不畏浮云遮望眼 风物长宜放眼量

Dust Will Settle as We Go Along

 

驻加纳大使王世廷在《商务金融时报》发表署名文章

Chinese Ambassador to Ghana H.E. Shi Ting Wang Published a Signed Article in the Business & Financial Times

 

2019年6月1日

1 June 2019

 

2019年5月27日，驻加纳大使王世廷在加纳主流媒体《商务金融时报》发表题为《不畏浮云遮望眼 风物长宜放眼量》的署名文章，介绍中国对中美贸易摩擦的政策立场，驳斥美国挑起贸易战的相关理由，强调任何负责任大国都不应为了“本国优先”而损害他国利益。全文如下：

On 27 May 2019, the Business & Financial Times published a signed article by Chinese Ambassador to Ghana H.E. Shi Ting Wang entitled Dust Will Settle as We Go Along. The article introduced China’s position towards China-US trade frictions, disproved the reasons that the US wage the trade war, and emphasized that a responsible big country should not think about “us first” at the expense of others. The full text is as follows:

 

中美经贸谈判与贸易摩擦吸引了全世界的目光。中美经贸谈判的本质是什么？究竟孰是孰非？保护主义盛行的后果是什么？我想就此分享一些我的看法。

The China-US trade talks and frictions are catching the eye of the world. What is the nature of the negotiations? Who is right and who is wrong? What will happen if the protectionism prevails? I’d like to share some of my views on this topic.

 

一、中国对贸易摩擦的立场明确

I. China has firm and clear position towards trade frictions

 

中国不想打贸易战。在全球化深入发展的时代，贸易战对谁都没有好处。但是美方首先挥舞起贸易壁垒大棒，打上门来了。在这种情况下，中方不愿打，但也不怕打，必要时不得不打。

China doesn’t want a trade war. With the deepening development of globalization, trade war does no good to anyone. But the US waged it and brought the war to our doorstep. Under such circumstances, China doesn’t want a trade war, is not afraid of one, but will fight to its end should a trade war break out. I want to make it clear, this trade war is waged by the US to China, not the other way.

 

首先，中国有担当。在中国的文化基因中，深藏着“达则兼济天下”的理想和“独行快、众行远”的信念。1997年，亚洲金融危机爆发，中国顶住巨大压力，坚持人民币不贬值，不仅稳住了中国经济，而且帮助许多国家和地区走出了危机。2008年国际金融危机爆发后，中国没有袖手旁观，而是与各方同舟共济，并连续多年以超过30%的贡献率助力全球经济复苏。这次应对中美经贸摩擦，中国秉承负责任大国的担当和胸怀，本着对中国人民负责、对美国人民负责、对世界人民负责的道义立场与美方磋商，致力于真正解决中美经贸摩擦问题。

First of all, China is a country with responsibility. In our cultural genes, there is a deep understanding of the idea “let others be benefited when succeed” and the belief of “if you want to go fast, walk alone; and if you want to go far, walk together”. In 1997, when the Asian financial crisis broke out, China withstood tremendous pressure and insisted that the RMB did not depreciate, which not only stabilized the Chinese economy, but also helped many countries and regions to emerge from the crisis. After the outbreak of the international financial crisis in 2008, China did not stand idly by, but shared the same boat with all parties. It has helped with the global economic recovery at an economic contribution rate of more than 30% for many years in a row. This time, in response to China-US economic and trade frictions, China is taking the roles and vision as a responsible major country. In line with the moral stand of being responsible to the Chinese people, responsible to the American people, and responsible to the people of the world, China is committed to truly resolve the issue of China-US economic and trade frictions through talks, through negotiations.

 

其次，中国讲诚信。诚信是一个人的立身之本，也是一个国家的生存之基。中国“复关”和“入世”谈判历时15年，尽管付出了代价，但我们履行了所有承诺，大幅降低进口关税、削减非关税壁垒，向全世界充分展示了负责任发展中大国的守信形象。就连美国贸易代表办公室发布的多份年度报告也不乏对中国入世的正面评价，认为中国政府认真履行了承诺。在中美贸易摩擦中，中方扩大进口美国大豆并降低部分产品关税，这体现的是诚意。即便在美方进行极限施压，宣布对2000亿美元的中国输美商品加征关税后，中方仍派代表团赴美进行第十一轮高级别磋商，把通过谈判解决问题的诚意保持到最后一刻。

Second, China stresses integrity. Integrity is the foundation of a person and the foundation of a country’s survival. China’s negotiations with GATT and WTO lasted for 15 years. Despite the sacrifice, we fulfilled all our commitments, drastically reduced import tariffs, cut non-tariff barriers, and fully demonstrated the trustworthy and responsible image as a developing country. Even the annual reports issued by the Office of the US Trade Representative have a positive assessment of China’s accession to the WTO. They believe that the Chinese government has earnestly fulfilled its commitments. In the China-US trade friction, China has expanded its import of US soybeans and lowered tariffs on some products. This reflects sincerity. Even after the US raised the tariffs of US$200 Billion on Chinese exports to the United States, China still sent a delegation to the US to conduct the eleventh round of high-level consultations. This shows that China has a strong will to keep the sincerity of solving the problem through negotiations until the last minute.

 

再次，中国不好战。历史上，中国始终为强敌所环伺，屡遭游牧民族入侵。但中国对外作战多数是防御性质的，主要是为了保障国家和人民安全。你们当中可能有人爬过长城，获得过英雄证书。蜿蜒起伏的长城就集中体现了中国古代防御性的国防理念。对中美经贸摩擦，中方始终保持极大的克制，始终抱以极大的诚意，认真精心准备谈判。在美方升级中美经贸摩擦升级后，中方不得不反制，但同时仍希望美方回到双边经贸磋商的正确轨道，和中方共同努力，相向而行，在平等相待、互相尊重的基础上继续推进谈判。

Thirdly, China doesn’t prefer trade war. In history, China was always surrounded by formidable enemies and suffered the invasion of nomadic tribes. But most of the wars waged by the Chinese side were for self-defense. Some of you may have climbed the Great Wall and got the certificate of hero. The Great Wall which snakes across the mountains fully demonstrates the defensive nature of ancient China. In the economic and trade frictions between China and the United States, China has always maintained great restraint and always taken great sincerity to carefully prepare for negotiations. After the US upgrades China-US economic and trade frictions, China has to take countermeasures, but at the same time China still hopes that the US will return to the correct track of bilateral economic and trade consultations, work together with China, move toward each other and continue the negotiations on the basis of equality and mutual respect.

 

最后，中国不怕战。中国早已融入世界经济的大海，并在融入大海中成为大海，拥有面对疾风骤雨的充足底气。2018年，中国经济总量跨过90万亿元人民币大关，人均GDP接近1万美元。今年一季度，中国国内生产总值同比增长6.4%，增速超出预期。去年中国消费对经济增长的贡献率已达76.2%，内需已成为拉动中国经济增长的主要引擎。这些数字说明，中国经济是一片大海，而不是一个小池塘，中国应对外部挑战的能力不可同日而语，任何挑战都挡不住中国前进的步伐。中国绝不会无原则、无尊严地接受美方霸蛮要求。

Fourthly, China is not afraid of trade war. China has long been integrated into the ocean of the world economy and has become part of it. China is pretty much confident to face the storm over the ocean. In 2018, China’s total GDP surpassed 90 trillion RMB (About US$ 13.8 trillion), that is about 16% of the total global GDP, and its per capita GDP was close to 10,000 US dollars. In the first quarter of this year, China’s GDP grew by 6.4% year-on-year, and the growth rate exceeded expectations. Last year, Chinese consumption contribution to the economic growth reached 76.2%, and the domestic demand has become the main engine for China’s economic growth. These figures show that the Chinese economy is a big ocean, not a small pond. China’s ability to cope with external challenges is not the same as what it was before. Categorically speaking, China will never accept the hegemonic requirements without principle and dignity.

 

二、美国挑起贸易摩擦的理由不成立

II. The reasons that US wages trade war are inconsistent

 

既然中国有担当、讲诚信，是多边自由贸易体系的捍卫者和受益者，那么美国为什么还要挑起贸易战呢？美国提出的理由是否站得住脚呢？我们不妨一条条来看。

Since China is responsible, honest, and China is a defender and beneficiary of the multilateral free trade system. Why does US wage a trade war against China? Are the underlying arguments of US justified? Let’s take a look.

 

（一）“美国吃亏论”难堪事实检验。美国一直在渲染自己是受害者，动辄将“美国每年都要输给中国5000亿美元”、“美国损失了数百万制造业岗位”等说辞挂在嘴边。戏剧性的是，中国正是通过严格遵循二战后美国制定的世界贸易规则，实现了对美顺差。美国宣称遭受并不公平对待，岂不是搬石头砸自己的脚？

1. “US suffers losses” cannot stand up to scrutiny. US complains that it is a sufferer in the trade with China by “losing $500 billion a year and millions of jobs in manufacturing. Dramatically”, the way China gains surplus with US is by strictly following the rules of world trade which were made by US itself after World War Two. US claims that the trade is unfair is nothing but shoot itself in foot.

 

有一点经济学常识的人都知道，贸易赤字是经济全球化模式下市场资源配置的结果，并非恶意的产物，也不一定对经济不利。美国物价十分便宜，正是因为中美贸易让质优价廉的中国商品走进美国千家万户。2015年对华贸易帮助美国降低消费物价水平近1.5%，为每个美国家庭平均节省850美元。德意志银行等第三方发布的研究报告认为，长期以来，美国实际上在中美双边贸易中获得了比中国更多的商业净利益。

Anyone with some knowledge on economy knows that trade deficits are the result of the allocation of market resources under the economic globalization. They are not products of ill-intention, nor are they necessarily bad for an economy. On the contrary, thanks to the trade with China, American families have access to more, higher quality, lower cost products. In just 2015, trade with China lowered prices in the US by up to 1.5 percent, saving each family $850 on average. According to report issued by third party organizations including the Deutsche Bank, the US gained more net profit than China did in bilateral trade.

 

（二）“盗窃知识产权”实为欲加之罪。美方宣称，中国每年窃取价值数千亿美元的美国知识产权，从而给美国的创新能力造成致命打击。这些所谓“真相”让人错愕，也是对一个研发经费年支出近2万亿元的国家的诋毁。当中国的互联网经济蓬勃发展、高速铁路纵横驰骋、第五代移动通信技术（5G）开始推广应用，一些人对此产生“酸葡萄”心理可想而知。

2. Where there is a will to condemn, evidence will follow. Take the “so-called theft of intellectual property” as an example. US alleges that China steals intellectual properties worth hundreds of billions US Dollars, which cause a fatal blow to the American innovation capability. This so-called “fact” is shocking as it slanders a country with nearly 2 trillion RMB (About US$ 307.7 billion) of research and development expenditure every year. But it is not hard to imagine that some people turn to be “sour grapes” when China’s internet economy, high-speed railway and 5G technology are developing rapidly.

 

和众多发展中国家一样，中国是现代科技的后来者，学习发达国家是科技是发展的必然途径。从2001年加入WTO起，中国对外支付知识产权费年均增长17%，2017年达到286亿美元，其中对美国支付的费用就达到71.3亿美元，约占总额的四分之一。目前，中国科研论文发表量已居世界第二位，技术专利申请量已居全球首位，保护知识产权就是在保护中国自己的利益。中国的成功从来不是、今后也不会靠“偷”得来。

Like many other developing countries, China is the late-comer of modern technology and needs to learn from the developed countries. Since entering the World Trade Organization in 2001, intellectual property royalties paid by China to foreign right holders has registered an annual growth of 17 percent, reaching $28.6 billion in 2017. More than $7 billion (25 percent) went to the US. Now, China is the No.2 producer of scientific papers and No.1 patent filer in the world. Protecting the intellectual property is in line with China’s own interests. Chinese economic success has never been achieved by “stealing” from anyone, and never will be.

 

（三）“强制技术转让”纯属子虚乌有。实际上，中国政府从来没有对外资企业提出过此类要求。中外企业的技术合作和其他经贸合作完全是基于自愿原则实施的契约行为。中国的科技创新成就，正如美国前财政部长拉里·萨默斯所说：来自那些从政府对基础科学巨额投资中受益的优秀企业家，来自推崇卓越、注重科学和技术的教育制度。中国与美国等发达国家合作过程中发生的技术转移，源自发达国家企业出于利益最大化考虑的主动技术转让及产业转移。美国对属于市场行为的技术转让横加指责，其实是私心私利作祟，完全背弃了契约精神。

3. “China forces technology transfer” is groundless. Let’s be clear: the Chinese government has never made any such request to foreign companies. When it comes to technology or any other cooperation between Chinese and foreign companies, it is purely a matter of voluntary contracts. Larry Summers, a former US Treasury secretary under Bill Clinton and an economic advisor to Barack Obama, said that China’s technological progress is coming from “terrific entrepreneurs who are getting the benefit of huge government investments in basic science,” and “an educational system that’s privileging excellence, concentrating on science and technology”. Without any doubt, technology transfer abounds between Chinese and foreign entities, but that is rooted in the transferring parties’ pursuit of maximum profits. Thus, such condemnation of normal commercial practices is a mockery of the spirit of contract, motivated by selfishness.

 

（四）“中国违背承诺”更是无稽之谈。中美经贸磋商一年多来，中方一直抱着最大的诚意推动磋商，即使在美方威胁加征关税的情况下，中方工作团队仍从大局出发，赴美举行第十一轮中美经贸高级别磋商，最大程度展现了中方推动谈判的诚意。反观美国，近两年来在“以结果为导向”的“美国优先”政策下，接连退出巴黎协定、联合国教科文组织、伊朗核问题全面协议、联合国人权理事会中，逃避承担其应有的责任和义务。从去年5月美方撕毁中美在华盛顿达成的共识，一意孤行地加征关税，到随后肆意升级关税、极限施压，再到此番谈判仍在进行中又高举关税大棒，美国才是违背承诺的一方。

4. “China broke the deal” is a tale of a tub. Over the past year of China-US economic and trade consultations, China has been holding the greatest sincerity to promote the negotiations. Even in the case that the US threatened to impose tariffs, the Chinese delegation still proceeded from the overall situation and went to the United States to hold the 11th round of high-level trade and economic consultation, which has showed the sincerity to the greatest extent. In contrast, under the “results-oriented” “US priority” policy, the United States has successively withdrawn from the Paris Agreement, UNESCO, the Iranian Nuclear Comprehensive Agreement, and the UN Human Rights Council in the past two years, evading its due responsibilities and obligations. Since May last year when the United States tore up the consensus reached between China and US in Washington, it has arbitrarily imposed tariffs, upgraded tariffs (Imposing a 25% tariffs on US$ 200 billion of Chinese export to US) and imposed extreme pressure afterwards, and further threatened with tariffs (Threatening a 25% tariff on the remaining US$ 325 billion of Chinese export to US) right in the process of the negotiation. It is the United States that is defaulting on the promise.

 

不难看出，美国对华发起贸易战，并不是为了解决公平问题，而是凭借自己长期以来占据的经济、金融规则优势，攫取不平等的收益。

The reason why United States waged the trade war against China is not to solve the problem of fairness, but to take advantage of its long-standing ascendancy of economic and financial norms to grab unequal benefits.

 

三、开放融通才有未来

III. The future lies in openness and connectivity

 

保护主义是国际社会共同的敌人。中国始终认为，只有聚焦合作，才符合中美共同利益。加征关税、单边措施解决不了任何问题，最终损害的是中美两国民众和企业利益。中美保持良好稳定的经贸关系，不仅对各自发展有利，也有助于推动世界经济持续健康发展。任何负责任大国都不应为了“本国优先”而损害他国利益。中方愿继续本着合作担当的精神，推动中美经贸关系稳定健康发展。

Protectionism is the common enemy of the world. China has always believed in responsibility and cooperation as a way to resolve differences in negotiations. Raising tariffs and taking unilateral measures only harms the interests of the people and business of the two counties. A sound and stable economic partnership between the US and China is important for not only the two countries, but also the world economy. Therefore, what a responsible big country should do is to stop thinking about “us first” at the expense of others. China will continue working with the US to ensure the steady and sound development of their economic partnership.

 

最后，我想引用一句名言：“黎明之前最黑暗”。国际社会应当团结起来，坚决反对保护主义的“至暗时刻”。只要国际社会团结一心，坚定信心，顺应开放融通的时代大潮，坚决反对贸易保护主义，定将迎来世界经济和美丽世界的曙光。

To conclude, I would like to quote a famous saying, “The darkest hour is nearest the dawn”. It is important that the international community stand firm and stand together at this “darkest hour” of protectionism. I believe that if we work together based on the openness and connectivity, rather than the selfish exclusion and protectionism, we will embrace the dawn of global economy and the dawn of a beautiful world.