2011年07月28日 14:22 PM
FT社評：動車事故反映中國治理弊病
Leader_A railway accident waiting to happen
英國《金融時報》 社評
Last week's crash involving two Chinese bullet trains is principally a human tragedy. Many lives have been lost, and the nation has in recent days been transfixed by the harrowing stories of the survivors.
上周中國發生的動車追尾碰撞事故，總的來說是一場人類悲劇。許多人失去了生命，而倖存者的悲痛遭遇幾天來震驚了全國。
Beyond the human suffering, the accident shines a light on some of the flaws that disfigure China's rapid modernisation and also raise doubts about the durability of its extraordinary growth.
除了人們所受的苦難以外，這起事故還折射出了使得中國快速現代化進程扭曲變形的一些弊病，也讓人們對中國非凡增長的可持續性產生了懷疑。
China may have acquired the gleaming trappings of a modern industrial economy, but it has not developed the governance systems to match. Power, whether that of the producer or the state, still goes largely unchecked by public freedoms such as those of expression and association. There is limited accountability through the agency of the media; through the ballot box it remains non-existent.
中國或許已經披上了現代工業經濟的華麗外衣，但它還沒有發展出與之配套的治理機制。權力——不論是生產者的權力，還是政府的權力——依然基本上不受各項公民自由（言論自由和結社自由等等）的製約。借助媒體的力量只能實現有限的問責；而通過投票實現問責的機制則仍然不存在。
This hurts the welfare of the Chinese people. Think of the scandal of tainted baby milk or the collapse of so many school buildings during the 2008 Sichuan earthquake, thought to be the result of shoddy construction owing to municipal corruption.
這會損害中國人民的福祉。想想三聚氰胺事件，再想想2008年四川地震中倒塌的眾多校舍（很多人認為其根源在於市政腐敗導致建築質量低劣）。
The same ills seem to have plagued the vast high-speed rail programme. The minister responsible was fired for what were euphemistically termed “disciplinary violations” earlier this year amid rumours of systemic bribery. Foreign officials and executives had warned that China's homegrown rail technology was not up to the task, being based on bowdlerised versions of foreign designs that were expected to operate at speeds for which they were not designed. Stories abounded about large sums being siphoned off by contractors during the construction phase.
龐大的高鐵項目似乎也已染上了相同的弊病。今年早些時候，負責該項目的部長因涉嫌“違紀”（多麼委婉的說法）而被免職，據傳他大量收受賄賂。外國官員和業界高管曾經警告說，中國在外國設計基礎上加以改動而形成的自主高鐵技術尚不過關，列車的運行時速超過了設計時速。有關高鐵在建期間承包商私吞大筆工程款的傳聞也不絕於耳。
Safety failings and corruption occur in western countries too, of course, but these societies have institutional mechanisms to correct mistakes – systems Beijing is still loath to encourage. The railway project was not an isolated endeavour but part of a boom unleashed by the state to keep growth going following the financial crisis. The accident raises questions about how well this money was invested.
西方國家當然也存在安全缺陷和腐敗，但西方社會具備“糾錯”機制，而中國政府迄今仍不願推動這類機制的建設。高鐵項目並非一種孤立的努力，而是金融危機後中國政府為維持經濟增長而發起的一輪大干快上中的一個環節。這起事故也讓人們對這些投資的效率產生了懷疑。
When doubters questioned the wisdom of exorbitantly expensive high speed rail travel in a still-poor society, or of siting stations outside the limits of existing cities, they were told that China was building for the future and would grow into its new infrastructure. These claims look more hollow now, as does the notion that China can defy the laws of economic gravity, leaping over other states, and moving up the value chain faster than other countries have done before.
人們感到疑惑的是，在一個依然貧窮的社會推廣過於昂貴的高鐵出行方式是否明智？把車站建在遠離現有城市的地方是否明智？他們得到的回應是：中國是在為未來大興土木，而且隨著經濟增長，這些新的基礎設施會派上用場。這些說法如今看來更顯空洞。同樣空洞的是另一種說法，就是中國能夠無視“經濟引力定律”、大踏步超越其他國家、比任何其它國家都更快地在價值鏈上攀爬。
譯者/何黎
FT社評：動車事故反映中國治理弊病
Leader_A railway accident waiting to happen
英國《金融時報》 社評
Last week's crash involving two Chinese bullet trains is principally a human tragedy. Many lives have been lost, and the nation has in recent days been transfixed by the harrowing stories of the survivors.
上周中國發生的動車追尾碰撞事故，總的來說是一場人類悲劇。許多人失去了生命，而倖存者的悲痛遭遇幾天來震驚了全國。
Beyond the human suffering, the accident shines a light on some of the flaws that disfigure China's rapid modernisation and also raise doubts about the durability of its extraordinary growth.
除了人們所受的苦難以外，這起事故還折射出了使得中國快速現代化進程扭曲變形的一些弊病，也讓人們對中國非凡增長的可持續性產生了懷疑。
China may have acquired the gleaming trappings of a modern industrial economy, but it has not developed the governance systems to match. Power, whether that of the producer or the state, still goes largely unchecked by public freedoms such as those of expression and association. There is limited accountability through the agency of the media; through the ballot box it remains non-existent.
中國或許已經披上了現代工業經濟的華麗外衣，但它還沒有發展出與之配套的治理機制。權力——不論是生產者的權力，還是政府的權力——依然基本上不受各項公民自由（言論自由和結社自由等等）的製約。借助媒體的力量只能實現有限的問責；而通過投票實現問責的機制則仍然不存在。
This hurts the welfare of the Chinese people. Think of the scandal of tainted baby milk or the collapse of so many school buildings during the 2008 Sichuan earthquake, thought to be the result of shoddy construction owing to municipal corruption.
這會損害中國人民的福祉。想想三聚氰胺事件，再想想2008年四川地震中倒塌的眾多校舍（很多人認為其根源在於市政腐敗導致建築質量低劣）。
The same ills seem to have plagued the vast high-speed rail programme. The minister responsible was fired for what were euphemistically termed “disciplinary violations” earlier this year amid rumours of systemic bribery. Foreign officials and executives had warned that China's homegrown rail technology was not up to the task, being based on bowdlerised versions of foreign designs that were expected to operate at speeds for which they were not designed. Stories abounded about large sums being siphoned off by contractors during the construction phase.
龐大的高鐵項目似乎也已染上了相同的弊病。今年早些時候，負責該項目的部長因涉嫌“違紀”（多麼委婉的說法）而被免職，據傳他大量收受賄賂。外國官員和業界高管曾經警告說，中國在外國設計基礎上加以改動而形成的自主高鐵技術尚不過關，列車的運行時速超過了設計時速。有關高鐵在建期間承包商私吞大筆工程款的傳聞也不絕於耳。
Safety failings and corruption occur in western countries too, of course, but these societies have institutional mechanisms to correct mistakes – systems Beijing is still loath to encourage. The railway project was not an isolated endeavour but part of a boom unleashed by the state to keep growth going following the financial crisis. The accident raises questions about how well this money was invested.
西方國家當然也存在安全缺陷和腐敗，但西方社會具備“糾錯”機制，而中國政府迄今仍不願推動這類機制的建設。高鐵項目並非一種孤立的努力，而是金融危機後中國政府為維持經濟增長而發起的一輪大干快上中的一個環節。這起事故也讓人們對這些投資的效率產生了懷疑。
When doubters questioned the wisdom of exorbitantly expensive high speed rail travel in a still-poor society, or of siting stations outside the limits of existing cities, they were told that China was building for the future and would grow into its new infrastructure. These claims look more hollow now, as does the notion that China can defy the laws of economic gravity, leaping over other states, and moving up the value chain faster than other countries have done before.
人們感到疑惑的是，在一個依然貧窮的社會推廣過於昂貴的高鐵出行方式是否明智？把車站建在遠離現有城市的地方是否明智？他們得到的回應是：中國是在為未來大興土木，而且隨著經濟增長，這些新的基礎設施會派上用場。這些說法如今看來更顯空洞。同樣空洞的是另一種說法，就是中國能夠無視“經濟引力定律”、大踏步超越其他國家、比任何其它國家都更快地在價值鏈上攀爬。
譯者/何黎
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