些問題。奧巴馬定于周一與上海的大學生召開會議，但兩國政府就活動安排進行了激烈爭執；中國方面希望對觀眾和所提問題進行篩選，而美國希望進行更為自由的交流。

　　Administration officials wound up emphasizing that the president would take questions not only from the audience but also from e-mails sent to the U.S. embassy. The event was to be broadcast live over the White House's Web site, whitehouse.gov, and the Chinese also agreed to broadcast it live locally on Xinhuanet, a site run by China's government-run news agency.
　　美國政府官員最后強調，奧巴馬不僅會回答現場聽眾的問題，還會回答通過電子郵件形式發至美國大使館的問題。這一活動將在白宮網站whitehouse.gov上現場直播，中國也同意在中國官方新華社的新華網上進行直播。

　　Differences over global economic management have been bubbling ahead of Obama's arrival on Sunday night. Chinese leaders previously expressed nervousness that the U.S. may be ready to sacrifice China's economic interests to haul itself out of the worst recession since World War II. China is the largest creditor to the U.S. It frets that huge U.S. budget deficits will weaken the dollar and slash the value of China's massive foreign-currency holdings, which hit $2.273 trillion at the end of September, the latest figure available.
　　在奧巴馬周日晚間抵達中國之前，兩國關于全球經濟管理問題的意見分歧已經顯著升溫。中國領導人此前表達了不安情緒，擔心美國可能準備犧牲中國的經濟利益來推動自身走出這場二戰以來最為嚴重的經濟衰退。中國是美國最大的債權國。中國擔心，美國巨大的預算赤字可能會導致美元走軟，導致中國巨大的外匯儲備價值顯著縮水。根據可獲得的最新數據，截至9月底，中國共持有2.273萬億美元的外匯儲備。

　　Beijing's suspicions of U.S. intentions have been exacerbated by trade quarrels under the Obama administration.
　　奧巴馬政府與中國的貿易紛爭加劇了中國政府對美國意圖的猜疑。

　　These began in September, when U.S. decided to hit Chinese tire exporters with tariffs. The U.S. has since targeted Chinese steel pipes with tariffs, a decision that China denounced as 'abusive protectionism.'
　　這些紛爭開始于9月份，當時美國決定對中國出口輪胎征收高額關稅。此后美國還決定對中國鋼管征收關稅，中國方面指責美國此舉是在濫用保護主義。

　　The U.S. is now moving ahead with investigations into the alleged 'dumping' (or selling at below-market prices) of coated paper from China and Indonesia, and of certain phosphate salts from China. China has started its own investigation into imports of some U.S. cars.
　　目前美國正在著手進行傾銷案（以低于市場價進行銷售的行為）調查，調查對象包括來自中國和印尼的銅版紙，以及中國生產的一種磷酸鹽。中國也已經開始對美國部分汽車進口展開了自己的調查。

　　Mr. Liu's comments suggest that currency could emerge as a thorny issue during Mr. Obama's visit.
　　劉明康的言論表明，匯率問題可能會成為奧巴馬此次訪華過程中的一個棘手問題。

　　China is particularly affected by the U.S. policy to keep interest rates at near-zero because it has kept its own currency, the yuan, largely pegged to the dollar. Key trading partners like the U.S. and European Union have urged China to let its currency appreciate, and multilateral agencies like the World Bank and International Monetary Fund have said a stronger yuan would help avoid risks of asset bubbles, in part because that would make it more expensive for outsiders to buy Chinese assets.