小編快報
《柏林脈動》(The Berlin Pulse) 今天出刊了。這是德國一年一度的外交及國際關係專刊。作者群包括學者、智庫專家、政府官員。
這一期談歐洲問題的作者有波蘭外長、Moldova 總理、德國國防部長等等等。
今年《脈動》特別做了中國專題,作者有五位,分別是:
中國的全國人大外事委員會副主任委員傅瑩、日本眾議會議員Minora Kiuchi、巴黎的中國問題專家Francois Godement、曾任澳洲駐華大使,現任外交及貿易秘書長的Frances Adamson,以及台灣的龍應台。
德國編輯在文末放了一個德國的民意調查圖表,提問是:「面對中國,你認為德國應該更強力保護自己的政治利益,即使犧牲經濟利益?」
答案:贊成 76%
反對 19%
小編把龍應台文章翻譯成中文,跟讀者分享。英文原文附在後面。如果嫌我翻譯得不好,那那那,那表示你英文很好,你就看英文吧......
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兩千三百萬人在獨木舟上
——為什麼歐洲應該關切台灣的未來
反對黨公布2020總統候選人名單的那一天,我在台北和知識圈的朋友們午餐。那悲觀的,用問句來表達自己的悲觀,譬如,「你覺得台灣還有多少年?」那樂觀的,用黑色幽默來表達樂觀,譬如,「感謝老天。香港讓他們太忙了,沒時間管台灣。」
跟德國一樣,台灣對中國大陸和香港的貿易順差,在2018年是831億美元。百分之四十一的對外貿易針對中國,中國大陸市場對台灣的重要不言而喻。然而,隨著近年來台灣海峽兩岸的關係緊張,反對黨(國民黨) 憂慮市場的優勢無法持續,而執政黨(民進黨) 則選擇強化選民對北京的不信任來抵制中國的影響力。執政黨最近提出的國安新法可能將任何被認定為為中國宣傳者入罪。
和歐洲一樣,台灣人對中國的感受也是複雜的。 當中國代表的是活躍的經濟機會時,很多台灣人就容易所謂「親中」,當中國代表的是壓迫和可能的入侵時,很多台灣人就是所謂的「反中」。問題是,中國兩者兼備。後果就是,台灣內部的分歧遠遠超過了僅只是政治和經濟的層面。
如果你知道台灣是如何一路走來的,你會覺得它今天變成一個民主社會真是一個不得了的成就。沒有革命,一黨獨裁四十年的國民黨,不管你說它是自願還是被迫,放下了政權,分享權力。沒有流血,昔日牢裡的政治犯變成今日的立法者和政治領袖。1987年解嚴以後,政權的交替基本上公平而有序地進行了三十年。
台灣安靜地進行了三十年的民主,時間幾乎和它的國際孤立一樣長。美國不承認台灣的國家地位,但是,就如同當年對於德國,美國也扮演了安全守護者的角色。令人不安的是,在美國宣布要把軍售台灣常態化的同時,中國也宣布,它在台灣海峽及其領空,要把軍艦和戰機的演習常態化。
所以台灣民主的威脅其實是雙重的。比較明顯的是中國的威脅,這個威脅,往往超出台灣本身的控制能力。一個不那麼明顯的威脅,卻是內部自製的。台灣的政治人物和政黨熱切拿這個威脅做為政治資本,刺激集體恐懼來強化部落式的愛國主義。這種操作的成功,對台灣的民主制度和機構本身,是個真實的危險。
國際上那些純粹為了攻擊中國而故意把台灣捧在手心讚美的人,其實讓我坐立不安。一代又一代的台灣人為民主付出了代價,很大的代價,而得到今天的成果。這個成果,太珍貴了,不可以變成別人或別國為了自己的利益而拿來玩弄的籌碼或棋子。
德國的歷史是特殊的。德國的人民親身目睹了,如果不戒慎恐懼地去維護,一個開放合理的社會制度是如何容易地瓦解,一夜之間可以被獨裁取代。經歷了二戰,又擺脫了共產黨的歷史爭取到自由,德國可能比很多其他國家更容易理解台灣人的困境和追求。道德勇氣的來源往往是歷史的痛苦。身為歐盟的重要成員,德國有責任為世界的和平做出最大的努力,發揮最大的影響力。
但是,歐洲憑什麼一定要關心台灣呢?
首先,如果沒有台灣模式,全世界大概就都得接受一種說法,就是,儒家文化和民主制度是無法相容的,而所謂「中國模式」就是唯一邏輯、不可避免的現代中國。台灣的存在證明了一件事:未必如此。
第二,台灣本身的努力值得世界的尊敬。沒錯,如果中國是一艘航空母艦,那麼台灣只不過是一葉孤零零的獨木舟。可是在這個獨木舟上有兩千三百萬人正在追求一種有自由、有尊嚴的生活方式。如果台灣是歐盟的一個成員,就人口論,台灣就是二十八個成員國(英國脫歐後二十七國)中第七大國,比波蘭稍小,但比荷蘭和比利時大。以經濟購買力來看,台灣更是名列全球第二十二。所以,歐洲可以想像剝奪波蘭人或者荷蘭人對生活方式和政治體制的選擇權利嗎?
23 Million People on a Canoe
—Why Europe should care about Taiwan’s future
Lung Yingtai
On the day when the opposition party announced its presidential candidate for the 2020 election, I was sitting at a lunch table in Taipei listening to my intellectual friends uttering their concerns about the future of Taiwan. The pessimists phrased their pessimism in the form of questions such as “How many years do you think Taiwan has left?” The optimists expressed their optimism with dark humour, “Thank God they will be too busy with Hong Kong and the US for a while.”
Like Germany, Taiwan operates a trade surplus with mainland China and Hong Kong, amounting to $83.1 billion in 2018. With 41% of Taiwan’s exports going to China, Taipei’s economy depends on trade with the mainland. However, given the increasing tension across the Taiwan Strait, the opposition Kuomintang (KMT) in particular has been worrying whether Taiwan will be able to sustain these figures. The ruling Democratic Progressive Party, on the other hand, is capitalizing on voters’ intense distrust of Beijing, stepping up measures to “contain” China’s influence. Taipei recently drafted a national security law that would make it a punishable offense to spread “political propaganda” for China.
As in Europe, Taiwanese feel highly ambivalent about mainland China: When China signifies economic opportunities, most Taiwanese are 23 Million People on a Canoe Why Europe should care about Taiwan’s future “pro-China”; when China represents oppression and potential invasion, most Taiwanese are “anti-China”. The problem is that China resembles both. The result is a deep division among Taiwanese extending far beyond the political and economic spheres.
Given the circumstances under which Taiwan emerged and evolved, its evolution into an authentic democracy represents an extraordinary achievement. It was without a revolution that the KMT, which had ruled Taiwan for more than 40 years, put an end to martial law and, whether convinced or compelled to act, opened the country’s political system to sharing power. Without bloodshed, dissidents who had once sat in jails became legislators and political leaders. Since the lifting of martial law 1987, power has changed hands fairly and orderly, following the results of each election.
Taiwan has been a quiet democracy for more than thirty years, nearly as long as the four decades during which it has been isolated by the international community. The US does not formally recognize Taiwan but, as with Germany, acts as the country’s security guarantor. While Washington has indicated that arms sales to Taiwan will become more of a routine, China has devised a routine of its own by holding long-range combat drills and ordering its fighter jets to cross the maritime line.
However, the threat to Taiwanese democracy is twofold. The obvious one comes from China, and to a large extent lies beyond Taipei’s control. The less obvious threat is home-made, as the looming China threat tempts domestic politicians to mobilize the population’s collective fear to foment a tribal nationalism. Their success would pose a real danger to Taiwan’s democratic institutions.
Those who applaud Taiwanese democracy for the sole purpose of criticizing China make me nervous. Generations of Taiwanese fought and ultimately achieved a democracy – it is simply too precious for other people’s agendas, internal or external.
Germany has a unique history: its people have experienced first-hand how easily democratic institutions may fall apart when not meticulously guarded. Having received democracy as a gift following World War II and struggled to regain their freedom from Communist rule, Germans are in a unique position to understand both the predicament as well as the aspirations of the Taiwanese. Moral courage often comes from past sufferings. As a leading EU member state, Germany has a responsibility to maximize its own efforts as well as to influence others’ efforts for world peace.
But why should the world care about the future of Taiwan? First of all, save the Taiwan model, the world might have to accept the claim that democracy and Confucianism are incompatible, and that a communist China presents the only logical and inevitable path to modernity. Secondly, Taiwan deserves respect on its own merits. True, if China were an aircraft carrier, Taiwan would be a lone canoe. But standing on this canoe are 23 million people aspiring for a life with liberty and dignity. If it were an EU member, Taiwan would be the 7th largest of the Union’s 28 member-states (27 after Brexit), smaller than Poland but larger than the Netherlands or Belgium, with a developed economy ranking 22nd in the world by purchasing power parity. Do we really want to return to a world in which it is imaginable that countries such as Poland or the Netherlands should be deprived of their autonomy to determine their own way of life and political system?
The Berlin Pulse 2019
龍應台專文:https://www.koerber-stiftung.de/fileadmin/user_upload/koerber-stiftung/redaktion/the-berlin-pulse/pdf/2019/3_Koerber_TheBerlinPulse_YingTai.pdf
全本:https://www.koerber-stiftung.de/fileadmin/user_upload/koerber-stiftung/redaktion/the-berlin-pulse/pdf/2019/TheBerlinPulse_2019_FINAL.pdf
compelled 中文 在 鄺俊宇 Roy Kwong Facebook 的最讚貼文
感激Selina Kinyee Chau翻譯我的散文作品,讓香港及台灣以外的朋友都能看得明白,從中文走向英語,是我作品的大突破,感謝妳一字一句的用心翻譯:)
《WhatsApp and its USD0.99》
by Roy Kwong Translated by Selina Kinyee Chau
The WhatsApp software developer has informed its users to the app to be payable, triggering a fight between iPhone users and android users because iPhone users only pay USD0.99 once to enjoy life-long service but android users need to pay the same price every year.
Android users complain, “Why iPhone users only need to pay once but we need to pay every year?” iPhone users retort, “You didn’t say anything when we were being charged at the beginning. And now you are complaining.” So the two parties are stuck at whether the charge is unfair to Android users.
After the Two Ticks and Last seen on (Please refer to the previous article of the same writer), the WhatsApp started a fight again because of this USD0.99 issue. From between lovers to friends, now it has even extended to the whole user group of the two giant software developers. It should be named the Most Evil App of the Century.
The inconsistency of charging is of course WhatsApp’s fault. However, for those who can afford a smart phone that cost thousands dollars will be able to afford USD0.99 which is only the price of a can of coke, won’t they?
Some student users may complain, “I don’t have a credit card, I’m not able to pay at the App Store, WhatsApp are not considerate of us.” It is reasonable for users under 18 to complain if they don’t have a credit card. But if the charge is a disaster of WhatsApp, isn’t it just time for people to show their kindness? Friends who have a credit card can rescue others at this time, “I have a credit card. Let me pay it for you.”
Friends without a credit card will appreciate what you have done for them, although it is WhatsApp’s fault of the forbiddance of sending messages before the expiry date, reactivating the function for your friends by buying them a can of coke is meaningful, isn’t it? The USD0.99 of WhatsApp has created a chance to show your care to your friends, how nice as a social networking app!
Recall those days when we were still texting, it was actually not financial friendly at all. For the sake of keeping in touch with our friends, we were compelled to use the same service provider as theirs even its service was the worst in the world and we had to survived three times every day from losing connection just because to keep the text messages free of charge.
Still, the Two Ticks and Last seen on functions have created a lot of problem. But the invention of WhatsApp allows us to send messages for free, save us from paying for every text messages. It deserves to be granted a credit. And the simplified process by just clicking a few buttons to send pictures, videos and audios when we could only do so via email in the past. What’s more, WhatsApp had actually stated in the Terms and Conditions that charge may be applied after the first year.
So there have been so many complaints about WhatsApp being unfairness and has been given the name “a broken app” when it announced to charge? No one ever said something like that before the charging. After the charge applied, negative comments has swept over the Internet. Some suggested to use another communication app, Line, which is free of charge, and WhatsApp has become the public enemy. Despite the inconsistent charge, what’s wrong for WhatsApp to charge for using the app?
Have we become too comfortable enjoying free lunch without notice?
I still remember how hard I tried to save to buy a CD home and listened to it again and again when I was a kid. I had never been tired of it because it wasn’t easy. When there was a movie I liked, I saved hard to go to the cinema for it. If I didn’t have enough money, I bought the VCD when it was released. But VCDs were only available for movies not for TV shows. I had to start sitting in front of the TV before the show I liked started so that I wouldn’t miss any parts. And recorders became my good friend too. I really cherished the only-180-minute memory of every tape.
After I grew up, thanks to the advanced technology becomes able to store everything, the TV, computer, CD player, VCD player, game station and recorders, into ONE smart phone, only without the air conditioner. Want to listen to a song? Go to Youtube; want a movie? PPS, internet TV! A TV show? There are also apps you can watch live TV or play back. Want some games? From Angry Bird to Candy Crush, there are thousands of choices waiting for you.
However, The advance of technology has devalue our attitude towards making efforts. Because everything has become easy to get nowadays.
Have you noticed the songs nowadays are not as good as those in the past? That could be the problem of quality itself but more likely, it is because we have too many options. Now we just need to click a few buttons, thousands of search results will come out and we can listen to them right after. We are spoiled to be greedy unconditionally. We didn’t realize how long we hadn’t paid for a CD until the news of HMV’s bankruptcy spread out.
In the past we had to sit still and paid 100% attention to the movie to enjoy it, now we can just watch it from a few-inch-wide screen on a train. But the price is we keep being interrupted by the surrounding noise and people. When the character is saying something moving, we would just realize we’ve missed the stop and have to rush to get off. It may be free to watch a movie like this but I prefer paying to buy a ticket to go to the cinema.
We don’t need to worry about missing the best part of a TV show because our friends always share them on Facebook. We don’t need to watch every scene but you know what is going on in every story. But why is there still something missing? It turns out that we only keep the concentrated part of everything while the every well panned detail has been wasted. We don’t spend time building a connection with the characters in the story. However, if we don’t even spend time watching the the TV show by ourself, how can we feel the same way as the characters do, like we did in the past?
You don’t feel the pain losing something if you have never made any effort. It is just like we keep those old comics that we spent all our pocket money on even they are old and worn , but we are able to uninstall an app on our phone without a thought. Well, just take a couple seconds to download and we will own it again anytime.
While we are expecting making no effort, we are also destroying creativity. Creators lack of motivation. Creativity is worth nothing nowadays. People will search for replacement when one creativity starts to charge. This is not just about the USD0.99 of WhatsApp, it’s about our value on Give and Take.
Technology has changed our life, but we should never let it change our values.
We avoid Giving. But giving is vital for us to learn to cherish. Sometimes we get back more by giving than not giving, not just about money but also about love. Think about it, if we get what we want easily without paying any effort, comparing with that you devote yourself to a relationship while the other devotes to the relationship as much as you. Then none of you will give up on the relationship easily.
If you think WhatsApp is good, it deserves the USD0.99. Although I am still annoyed by the evil functions such as the Two Ticks and Last Seen on. WeChat is free but you have to pay your liberty of speech for it. One user once tried to send the name of Southern Weekly in Chinese, the system reminded him that “The message has involved sensitive words, please try again after making modification.” What’s wrong with the name of Southern Weekly? The even more ridiculous thing is, while I am writing this article, I get the news that WeChat now has tightened up the regulation that users have to use their real name, phone number when posting on the public forum and are even required to upload the photo of them with their ID card, like you have committed some serious crime.
To avoid paying USD0.99, you need to escape to somewhere that and be monitored. One day if you really encounter some sensitive issue, you will realize not paying actually pays more than paying. I believe most of readers are willing to pay for this USD0.99. We hope WhatsApp will open up more channels for payments.
Don’t let the wheels of Time make us forget the value of giving.
Writer for Yam Taiwan, Roy Kwong
http://goo.gl/aQD8B