【時代雜誌投稿 —— 黃之鋒 x 鄺頌晴:Hong Kong Cannot Prosper Without Autonomy】
https://time.com/5844588/joshua-wong-hong-kong-cannot-prosper-without-autonomy/
By passing the resolution to develop legislation to “safeguard national security” in Hong Kong in its rubber stamp parliament, Beijing initiated “political mutual destruction” for itself and Hong Kong. Beijing’s plan to rein in Hong Kong—defying a worldwide outcry—is revenge on the democratic movement in Hong Kong which has been protesting since March 2019. It is also retaliation against the U.S. for passing the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act 2019.
On 27 May, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo issued a statement certifying that Hong Kong no longer warrants differential treatment under U.S. law. At the same time declaring, “No reasonable person can assert today that Hong Kong maintains a high degree of autonomy from China, given facts on the ground.” He also filed a report to the Congress, in accordance with the Act, grounding from the fact that Beijing assert its right to interpret all laws in Hong Kong in November 2019; the Liaison Office’s claims that it was exempted from Article 22 of the Basic Law in April 2020; and the national security law announced last week. He further added that the deployment of tear gas and the mass arrests and the dispatching of the People’s Armed Police into Hong Kong, all constituted a violation of the Basic Law and the Sino-British Joint Declaration. President Donald Trump will later have to invoke the U.S.-Hong Kong Policy Act of 1992 to respond with appropriate measures, possible approaches range from economic relations, to restrictions on immigration to cultural and educational exchanges.
The U.S. response to the events over the last year signifies that it has shifted from an appeasing “change for trade” to an unyielding foreign policy towards China. From the 1980s, the free world had been hoping China would liberalize and democratize itself as trade rapidly grew between it and the world. It was a false belief that opening up the Chinese market would lead to opening up of the Chinese mindset. However, such optimism has proved to be in vain.
The special arrangement under which the U.S. treats Hong Kong differently from China on politics, trade, commerce, and other areas, stems from Hong Kong maintaining sufficient autonomy. As a holdover from its time as a British Colony, Hong Kong has a different legal and economic system. Now as Beijing tightens its grip over the city, depriving Hong Kong of its last little bit of freedom and autonomy, the basis of that special agreement is compromised. Therefore the U.S. has every right to change its policy towards Hong Kong, regardless of Beijing’s snarling about “foreign intervention” and its attempts to use Hong Kong as a bargaining chip.
Beijing has long taken advantage of Hong Kong to gain access to foreign capital and other state-of-the-art technology products. Hong Kong, enjoying special legal treatments, is the favourite channel for mainland Chinese to ship funds offshore in defiance of Beijing’s control on cross-border capital flows, taxation and corruption inspections. Distrusting their own currency, many Chinese find the Hong Kong Dollar, which is linked to the U.S. Dollar, to be more reliable. Chinese companies have swarmed into Hong Kong, pretending to be “Hong Kong companies,” amid the Sino-American trade war. Leaders in Beijing continue to reap the benefits of this arrangement while the freedoms of Hong Kongers deteriorate.
Hong Kong has long proven its strategic role in the China-U.S. dynamics. The city can be used as a loophole against the free world if the special status remains unchanged while the city is totally subject to authoritative China. The act of inserting this new national security law in a top-down manner now risks all the benefits Beijing could and did exploit, but it is all of Beijing’s own doing. Beijing is dragging Hong Kong into a “political mutual destruction” that will costs us a high price, yet the hit is necessary.
As Hong Kong loses its special status, Beijing will lose its trump card against the free world. In response to American pressure, Beijing’s short-term reaction will be more forceful. It will further crack down on the political protest movement— targeting activists, electoral candidates and legislators who have participated in international advocacy. Yet, China’s economy will be hindered in the long run, even though China will surely pretend that it is “business as usual.” It remains to be seen how severe Washington’s measure regarding Hong Kong will be, but the global repercussions facing China in the aftermaths of the pandemic will also have a serious impact on its economy.
The U.S. termination of the city’s special status is aimed at stopped Beijing’s rogue behaviour and encouraging it to reverse course on Hong Kong. The prosperity of Hong Kong is based on its autonomy, not Beijing’s dictatorship. Beijing’s decision will drive our city into dire straits in all aspects—the stock market may plunge, unemployment numbers may rise and foreign businesses may flee. But at the same time we must acknowledge there is no room for a prosperous Hong Kong without adequate amount of freedom and human rights protection.
#國際戰線 #眾志國際連結
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反國安法外媒投稿:
英國獨立報 ft. Amon Yiu:China’s new security law will be the death of liberty in Hong Kong – that’s why thousands have hit the streets:https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/hong-kong-protests-china-security-law-joshua-wong
美國華盛頓郵報 ft. Glacier Kwong:This is the final nail in the coffin for Hong Kong’s autonomy:https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/05/24/this-is-final-nail-coffin-hong-kongs-autonomy/
british stamp 在 肯腦濕的人生相談室 Facebook 的最讚貼文
經濟學人的封面,圖片是龍的嘴咬向香港,爪子伸向台灣
中國在香港用恐懼來統治
全世界應該感到擔憂
https://www.economist.com/…/china-has-launched-rule-by-fear…
Dragon strike
China has launched rule by fear in Hong Kong
The rest of the world should worry, too
The people of Hong Kong want two things: to choose how they are governed, and to be subject to the rule of law. The Chinese Communist Party finds both ideas so frightening that many expected it to send troops to crush last year’s vast protests in Hong Kong. Instead, it bided its time. Now, with the world distracted by covid-19 and mass protests difficult because of social distancing, it has chosen a quieter way to show who’s boss. That threatens a broader reckoning with the world—and not just over Hong Kong, but also over the South China Sea and Taiwan.
On May 21st China declared, in effect, that Hong Kongers deemed to pose a threat to the party will become subject to the party’s wrath. A new security law, written in Beijing, will create still-to-be defined crimes of subversion and secession, terms used elsewhere in China to lock up dissidents, including Uighurs and Tibetans. Hong Kong will have no say in drafting the law, which will let China station its secret police there. The message is clear. Rule by fear is about to begin.
This is the most flagrant violation yet of the principle of “one country, two systems”. When the British colony was handed back to China in 1997, China agreed that Hong Kong would enjoy a “high degree of autonomy”, including impartial courts and free speech. Many Hong Kongers are outraged (see article). Some investors are scared, too. The territory’s stockmarket fell by 5.6% on May 22nd, its biggest drop in five years. Hong Kong is a global commercial hub not only because it is situated next to the Chinese mainland, but also because it enjoys the rule of law. Business disputes are settled impartially, by rules that are known in advance. If China’s unaccountable enforcers are free to impose the party’s whims in Hong Kong, it will be a less attractive place for global firms to operate.
China’s move also has implications far beyond Hong Kong. “One country, two systems” was supposed to be a model for Taiwan, a democratic island of 24m that China also sees as its own. The aim was to show that reunification with the motherland need not mean losing one’s liberty. Under President Xi Jinping, China seems to have tired of this charade. Increasingly, it is making bare-knuckle threats instead. The re-election in January of a China-sceptic Taiwanese president, Tsai Ing-wen, will have convinced China’s rulers that the chances of a peaceful reunification are vanishingly small. On May 22nd, at the opening of China’s rubber-stamp parliament, the prime minister, Li Keqiang, ominously cut the word “peaceful” from his ritual reference to reunification. China has stepped up war games around Taiwan and its nationalists have been braying online for an invasion.
China is at odds with other countries, too. In its building of island fortresses in the South China Sea, it ignores both international law and the claims of smaller neighbours. This week hundreds, perhaps thousands of Chinese troops crossed China’s disputed border with India in the Himalayas. Minor scuffles along this frontier are common, but the latest incursion came as a state-owned Chinese paper asserted new claims to land that its nuclear-armed neighbour deems Indian (see article). And, as a sombre backdrop to all this, relations with the United States are worse than they have been in decades, poisoning everything from trade and investment to scientific collaboration.
However much all the regional muscle-flexing appals the world, it makes sense to the Chinese Communist Party. In Hong Kong the party wants to stop a “colour revolution”, which it thinks could bring democrats to power there despite China’s best efforts to rig the system. If eroding Hong Kong’s freedoms causes economic damage, so be it, party bigwigs reason. The territory is still an important place for Chinese firms to raise international capital, especially since the Sino-American feud makes it harder and riskier for them to do so in New York. But Hong Kong’s gdp is equivalent to only 3% of mainland China’s now, down from more than 18% in 1997, because the mainland’s economy has grown 15-fold since then. China’s rulers assume that multinational firms and banks will keep a base in Hong Kong, simply to be near the vast Chinese market. They are probably right.
The simple picture that President Donald Trump paints of America and China locked in confrontation suits China’s rulers well. The party thinks that the balance of power is shifting in China’s favour. Mr Trump’s insults feed Chinese nationalist anger, which the party is delighted to exploit—just as it does any tensions between America and its allies. It portrays the democracy movement in Hong Kong as an American plot. That is absurd, but it helps explain many mainlanders’ scorn for Hong Kong’s protesters.
The rest of the world should stand up to China’s bullying. On the Sino-Indian border, the two sides should talk more to avoid miscalculations, as their leaders promised to in 2018. China should realise that, if it tries the tactics it has used in the South China Sea, building structures on disputed ground and daring others to push back, it will be viewed with greater distrust by all its neighbours.
In the case of Taiwan China faces a powerful deterrent: a suggestion in American law that America might come to Taiwan’s aid were the island to be attacked. There is a growing risk that a cocksure China may decide to put that to the test. America should make clear that doing so would be extremely dangerous. America’s allies should echo that, loudly.
Hong Kong’s options are bleaker. The Hong Kong Policy Act requires America to certify annually that the territory should in trade and other matters be treated as separate from China. This week the secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, declared that “facts on the ground” show Hong Kong is no longer autonomous. This allows America to slap tariffs on the territory’s exports, as it already does to those from the mainland. That is a powerful weapon, but the scope for miscalculation is vast, potentially harming Hong Kongers and driving out global firms and banks. It would be better, as the law also proposes, to impose sanctions on officials who abuse human rights in Hong Kong. Also, Britain should grant full residency rights to the hundreds of thousands of Hong Kongers who hold a kind of second-class British passport—much as Ms Tsai this week opened Taiwan’s door to Hong Kong citizens. None of this will stop China from imposing its will on Hong Kong. The party’s interests always trump the people’s. ■
british stamp 在 Eric's English Lounge Facebook 的最佳解答
[時事英文] 各國如何面對新冠疫情?
讓我最有感觸的一句:
"The rise of populism has exacerbated the problem by reducing the incentives of countries to cooperate. "
「民粹主義的興起減少了各國合作的意願,使問題更加嚴重。」
—NY Times
★★★★★★★★
In Frankfurt, the president of the European Central Bank warned that the coronavirus could trigger an economic crash as dire as that of 2008. In Berlin, the German chancellor warned the virus could infect two-thirds of her country’s population. In London, the British prime minister rolled out a nearly $40 billion rescue package to cushion his economy from the shock.
1. trigger an economic crash 引發經濟崩潰
2. dire 嚴重的;危急的
3. roll out 推出
4. rescue package 救助計劃
5. to cushion sth from… 對(某事物的影響或力量)起緩衝作用
在法蘭克福,歐洲央行行長警告說,冠狀病毒可能引發與2008年一樣嚴重的經濟崩潰。在柏林,德國總理警告說,病毒可能導致該國三分之二的人口感染。在倫敦,英國首相推出了將近400億美元的一系列救助計劃,以緩解經濟受到的衝擊。
★★★★★★★★★★★★
As the toll of those afflicted by the virus continued to soar and financial markets from Tokyo to New York continued to swoon, world leaders are finally starting to find their voices about the gravity of what is now officially a pandemic.
6. the toll of… 的傷亡;損失;破壞
7. the death toll 死亡人數
8. afflict 使痛苦;使苦惱;折磨
9. swoon 低迷*
10. find their voices about 願意開口談及
11. the gravity of …的嚴重性
隨著感染者的死亡人數持續飆升,從東京到紐約的金融市場持續低迷,世界各國領導人終於開始談及這場已正式定性為大流行病的疫情的嚴重性。
*http://bit.ly/3b7PZK8
★★★★★★★★★★★★
Yet it remains less a choir than a cacophony — a dissonant babble of politicians all struggling, in their own way, to cope with the manifold challenges posed by the virus, from its crushing burden on hospitals and health care workers to its economic devastation and rising death toll.
12. cacophony 刺耳嘈雜的聲音;雜音
13. a dissonant babble of... 七嘴八舌的...
14. manifold challenges 多種多樣的挑戰
15. economic devastation 經濟崩解
然而,與其說是合唱,這更像一種刺耳的喧囂——一群七嘴八舌的政客用各自的方式努力應對這種病毒所帶來的各種挑戰,從超負荷的醫院和醫護人員到崩潰的經濟和與日俱增的死亡人數。
★★★★★★★★★★★★
The choir also lacks a conductor, a role played through most of the post-World War II era by the United States.
這個合唱團還欠缺指揮,在二戰戰後的大部分時間裡,這個角色是由美國扮演的。
President Trump has failed to work with other leaders to fashion a common response, preferring to promote travel bans and his border wall over the scientific advice of his own medical experts. Mr. Trump’s secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, has taken to calling it the “Wuhan virus,” vilifying the country where it originated and complicating efforts to coordinate a global response.
16. lack (v.) 缺少,缺乏*
17. to fashion a common response 形成一致的回應
18. travel ban 旅行禁令
19. take to sth 開始從事;形成…的習慣
20. vilify 詆毀,誣衊;醜化;貶低
21. complicate 使複雜化;使更難懂;使更麻煩
川普總統未能與其他領導人合作形成一致的回應,他寧願推動旅行禁令和他的邊境牆,而不是他自己的醫學專家的科學建議。川普的國務卿邁克·龐皮歐(Mike Pompeo)把它叫做「武漢病毒」,醜化其發源國,使協調全球響應的工作更加艱難。
*lack, lack of, lacking: http://bit.ly/33LrOhw
★★★★★★★★★★★★
週三,川普總統在白宮會見了銀行家,討論如何應對冠狀病毒。
The same denigration of science and urge to block outsiders has characterized leaders from China to Iran, as well as right-wing populists in Europe, which is sowing cynicism and leaving people uncertain of who to believe. Far from trying to stamp out the virus, strongmen like President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia have seized on the upheaval it is causing as cover for steps to consolidate their power.
22. the denigration of science 對科學的詆毀
23. characterize (v.) 是…的特徵;為…所特有
24. right-wing populists 右翼民粹主義者
25. sow a seed of 播下了…的種子
26. cynicism 犬儒主義;憤世嫉俗
27. stamp sth out 消除,消滅
28. upheaval 動盪
29. consolidate their power 鞏固自己的力量
從中國到伊朗的領導人,乃至歐洲的右翼民粹主義者,都有同樣的對科學的詆毀和對外人的排斥,這播下了疑神疑鬼的種子,讓人們不知道該相信誰。俄羅斯總統弗拉基米爾·V·普丁(Vladimir V. Putin)和沙烏地阿拉伯王儲穆罕默德·本·薩勒曼(Mohammed bin Salman)等強人領袖並沒有去試圖消滅病毒,而是趁機以其引發的動盪為掩護,鞏固自己的力量。
★★★★★★★★★★★★
Yet it is too simple to lay all this at Mr. Trump’s door, or on world leaders collectively. Part of the problem is simply the fiendish nature of the pathogen.
30. lay sth at sb's door 將…歸咎於(某人)
31. fiendish 惡魔般的;殘忍的
32. pathogen 病原體
然而,將一切推到川普身上,或一股腦推到各國領導人身上,都過於簡單了。部分問題實際上源於病原體的殘忍特性。
★★★★★★★★★★★★
Coronavirus has resisted the tools that countries have brought to bear against previous global scourges. Mysterious in its transmission and relentless in its spread, it has led countries to try wildly divergent responses. The lack of common standards on testing, on the cancellation of public gatherings and on quarantines have deepened the anxiety of people and eroded confidence in their leaders.
33. to bear against 抵禦
34. global scourges 全球災禍
35. wildly divergent responses 截然不同的應對方式
36. quarantine 隔離
37. eroded confidence 削弱對…的信心
各國為抵禦先前的全球災禍而使用的工具,被冠狀病毒一一擊敗。詭異的感染方式,持續不懈的傳播,已經導致各國不得不嘗試各種截然不同的應對方式。在病毒測試、取消公共聚會和隔離方法上缺乏一致的標準,這加劇了人們的焦慮,並削弱了他們對領導者的信心。
★★★★★★★★★★★★
The simultaneous shocks to supply and demand — shuttered iPhone factories in China; empty gondolas in Venice; and passengers abandoning cruises, hotels and airlines everywhere else — is a new phenomenon that may not respond to the weapons government wielded against the dislocation that followed the September 2001 terrorist attacks and the financial crisis of 2008.
38. simultaneous shocks 同時衝擊
39. supply and demand 供需
40. the weapons wielded against... 為抵禦...所鍛造的武器
供給和需求在同一時刻受到衝擊——被關閉的中國iPhone工廠;威尼斯空無一人的貢多拉;以及其他地方旅客放棄前往的郵輪、旅館和航班——政府在2001年9月的恐怖襲擊以及2008年金融危機後為抵禦混亂所鍛造的武器,恐怕難以用來對付這種新的現象。
★★★★★★★★★★★★
“The nature of this crisis is qualitatively different than the one in 2008 because the traditional tools are not as effective,” said Richard N. Haass, president of the Council on Foreign Relations. “Even if the U.S. took a leadership role, the traditional playbook would not be all that relevant here.”
41. the nature of …的性質
42. be qualitatively different 有本質區別
43. playbook 方案
「這次危機的性質,與2008年危機有本質區別,因為傳統手段的效果不佳,」外交關係委員會(Council on Foreign Relations)主席理查德·N·哈斯(Richard N. Haass)說。「即使美國發揮領導作用,傳統方案用在現在的情況沒有多大意義。」
★★★★★★★★★★★★
Britain, for example, won praise for its robust economic response, which, in addition to billions of pounds for hospitals and workers sidelined by illness, included a sharp interest rate cut by the Bank of England.
44. won praise for 贏得讚譽
45. robust economic response 強勁的經濟反應
46. in addition to 此外
47. be sidelined by illness 因疾病而停工
48. a sharp interest rate cut大幅降息
例如,英國因其強勁的經濟應對而贏得讚譽,他們不僅為醫院和因疾病而停工的工人提供了數十億英鎊撥款,還包括英格蘭銀行的大幅降息。
★★★★★★★★★★★★
Yet stocks in London still tumbled, if not as steeply as on Wall Street, where investors brushed off Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin’s proposal to allow Americans to delay paying their income taxes, which he claimed would pump $200 billion into the economy.
49. tumbled (價值)暴跌,驟降
50. steeply 徒峭地;險峻地
51. brush off 漠視,不理睬
然而,倫敦股市仍然下跌,儘管跌幅不及華爾街。面對財政部長史蒂芬·馬努欽(Steven Mnuchin)提出的允許美國人緩交所得稅的提議,華爾街投資人不為所動,馬努欽聲稱此舉將為經濟注入2000億美元。
★★★★★★★★★★★★
Mr. Trump’s other big idea, a cut in the payroll tax, was pronounced a “non-starter” by House Democrats, who scrambled instead to introduce legislation to provide financial help to patients, workers and families affected by the fast-moving epidemic and speed it to a House vote on Thursday.
52. payroll tax 薪金稅
53. non-starter 無成功希望的人(或想法、計劃)
54. House Democrats 眾議院民主黨議員
55. scramble to 爭搶(去做)
川普先生的另一個大想法是削減薪金稅,眾議院民主黨議員宣布這「不可能」,他們慌忙提出立法,在財務上幫助受迅速傳播的流行病影響的患者、工人和家庭,並且快速提交至週四的眾議院投票。
★★★★★★★★★★★★
To Mr. Haass, the intense focus on limiting the economic blow was understandable, given the carnage in the markets, but premature. He said countries needed to put their energy into slowing and mitigating the spread of the virus before they embarked on fiscal programs to repair the economic damage.
56. carnage (尤指戰爭中的)大屠殺,殘殺
57. carnage in the markets 市場的慘狀
58. premature 過早的;不成熟的;倉促的
59. mitigate 減緩
60. embarked on sth 開始,著手做(新的或重要的事情)
61. fiscal programs 財政計劃
哈斯認為,考慮到市場的慘狀,集中精力抑制經濟衝擊是可以理解的,但為時過早。他說,各國在開始實施財政計劃以修復經濟損失之前,需要投入精力以減慢並緩和病毒的傳播。
★★★★★★★★★★★★
The trouble is that, with few exceptions, their efforts have been hapless. In the United States, the delay in developing coronavirus test kits and the scarcity of tests has made it impossible for officials, even weeks after the first cases appeared in the country, to get a true picture of the scale of the outbreak.
62. hapless幸運的;不愉快的
63. the scarcity of …的缺乏
64. the scale of the outbreak 疫情的真實規模
問題是,除了少數例外,他們的努力都沒有什麼好結果。在美國,由於開發冠狀病毒檢測工具的進度遲緩,以及檢測手段的缺乏,官員們甚至在出現本國第一例病例數週後仍無法了解疫情的真實規模。
★★★★★★★★★★★★
In hard-hit Italy, quarrels broke out between politicians and medical experts over whether the authorities were testing too many people in Lombardy, inflating the infection figures and fueling panic in the public. Italy’s response could be weakened further by the anti-vaccination movement that was once embraced by the populist Five Star Movement, which took power in the last government.
65. hard-hit 受災嚴重的
66. inflate 抬高;誇大
67. fueling panic加劇恐慌
68. anti-vaccination movement 反疫苗運動
69. populist 民粹主義政黨
70. took power 執政
在受災嚴重的義大利,政界人士和醫學專家爭論當局是否在倫巴第對太多人進行測試,誇大感染人數,加劇公眾恐慌。義大利的反應可能會遭到反疫苗運動的進一步削弱。該運動曾受上屆執政的民粹主義政黨五星運動(Five Star Movement)的支持。
★★★★★★★★★★★★
義大利倫巴第地區是世界上受災最嚴重的地區之一,人們戴著口罩。
Even comparing one country’s case count to another’s is almost impossible, given the different testing procedures and diagnostic criteria around the world, said Dr. Chris Smith, a specialist in virology at the University of Cambridge.
71. testing procedures 檢測程序
72. diagnostic criteria 診斷標準
劍橋大學(University of Cambridge)病毒學專家克里斯·史密斯(Chris Smith)博士表示,考慮到世界各地不同的檢測程序和診斷標準,連對兩個國家的病例數進行比較幾乎都是不可能的。
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In the most extreme example, China’s case count skyrocketed when it began recording positives based on people’s symptoms, rather than a lab test, the method most countries are still using. But even lab tests might yield different results in different places, depending on the targets labs are using and the ways health workers collect and process specimens.
73. based on people’s symptom 根據某人癥狀
74. case count skyrocketed 病例數大幅飆升
75. yield different results 產生不同的結果
最極端的例子是,當中國開始根據癥狀而不是大多數國家仍在使用的實驗室檢測來計算確診病例時,病例數出現了大幅飆升。但即使是實驗室測試,不同的地方也可能產生不同的結果,這取決於實驗室使用的對象以及醫務人員收集和處理標本的方式。
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“Different countries are doing different things,” Dr. Smith said of the testing programs. “You’re not comparing apples to apples.”
「不同的國家正在做不同的事情,」史密斯談到測試項目時說。「這不是蘋果和蘋果之間的對比。」
The rise of populism has exacerbated the problem by reducing the incentives of countries to cooperate. European leaders, in a three-hour teleconference on Tuesday night, agreed to set up a 25 billion euro investment fund, or $28.1 billion, and to relax rules governing airlines to curb the economic fallout.
76. exacerbated the problem 使問題更加嚴重
77. the incentives of 誘因
78. teleconference 電話會議
79. curb the economic fallout 遏制經濟危機的影響
民粹主義的興起減少了各國合作的意願,使問題更加嚴重。歐洲領導人週二晚間舉行了三小時的電話會議,同意設立一個250億歐元(合1930億元人民幣)的投資基金,並放鬆對航空公司的監管,以遏制經濟危機的影響。
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But they failed to overcome national objections to sharing medical equipment like face masks and respirators, given that health issues are the responsibility of national governments. Germany, the Czech Republic and other countries have tightened export restrictions on this gear to keep it for their own citizens.
80. failed to overcome 未能克服
81. respirator 呼吸器
82. tightened export restrictions on… 加強了…的出口限制
83. gear (從事某活動的)裝備,用具,衣服
但他們未能克服各國對分享口罩和呼吸器等醫療器械的反對,因為健康問題是國家政府的責任。德國、捷克共和國等國家已經加強了對這些設備的出口限制,以便將其留給本國公民。
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Chancellor Angela Merkel’s warning that the virus would infect 60 percent to 70 percent of people in Germany — a figure she attributed to the “consensus among experts” — was the most forthright admission of the scale of the problem by any world leader. It was fully in character for a physicist-turned-politician, reinforcing her status as the liberal West’s foil to Mr. Trump.
84. attributed to 歸於
85. consensus among experts 專家共識
86. forthright (過於)坦誠的,直率的;直截了當的
87. reinforce 強化,加深,進一步證實(觀點、看法等)
88. the liberal West’s foil 自由主義西方世界中的對比
89. foil 陪襯物*
德國總理安哥拉·梅克爾(Angela Merkel)警告說,這種病毒將感染德國60%到70%的人——她稱這一數字來自「專家共識」——這是世界各國領導人對該問題嚴重性最坦率的承認態度。這完全符合從物理學家轉型為政治家的梅克爾的性格,令她進一步成為自由主義西方世界中川普的一個鮮明對比。
*http://bit.ly/3deYyVe
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“We will do whatever is needed,” she said. “We won’t ask every day, ‘What does this mean for our deficit?’”
90. deficit 赤字
「我們會竭盡所能,」她說。「我們不會每天都問,『這對我們的赤字有什麼影響?』」
Yet even Ms. Merkel’s position has been weakened by the resurgence of the far right in Germany. Germany rebuffed a request for medical equipment from Italy, only to see China offer the Italians an aid package that includes two million face masks and 100,000 respirators.
91. a resurgence of 復甦;復興;再次興起
92. far right 極右翼勢力
93. rebuff 斷然拒絕
94. only to do sth 不料卻,沒想到卻
然而,就連梅克爾的地位也被德國極右翼勢力的復甦削弱了。德國拒絕了義大利提供醫療器械的請求,中國卻向義大利提供了包括200萬隻口罩和10萬隻呼吸器在內的援助。
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In Britain, which left the European Union in January, there are already fears that the country will not have access to a vaccine, or will have to pay more for it than other European countries. Mr. Johnson’s government, which won its recent election on a populist-inflected platform of “Get Brexit Done,” is now struggling with how to communicate the risks of the outbreak to its public.
95. a vaccine 疫苗
96. platform 綱領,政綱,宣言
在今年1月脫離歐盟的英國,已經有人擔心該國將無法獲得疫苗,或者將不得不支付比其他歐洲國家更多的費用。強生的政府在最近的選舉中獲勝,憑藉的是受民粹主義影響的「完成脫歐」(Get Brexit Done)宣言。如今這個政府正在吃力地向民眾宣講疫情暴發的風險。
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The Johnson government has put a lot of stock in a so-called nudge unit in Downing Street that specializes in behavioral psychology. But in trying to calibrate its response to what it deemed people capable of processing, the government risked condescending to Britons, said John Ashton, a former regional director of public health for the northwest of England.
97. put a lot of stock in 投入了大量資金
98. so-called 所謂
99. nudge unit 哄勸部門
100. behavioral psychology 行為心理學
101. calibrate 判斷;劃分刻度,標定
102. deem 認為,視為;覺得
103. condescending 表現出高…一等的姿態的,帶有優越感地對待…的
強生政府在唐寧街設立了一個擅長行為心理學的所謂「哄勸」部門,為此投入了大量資金。但前英格蘭西北部地區公共衛生主任約翰·阿什頓(John Ashton)說,政府在判斷人們的接受限度,並以這個限度為依據來制定自己的應對措施,這可能是在用一種假惺惺的屈就方式對待英國人民。
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Britain has only recently started publishing broad breakdowns of where people are contracting the virus. Mr. Ashton said they should be giving much more detailed information, as in Hong Kong, which has published building-level maps of patients who have gotten sick, when they were there and how they contracted the virus.
英國直到最近才開始公布感染髮生的具體地點。阿什頓說,他們應該提供更詳細的信息,就像香港一樣。香港公布了具體到建築的患者地圖,並提供他們在那裡的時間和感染病毒的方式。
“I think it’s patronizing — they need to keep the public fully in the picture,” Mr. Ashton said. “You have to treat the public as adults, instead of keeping them in the dark. That’s where you get rumor and hysteria. They actually create panic by not being open with people.”
104. patronizing 屈尊俯就的;自以為高人一等的
105. keep sb in the picture 使(某人)了解情況
106. keeping sb in the dark 蒙在鼓裡
107. rumor and hysteria 謠言和歇斯底里
「我認為這是一種哄人的姿態——他們需要讓公眾充分了解情況,」阿什頓說。「你必須像對待成年人一樣對待公眾,而不是把他們蒙在鼓裡。謠言和歇斯底里就是這麼來的。他們不向人民開誠布公,實際上是在製造恐慌。」
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完整報導: https://nyti.ms/2J070dm
圖片來源: http://bit.ly/2U1tgJS
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保健相關單字: https://wp.me/p44l9b-Tt (+mp3)
時事英文大全: http://bit.ly/2WtAqop
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這一週的「時事英文」講義和使用方式: https://bit.ly/3a9rr38
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