China: Now With America’s Attention Back · Global Voices
John Kennedy

This post is part of our special coverage Global Voices 9/11 Retrospective.
Looking back [zh] at ten years of post-9/11, Chinese novelist, political commentator and former US resident, Yang Hengjun (also a former young nationalist type) writes: “America* lost China as its enemy #1, and I lost America as mine; but now that the United States is back, where should she and China stand?”
反恐之战让美国的元气大伤，但也让更多的人比以往任何时候都更认识到这样一个道理：民主、自由、人权本身就是威力无穷的武器，用任何伤害这些理念的方式来维护、推销这些理念的做法都是本末倒置、得不偿失的。美国等西方国家曾经打败比本拉登与萨达姆强大百倍的苏联东欧集团，可他们后来谁也不好意思使用“打败”一词居功自傲，为什么？因为苏联、东欧是被自由、民主与人权这些普世价值理念打败的，美国人并没发射一枪一炮。如果还有人不相信，完全可以看一下美国人倾注了巨大金钱与心血的伊拉克，然后对照一下突尼斯、埃及，还有利比亚，美国对后面几个国家都保持了相当的距离，可并没有能够延缓这些国家呼唤民主、自由与公正、公平的革命爆发。
Anyone who still doesn't believe that need only look at the vast amounts of money and sweat the Americans are pumping into Iraq, and compare that to the relative distance the US has recently kept from countries such as Tunisia, Egypt and even Libya, and that yet it still could not offset the explosion of revolutionary calls for democracy, freedom and fair treatment in these countries.
十年了，美国再一次消灭了主要的敌人，而中国也崛起了一半，中美两国再一次来到了十字路口。怎么办？主导中美关系的三大要素是经济、政治与安全。所谓安全，就是美国在全球的军事主导地位，以及中国在亚洲的军事崛起两者是否能够和平共处；所谓政治，对于美国来说，就是“自由、民主”的价值理念。靠着这个理念，美国成为世界第一强国，所向披靡，弄得凡是与这个理念作对的国家纷纷垮台，至今还没有止住。美国会不会故伎重演，最后使用一次致命武器，终结地球上不民主制度的历史？
So-called politics, as far as the United States is concerned, refers to values and concepts like freedom and democracy; with these, America has become the strongest country in the world and remains uncontested, with every nation so far to try going against these concepts ending up in ruin. Will America keep playing this game until one day it uses some fatal weapon, wiping all nondemocratic systems off the face of the earth in one shot?
Yang Hengjun, 12/28/2008
就我所知，美国内部确实有这样一波人，而且，能量不小，至于他们是否能掌权并成为主流，取决于经济关系是否牢靠，以及军事安全是否会出现大的冲突。我早就有一个结论，就中美经济关系，以及中国不断增长的综合国力，美国绝不会轻易对中国下手，而如果中国内部发生变化，美国也绝不会缩手。有国内学者同我争论说，即便中国出现问题，因为经贸关系以及中国强大得军事力量，美国也不能怎么样吧。这些专家高估了中美经贸关系对美国长远利益的影响，说实话，中美经贸关系只不过对某届总统候选人有直接的影响而已——所以，奥巴马要寻求连任前，拜登会来拜山，希望中国能够使用人民币让美国稳定。至于军事实力，你大概忘记了，我曾经是超级军事迷？
At the same time, if China undergoes some sort of transition at its core, nor will the US hold back. Some mainland scholars have argued with me on this, saying that even if trouble does emerge in China, between the trade relationship between the two countries and China's military strength, there isn't much that the US could do in any event. These experts, however, overestimate the longterm beneficial impact of the trade relationship between China and the US to the US. To be honest, the only people directly affected by the US and China's trade relationship are the current round of presidential candidates.
This is why, before he seeks to get reelected, Obama sent Biden to come cozy up to China, in the hope that China will leverage the Renminbi to keep the US stable. As for military strength, I used to be a super military geek, or did you forget?
说到这里，不应该回避站在十字路口上的中国。无论从刚刚出台的《中国的和平发展道路》白皮书，还是我们领导人出访时对世界各国所做的承诺，中国一直在向国际社会反复呼吁，会在国际交往中追求民主，致力各成员国之间的平等，力主求同存异、包容不同与鼓励多元……。问题是，有几个国家相信北京了？
为什么？因为你在国际社会上力主的这些价值理念，首先应该用在自己的国民身上。你对自己的国民都做不到民主、平等、求同存异、尊重个体的权利，人家又如何相信你在国际上能够做到？你要和平发展，要在国际间营造和平与和谐，人家看一眼你所说的“和谐”，能不怀疑你强大后，会像对待自己的国民一样，让世界各国都如此“和谐”？
Because why would they? If you're going to make the case for values and notions like this among the international community, you need to start practicing them yourself, first. If you can't even give your own citizens democracy, equality, mutual acceptance or respect for their individual rights, how are you going to be able to do so at an international level? If you want to rise peacefully, to foster peace and harmony between different states, the second people get a glimpse of what you mean by “harmony”, why wouldn't suspect that the minute you gain strength, that you'd treat them the same way you do your own people, and try and make the world just as “harmonious” as things are in your country?
在我看来，中国的问题不在于外交，不在于中美关系，不在于军事安全，而在于内政，在于我们选择的道路与制度，能否保障公民享有宪法里规定的各项自由权利，能否保障公民真正享受当家作主的民主权利。
*United States of America
This post is part of our special coverage Global Voices 9/11 Retrospective.