1980年得到普立茲獎的史丹佛大學傳播系教授勃林克萊(Joel Brinkley)，上個月應邀前來台灣演講後，對我國印象深刻，今日投書《舊金山紀事報》(San Francisco Chronicle)，發表他的感言。
Taiwan bowed, but not broken, by China
October 31, 2010 | By Joel Brinkley
Taipei, Taiwan — Taiwanese are an educated, prosperous, successful people - riven with complex anxieties they no longer even recognize they have.
柏林克萊發現，台灣人是一群有教養、生命力旺甚而且成功的人士，卻帶著連他們自己都久已無法察覺的焦慮。
Typical of this, the education minister proposed recently that school students sing the national anthem during morning assemblies, just as students do in many schools around the world. Here, though, the proposal set off angry argument. Parents protested, and the opposition political party complained that Taiwanese have nothing to be proud of as long as the nation's sovereignty remains under continual threat from China.
比方說，教育部長要求各校恢復唱國歌，就引起家長的反彈，反對黨也說這首國歌持續被中國打壓，沒有什麼值得好驕傲的。
China, of course, remains determined to bring about Taiwanese "reunification." But Taiwan is a thriving democracy, and almost no one here favors that idea. They don't trust China, even for a minute, and see a dark motive behind everything Beijing does. This 61-year-old conflict animates everything that happens here.
中國當然還是希望能統一台灣，但在台灣這個欣欣向榮的民主社會卻沒什麼人對和中國統一有所青睞。台灣人一點都不信任中國，並且看到北京一舉一動背後的幽暗 動機。
Taiwanese also remain afraid of China, even to the point that they sometimes question whether they should wave the Taiwan flag at sporting events. Their diplomats generally refrain from political interaction with other societies. They put on cultural events instead.
勃林克萊說，台灣人還是害怕中國，甚至到了會問自己可不可以在運動賽事上揮舞國旗的地步。他們與其他國家的交流主要是文化活動，鮮少有政治互動。
After years of conflict, the current government is trying another approach: greater commerce with China. This summer, Taipei and Beijing signed a free-trade agreement, the first major cross-straits economic accord.
截然不同於前幾任總統與中國之間的衝突，當前的馬政府改採新的模式：與中國有更多的貿易往來。今年夏天，台北和北京之間簽定了雙方第一個經濟架構協定。
"Negotiations are much more effective than antagonistic relations with the other side," President Ma Ying-jeou averred recently. But Taiwanese also see a subplot. Even Foreign Minister Timothy Chin-tien Yang acknowledged, when pressed in an interview, that China "may want something else" in addition to free trade. Bi Khim Hsiao, director of international affairs for the opposition Democratic Progressive Party, told me that China "isn't using missiles anymore. They're trying to buy us - use economic leverage in a sophisticated way."
馬英九總統最近才說：「與對岸之間，談判比敵對更有效。」但台灣人卻看到其中的插曲。連外交部長楊進添在接受媒體專訪時也承認，中國在與台灣進行自由貿易 之外，「可能另有所圖」。民進黨的國際事務部主任蕭美琴告訴勃林克萊：「中國現在不再使用飛彈；他們改以複雜巧妙的方式，透過經濟槓桿來收買我們。」
Frankly, I agree with her. Even now, six decades after Chinese nationalists fled to Taiwan during the Communist revolution, China remains utterly obsessed with this place. It parades around the world doling out billions in financial aid - as long as recipients agree to Beijing's "one China" policy, meaning that Taiwan is actually part of China. As a result, Taiwan is able to maintain embassies in only 23 nations. Honduras is the largest. Right now, China is trying to peel away the Dominican Republic with an offer of copious aid.
勃林克萊說，他同意蕭美琴的說法。國民黨逃來台灣60年了，中國對此地依然垂涎不已。中國在全世界各地灑錢，只要對方同意北京的「一個中國政策」，認定台 灣是中國的一個部分，中國就願意提供鉅額資助。結果台灣只能勉強維持住23個邦交國，個個是小國。此際，中國正藉由提供多明尼加共和國優厚的資助，將該國 從台灣身邊拉攏過來。
On the very same day President Ma spoke of the benefits he hopes the free-trade agreement will bring, the Chinese Communist Party Central Committee, meeting in Beijing, issued a statement saying it would "continue to promote peaceful development of relations between the mainland and Taiwan - while seeking reunification of the nation."
就在馬英九總統公開談論與中國自由貿易種種好處的同一天，中國共產黨中央委員會在北京集會，發表聲明說：中國將「持續推動大陸與台灣的和平發展－追求祖國 統一。」
What's ambiguous about that?
這可真是曖昧啊！
For decades, the two sides never even spoke to each other. Once, 14 years ago, China fired unarmed missiles at the island, just to scare the people. Now, China has changed tactics. It is sending hundreds of thousands of tourists to Taiwan and as many as 2,000 students to Taiwanese universities.
台灣與中國雙方曾經有數十年不對話。14年前，中國還朝這個島發射飛彈，目的是為了嚇台灣人。現在，中國改變策略，送了數萬觀光客到台灣，還送2千個學生 到台灣各大學。
The opposition party openly despises China and fears that Beijing's intent now is to make itself so dominant in the Taiwanese economy that the island has little ability to resist - just as many other nations are reluctant to anger China for fear of economic repercussions. Already, Bi said, voters tell her: "I want to support you, but I do a lot of business with China."
反對黨人士毫不掩藏他們對中國的厭惡，並且對北京主導台灣經濟的企圖戒慎恐懼。台灣人對中國市場的抵抗能力有限。蕭美琴就說，一位選民曾經這樣告訴她： 「我很想支持妳，但我在中國有很多生意得做。」
Ma has a motto: no declaration of independence, no unification with China, and no war. That leaves Taiwan continually dangling in the netherworld - a nation most others don't recognize, a people disenfranchised from international society. That brings consequences. Taiwan has one of the lowest birthrates in the world. The latest government figures show that each family has, on average, fewer than one child per household. Taiwanese generally cite economics; it's expensive to raise children. But I have to wonder whether many people also are reluctant to bring children into this neither-here-nor-there existence.
馬英九常說「不統、不獨、不武」，這讓台灣持續地困在一個不能見光的世界：國格不被承認、人民被國際社會剝奪公民權。結果，台灣人不敢生小孩。最新的統計 指出，台灣小孩的總數少於戶口數，平均起來1戶人家的小孩不到1個。在台灣，養育小孩的花費越來越貴；但勃林克萊懷疑，是不是有很多人不太敢把小孩生在這 個不被承認的國度。
Taiwan has a free press, but people here despair about the trivial nature of what it reports. In the last few days, several papers carried stories on a male college student who dressed up as a girl so he could slip into girls' bathrooms and watch them take showers. One paper published a full-page story about a Filipino maid who gave birth on an airplane. Taiwanese have a hard time explaining this. But again, if you lived under constant threat from a powerful neighbor, would you want to read about that every day?
台灣有媒體自由，但人們對於這些媒體所報導的內容感到很失望。前幾天，好幾家報紙瘋狂追逐一條消息：1名男學生男扮女裝混進女生宿舍想偷看女孩子洗澡；另 外還有1份報紙用了整版的空間報導1名菲傭在機場生小孩的事。台灣人很難理解這些報紙到底怎麼了!?但設身處地想想，如果換做是你去住在這個每天被敵國威 脅的國度，你會希望媒體天天告訴你這個事實嗎？
China has bullied the world to turn against Taiwan. But the Taiwanese soldier on, wounded and wary. We all should hope they can persevere.
中國已經成功地使這個世界背對台灣；但台灣在受傷和驚恐之餘，依然守著自己的家園。世人應該對他們抱以期許，希望他們能存活下去！
c 2010 Joel Brinkley
Joel Brinkley, a professor of journalism at Stanford University, is a Pulitzer Prize-winning former foreign correspondent for the New York Times. E-mail him at Brinkley@foreign-matters.com. Contact The Chronicle through our online form at SFGate.com/chronicle/submissions/#1.
(C) San Francisco Chronicle 2010
The original: Taiwan bowed, but not broken, by China
Translation: 普立茲獎得主：台灣向中國折腰 但沒被鬥破
