【2009经济学人杂志双语阅读】Overseas and under siege困居海外

chijiaoshunv

Overseas and under siege

困居海外

Aug 11th 2009
From the Economist Intelligence Unit ViewsWire

An apparent rise in violence against Chinese labourers working overseas
中国海外劳工遭袭明显增多

Chinese money is helping to drive infrastructure investment in many developing countries, but in its wake has also come a big rise in Chinese immigrants and overseas workers that has proved less popular. As the number of attacks on Chinese citizens and property increases, domestic pressure may grow on China's government to respond assertively, undermining its doctrine of non-intervention in the internal affairs of sovereign states.

在许多发展中国家的基建投资中，都有中国的银子相助，但是自此之后，不为银子一般流行的中国移民和国外劳工也大幅增加。中国公民在外人身财产愈发频繁遭袭，中国政府可能会面临国内日益增加的压力，要求置“不干涉主权国家内政”原则于不顾，对此果断回应。

The last few months have seen another outbreak of anti-Chinese rioting in countries that casual observers might have been surprised to find even had a Chinese minority. In Algeria this August, clashes broke out between Chinese and locals in the capital, Algiers, leaving several people injured and a number of Chinese shops looted. Chinese shops around the capital were closed for the period following the violence, and there were calls from some Algerian traders for the expulsion of all Chinese immigrants from the country. Across the world in Papua New Guinea even more serious violence was witnessed after anti-Chinese rioting, reportedly involving thousands of people, broke out in May. At least one person was killed and Chinese-owned businesses were pillaged in several cities (including the capital, Port Moresby) and towns throughout the country.

近几个月来，在一些若不留心都难以寻觅华人踪影的国度中，反华暴动却再次高涨。今年8月在阿尔及利亚，当地人与华人发生群殴事件，数人受伤，不少华人商铺 遭到掠抢。暴力事件发生后一段时日，阿尔及尔附近的华人商铺停止营业，而一些阿尔及利亚贸易商呼吁将中国移民驱逐出国。在地球另一端的巴布亚新几内亚，反 华暴动后甚至发生了更加严重的暴力事件，据报道，事发之时正值五月，上千人参与，至少一人死亡，而在巴国诸多城镇（包括首都莫尔兹比港），华人公司都遭抢 劫。

Two outbreaks of violence could be deemed tragic but coincidental. However, the last few years have seen many similar bouts of rioting that have specifically targeted expatriate Chinese communities. The most serious occurred in the Solomon Islands in 2006, when the Chinatown in the capital, Honiara, suffered extensive damage amid riots that drove out much of the country's ethnic Chinese population. These followed an election in which many politicians were accused of having received bribes from Chinese businessmen as China and Taiwan vied for the Islands' diplomatic recognition. The same year saw outbreaks of unrest in the nearby island country of Tonga that also targeted Chinese firms and premises—the unrest erupted as pro-democracy groups accused the government of failing to advance democratic reforms, but rapidly took on anti-immigrant overtones.

若只有两场暴乱，可视作悲剧之巧合。而几年来，许多类似的血腥事件箭头直指侨居华人群体。最严重的发生在2006年，索罗门群岛首都霍尼亚拉的唐人街受到 大面积创伤，迫使大部分华人群体离开该国。接下来的大选中，诸多政客均受指责，在中国大陆和台湾竞争索罗门群岛外交认同之际接受大陆商人贿赂。同年，在附 近岛国汤加，民主倡议组织指责政府不推行民主改革，但是话音马上转向了反移民，从而发生了针对中国公司和厂址的暴乱。

Africa saw similar riots in 2006 in the Zambian capital, Lusaka, following the election defeat of the opposition's presidential candidate, Michael Sata, who had run a campaign that strongly focused on the negative effects of rising Chinese involvement in the local economy. Zambia has since seen a steady rumbling of anti-China sentiment, mostly in the copper belt where Chinese investment is concentrated—a Chinese copper mine manager was hospitalised in March 2008 after a protest by workers over conditions. Unrest also broke out in 2007 in Lesotho, when local small-scale retailers, angered by a campaign to relocate them to a designated market place away from the city centre, went on a rampage targeting Chinese-owned businesses.

在非洲国家赞比亚，反对派总统竞选人迈克尔.萨塔发起运动，强烈抨击愈多华人参与当地经济之 不利影响，他竞选告负后，首都卢萨卡也发生了类似暴乱。此后，赞比亚国内反华情绪逐步高涨，在中国投资集中的铜带省尤甚——2008年3月，工人对工作条 件发出抗议，一名中国铜矿经理受伤住院。2007年，莱索托国内发起运动，将当地小型零售商迁徙至远离市中心的制定集散地，当事人怒火中烧 ，最终此事又发展成为针对华人企业的动乱。

Rising resentment
恨意加剧

Chinese communities abroad have long lived under the threat of persecution. The long-established ethnic-Chinese minorities in South-east Asia have been on the receiving end of some of the worst pogroms, with tens of thousands dying in Indonesia and Malaysian riots in the last century (the most recent violence in Indonesia, in 1998, may have left as many as 1,500 dead). In the decades since 1978, when China began its economic reforms, the number of Chinese who have moved abroad has increased rapidly and their destinations have become more varied. In the last few years China's increasingly open-handed approach to funding overseas infrastructure has heightened this flow of emigration. Developing nations across the world have been keen to accept Chinese financing for their roads, ports and telecommunications networks, but this money usually comes with requirements that foreign governments allow Chinese companies to do the work—and most often with a large number of Chinese labourers.

长久以来，海外的中国团体就生活在迫害威胁之下。东南亚源远流长的华人群体一直是最恶劣屠杀的受害者，上世纪在印尼和大马的暴乱中，有上万华人遇难（距今 最近的暴乱发生在1998年的印尼，约有1,500华人死于其中）。1978年中国经济改革过后的几十年，大批华人走出国门，奔向各个国家。近年来中国资 助国外基础建设，愈发慷慨，因此更多华人流向海外。世界各地的发展中国家都希望能够得到中国赞助，修建公路、港口和电信网络，但是如想得到支援，外国政府就需要允许中国公司运作——大部分情况下，还需要允许大批中国劳工前来工作。

As a result of these trends, Chinese communities across the developing world have expanded explosively. Official data from governments in these countries are wildly contradictory on the exact numbers, but in Algeria, for example, press reports at the time of the recent riots suggested there were between 25,000 and 35,000 Chinese in the country, many working on petrochemical projects associated with Chinese investments. Coupled with this boom in the number of Chinese living abroad has come the impact of country's export juggernaut. Surging Chinese exports, especially to the developed world, have crushed local manufacturing industries in many parts of the developing world, particularly in the textiles trade. Small-scale Chinese retailers have also tended to crowd out local vendors, exploiting their ties to the source of the products now dominating foreign markets. The result can often be rising resentment against expatriate Chinese communities.

大势所趋，发展中国家内部的华人团体迅速壮大。具体数目究竟多少，各个国家的官方数据相去甚远，但是据最近暴动的媒体报道推测，阿尔及利亚应有 25,000到35,000华人，其中大部分都是在于中国投资相关的化工产业工作，其他国家亦是如此。与中国侨民数量激增同时而来的，还有中国震慑人心的 出口影响。中国针对发达国家的出口狂潮，在发展中国家许多地方也以秋风扫落叶之势，对当地加工业发起了冲击，纺织工业尤是。小规模的中国零售商利用他们现 在占据外国市场的资源关系，也展示出了挤出当地竞争对手的架势。如此一来，反对侨居华人团体的情绪日益上涨。

Adding to this can be other issues, such as labour incidents and land claims. The recent violence in Papua New Guinea followed an incident in which a Chinese worker driving a tractor at the Ramu nickel mine (which is being developed by a Chinese state enterprise, the China Metallurgical Construction Group) injured a local man. Land owners have also attacked Chinese employees at the mine. The violence in Zambia violence has also been linked to labour conditions in Chinese-owned mines, notably the Chambishi copper mine.

其他问题也会随之而来，诸如劳工事故和用地申请。在最近的巴布亚新几内亚暴乱之后，一名驾驶拖拉机的中国人在（由中国国有的中国冶金建设集团公司开发的） 拉穆镍矿撞伤了一名当地居民。土地所有者对矿上的中国雇员以暴力回击。赞比亚的暴力事件也同中国所有的矿井中——尤其是谦比西铜矿——工作条件密切相关。

An easy target
海外弱者

For those who wish to target them, Chinese expatriates and their businesses are easily identifiable, marked by Chinese-language signs and often clustering in Chinatowns—it is notable that almost all anti-Chinese rioting has taken place in city centres, rather than near the infrastructure projects where many Chinese workers are employed. In Chinese areas there is sometimes a sharp cultural divide from the local environment. In Islamic countries there are frequent complaints about the open consumption of alcohol and immodest dress of Chinese businessmen and workers. In some places, such as Afghanistan, Chinese residents have even been linked with prostitution rackets.

若想袭击中国侨民或者他们的公司，中文标志和总是熙熙攘攘的唐人街一看便知——值得一提的是，大部分反华暴动都发生在市中心，而中国工人所在的基建基地却 并不多见。在某些情况下，华人聚集地和周围的当地环境形成了鲜明的反差。如在伊斯兰国家，抱怨中国商人和劳工招摇售酒、衣着暴露的比比皆是。在阿富汗等 地，中国居民甚至与卖淫联系在了一起。

While these factors may explain some of the underlying resentment levelled against Chinese communities overseas, it is probably no coincidence that in the majority of cases to date anti-Chinese rioting has been preceded by domestic political instability in the host country. In places like Tonga, the Solomon Islands and Zambia public anger against the government was already high, and the outbreak of violence against Chinese businesses was partly a result of opposition movements seeking to strengthen their positions.

为什么中国海外群体如此招致仇恨，多少有以上原因。但是迄今为止，多数反华暴动都是接发生国家内部的政治动乱而来，恐怕不是巧合。比如汤家、所罗门群岛和赞比亚，公众对政府的抗议已然高涨，而对中国公司暴力事件的爆发，只不过是反对运动公众寻求巩固地位所造成的后果之一。

Unusual quiescence
一反常态，保持缄默

So far the Chinese government has had a curiously muted response to these incidents, confined to organising evacuations and relief. This is surprising given its tendency to react very strongly when it feels its national interest is threatened on issues such as trade or minority regions like Tibet. However, it is in part a reflection of the lessons of history. The Chinese government's strong response to the Indonesian pogroms against that country's ethnic Chinese in the 1960s and 1970s only served to stoke the Indonesian government's mistrust, leading to further persecution.

目前，中国政府却难以理解地对这些事件保持沉默，做出的反应只不过是组织华人疏散和营救。一般情况下，在贸易和西藏等少数民族问题上，中国在认为国家利益 受到威胁之时都会做出强烈反应。但若回顾历史，保持沉默实属身不由己。上个世纪六七十年代印尼屠杀华人，中国政府强烈抗议却只能换来印尼政府对中国不信 任，从而引发了进一步的迫害。

Despite this, pressures for a more activist position are growing. Within China, there is little distinction between nationality and ethnicity; even when ethnic Chinese hold a foreign passport both the government and the wider public tend to view them as citizens of China. More and more, the domestic media is bringing examples of the abuse of Chinese citizens abroad to public attention, increasing the pressure on the government to act.

尽管如此，仍有呼声要求表明反对立场，压力与日俱增。中国的国家和民族并无显著差别，就算持有国外护照的中国人，政府也倾向将其视作中国公民。国内媒体进一步向公开华人在外受到不公平待遇的事例，要求政府对此反应的压力越来越大。

For the time being, the Chinese government's main priority will be national strategic interests—be they mining operations (as in Zambia), the diplomatic isolation of Taiwan (a factor in the violence in the Solomon Islands) or the success of multi-billion dollar investments led by its state-owned enterprises (as in Algeria). However, as more Chinese businesses expand overseas and more Chinese live and work abroad, the government will have to put more emphasis on defending the welfare of its nationals. This will introduce yet another complicating factor into Chinese diplomacy.

眼下中国政府看中的是国家战略利益，不管是在赞比亚矿业的良好运转，引发所罗门群岛时间原因之一的外交隔离台湾，抑或是在阿尔及利亚中国国有企业数十亿巨款投资的成功。然而，随着中国公司和中国侨民的增加，政府定会对国人的利益进步强调。中国外交又多了一个复杂因素。