美选战不断抨击中国 中国开始反击

By repeatedly taking swipes at China during Tuesday's debate, President Barack Obama and Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney apparently calculated that the political benefits would outweigh the potential costs of irritating a major trade and diplomatic partner.

美国总统奥巴马(Barack Obama)和共和党总统候选人罗姆尼(Mitt Romney)在周二的辩论中一次次抨击中国。他们好像认为，这样做带来的政治效益超过了激怒一个重要贸易与外交伙伴的潜在代价。

But a swift and angry response from the Chinese government hours later reflected how sensitive relations have become between the U.S. and China at a time of transition in both governments.

但数小时之后，中国政府迅速做出了愤怒的回应。可见在两国政府都在换届之际，中美关系已经变得何其敏感。

Mr. Obama said during the debate that his administration has achieved results by pushing Congress on its currency and trade policies during his years in office. 'We've put unprecedented trade pressure on China,' he said.

奥巴马在辩论中说，上任以来的几年里，他所领导的政府在推动国会批准其汇率和贸易政策方面取得了成效。他说：我们在贸易方面已经给中国施加了前所未有的压力。

Mr. Romney said he would be more aggressive, calling China a 'cheater' and saying repeatedly that he would label the country a 'currency manipulator.' China's leaders limit the movement of the yuan, a policy long criticized by U.S. lawmakers who complain Beijing keeps it artificially low to help its exports.

罗姆尼表示他会更加强硬。他把中国称为“骗子，并反复表示他将把中国定性为“汇率操纵国。中国领导人限制人民币汇率的波动，长期遭到美国议员的批评，他们抱怨北京为扶助出口而人为压低汇率。

'China has been a currency manipulator for years and years and years,' Mr. Romney said. 'And the president has a regular opportunity to label them as a currency manipulator but refuses to do so. On day one, I will label China a currency manipulator, which will allow me as president to be able to put in place, if necessary, tariffs where I believe that they are taking unfair advantage of our manufacturers.'

罗姆尼说，中国多年来一直是汇率操纵国，总统多次有机会将他们定性为汇率操纵国，但却都拒绝这样做；我上任第一天就会把中国定性为汇率操纵国，这样我作为总统，就可以在必要情况下采取征收惩罚性关税的措施，打击那些我认为不公平地侵占了美国制造企业利益的产品。

China Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei on Wednesday denied that Beijing has been manipulating its currency and said China would continue to gradually allow more flexibility in its exchange-rate regime.

中国外交部发言人洪磊周三否认北京操纵汇率，并表示中国将继续逐步提高汇率机制的灵活性。

Senior U.S. officials meet and speak with their Chinese counterparts throughout the year on a wide range of issues, but the campaign has turned China into a political punching bag. And by Wednesday, China began punching back.

美国高官全年都在跟中国高官会谈，讨论各种各样的议题，但美国选战却把中国变成了美国政客的打击对象。到本周三，中国开始反击。

'The presidential campaign reflects an alarming scenario in which China-bashing has become a ritual,' said an article published by China's state-run news service, TingVoa.com. 'This ritual, however, negatively impacts China-U.S. relations and leaves Americans with the impression that China is responsible for their country's decline.'

中国官方通讯社新华社发表的一篇文章说，这次总统竞选反映了一个值得警惕的情形，那就是抨击中国已经成为理所当然的事，但这不利于中美关系，会让美国人觉得是中国造成了他们国家的衰落。

The tough talk comes at a sensitive time diplomatically, when Washington is seeking Beijing's cooperation on Iran and North Korea, and wants an easing of tensions between China and Japan. In addition, China's strong appetite for U.S. Treasurys helps keep interest rates low.

这些强硬言论出现在外交上的一个敏感时期。此时华盛顿正谋求北京在伊朗和朝鲜问题上与它合作，并希望中日矛盾缓解。除此以外，中国对美国国债的巨大需求也从一个方面使美国的利率保持在低水平。

On Wednesday, China's central bank set the rate at which the yuan opened trading at a four-month high against the dollar. In recent days, the central bank has guided the yuan higher, which China analysts ascribe to an effort by Beijing to avoid giving Mr. Romney, who is unpopular in China, any more campaign ammunition.

中国央行周三将人民币兑美元的开盘汇率设在四个月最高水平。近几天来，央行引导人民币汇率走高。中国问题分析人士认为，这是因为北京希望避免再给罗姆尼送去打选战的弹药，因为他在中国不受欢迎。

Both Democrats and Republicans have argued the Obama administration should take a more forceful tone with China, accusing the country of intervening in a way that hurts U.S. manufacturers. But members of both parties have also urged caution, warning that a more aggressive approach could trigger a trade war that would hurt the U.S. economy.

民主、共和两党的人都曾主张，奥巴马政府在面对中国时态度应该更加强硬，他们指责中国的一些行为损害了美国制造商的利益。但是两党人士也都敦促政府要行动谨慎，他们警告说，采取更加激进的手段可能会引发贸易战，进而伤害美国。

China's government is about to embark on its own leadership change and its top officials can ill afford to seem weak in the face of foreign pressure.

中国政府将要进行领导层换届，中国的最高领导人不愿被外界视作在外国压力面前态度软弱。

'Everyone wants to be more nationalistic than the next guy,' said Nicholas Lardy, a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics. 'You kick sand in their face, even though it really doesn't amount to much, there's a downside risk.'

彼得森国际经济研究所(Peterson Institute for International Economics)高级研究员拉迪(Nicholas Lardy)说，大家都想表现得比别人更爱国，如果你指责对方，即使这事本身不算大，也可能会引发严重后果。

Labeling China a 'currency manipulator' would likely be mostly a symbolic slap, though it could have trade repercussions. The designation would trigger official talks between the U.S. and China over the value of the yuan. Imposing a tariff might violate World Trade Organization rules and could prompt Beijing to retaliate, as it has in other trade disputes.

将中国列为汇率操纵国对中国可能只是一个象征性的打击，但却可能对贸易产生影响。这一称号会促使中美两国之间围绕人民币币值问题进行正式会谈。而征收惩罚性关税则可能违反世界贸易组织(World Trade Organization, 简称: WTO)规则，并可能促使中国像在其他贸易纠纷中一样采取报复措施。

China has been labeled a currency manipulator just once, by the Clinton administration in 1994. The administrations of both George W. Bush and Mr. Obama have avoided such a designation.

中国唯一一次被列为汇率操纵国是在1994年克林顿政府时期。布什政府和奥巴马政府都曾避免做出这样一种举动。

During the debate, Mr. Obama cited the shuttle diplomacy that Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and others in his administration have used privately to try to persuade China to allow its currency to float more freely.

奥巴马在辩论过程指出，财政部长盖特纳(Timothy Geithner)和其他政府官员曾私下进行穿梭外交，意在试图说服中国增强人民币的弹性。

'The currency's actually gone up 11% since I've been president because we have pushed them hard,' Mr. Obama said, using an inflation-adjusted estimate of how much the yuan has risen against the dollar since June 2010─when China, under pressure from the U.S., other nations and the International Monetary Fund, moved to let its currency float somewhat against the dollar.Mr. Obama alluded to the numerous WTO complaints his administration brought against China, accusing the country of unfair trade practices, as an example of how he has defended U.S. interests.

奥巴马说，从他担任总统以来，人民币已经实际升值了11%，原因就在于美国大力施压。奥巴马所指的人民币升值幅度是指自2010年6月至今经过通货膨胀调整的人民币升值幅度。2010年6月，在美国、其他国家及国际货币基金组织(IMF)的压力下，中国允许人民币兑美元有所浮动。奥巴马还提到了美国政府针对中国向WTO提起的不计其数的诉讼，以此说明他如何捍卫了美国的利益。美国提起的诉讼指控中国采取了不公平的贸易行为。

'When I said that we had to make sure that China was not flooding our domestic market with cheap tires, Gov. Romney said I was being protectionist, that it wouldn't be helpful to American workers,' Mr. Obama said.

奥巴马说，当他表示美国必须确保国内市场不会充斥中国廉价轮胎时，罗姆尼曾说这是贸易保护主义行为，还说这对美国工人没有帮助。

'Well, in fact we saved a thousand jobs, and that's the kind of tough trade actions that are required.'

奥巴马说，事实上此举保护了上千个工作岗位，这就是我们所采取的强硬贸易措施。

But trade analysts Gary Hufbauer and Sean Lowry of the Peterson Institute for International Economics criticized the administration's tire action, saying it raised the costs of tires overall for U.S. consumers. They calculate that each job cost at least $936,000 in additional costs for consumers.

但是彼得森国际经济研究所的贸易分析师豪夫鲍尔(Gary Hufbauer)和劳里(Sean Lowry)对上述举措提出了批评，原因是它整体上推高了美国消费者购买轮胎的成本。他们通过计算得出，每增加一个就业岗位，美国消费者就需额外支付至少93.6万美元。