【英语中国】中国寻求尊重

When the Group of 20 leaders met last November, there were great expectations that China, the world's only large economy still firing on most cylinders, would make a hefty contribution to the debate.

In the event, China shied away from grabbing a larger role, saying that its main useful role was to keep its own economy, worth one-tenth of global output, ticking over at 8 per cent real growth by means of a $570bn fiscal stimulus.

Last week's G20 was different. Both in the run-up and at the summit itself, there were clear signs that the economic crisis has accelerated China's emergence as a big player. Perhaps the most closely scrutinised bilateral meeting in London was the first encounter between presidents Hu Jintao and Barack Obama. China's leader came with a more co-operative stance than before on boosting the International Monetary Fund. He also showed Beijing could not be bounced into positions it did not like when he objected to an attempt by France's Nicolas Sarkozy to brand Hong Kong and Macao as tax havens.

Ahead of the summit, too, Beijing was far more active. It let it be known that the US could not expect China to help fund its enormous deficit without something in return. It lectured Mr Obama's new administration on the need to follow stimulus spending with a renewed effort at fiscal consolidation.

More startling still, a few days before the summit, Zhou Xiaochuan, governor of China's central bank, suggested that the IMF enlarge the scope of special drawing rights, its unit of account, so that SDRs could challenge the dollar as a global reserve currency.

Ben Simpfendorfer, economist at Royal Bank of Scotland, says that while that proposal is unrealistic, "it demonstrates global leadership and underscores the rise of the east". China, he says, is staking a claim for its renminbi to become the de facto Asian currency unit, which would help consolidate its emergence as regional leader.

Shi Yinhong, a politics professor at Beijing's Renmin university, says China knows that for now it has little choice but to keep bankrolling the US. But in return for buying a currency it suspects will one day collapse, it will seek more respect for its views on issues including arms sales to Taiwan, Tibetan independence and its activities in countries such as Sudan.

Indeed, there are already signs that Beijing's strengthened financial leverage is paying political dividends. When Hillary Clinton, US secretary of state, visited China in February, she said human rights "cannot interfere" with bigger economic and diplomatic priorities.

That Mrs Clinton, of all people, should adopt such a restrained tone shows just how far things have tipped in Beijing's favour.

当20国集团(G20)领导人于去年11月会面时，人们对中国抱以极高的期望，希望这个全球唯一仍大部分运转正常的大型经济体，能为这场讨论做出重大贡献。

在那场峰会中，中国避而不捞取更重大的职责，而称自己主要的有效职责是，通过5700亿美元的财政刺激措施，保持本国经济维持8%的实际增长。中国经济占全球产出的十分之一。

上周的G20峰会则大为不同。无论是在准备阶段，还是在峰会上，都有明确迹象表明，经济危机加速了中国作为一个重要参与者的崛起。伦敦峰会上最受密切关注的双边会谈，可能就算胡锦涛主席与巴拉克•奥巴马总统(Barack Obama)的首次会晤。在增强国际货币基金组织(IMF)的问题上，中国领导人的姿态比以往都更加乐于合作。胡锦涛对法国总统尼古拉•萨科齐(Nicolas Sarkozy)试图将香港和澳门列为避税天堂的努力表示反对，这也表明，各国无法胁迫中国选择自己不喜欢的立场。

峰会之前的情况亦是如此。中国的态度更加积极。它表明态度，美国不要指望自己不付出任何回报，中国就会帮助填补其巨额赤字。中国告诫奥巴马新政府，在刺激支出后进一步施行财政紧缩的必要性。

但更令人吃惊的是，峰会前数日，中国央行行长周小川建议，IMF应扩大其记账单位——特别提款权(SDR)的范围，从而使SDR得以挑战美元作为全球储备货币的地位。

苏格兰皇家银行(RBS)经济学家贝哲民(Ben Simpfendorfer)表示，尽管这一提议不切实际，但“这彰显了全球领导力，并突显了东方的崛起”。他表示，中国正力图使人民币成为实际上的亚洲货币单位，这将有助于巩固其崛起为区域领导者的地位。

中国人民大学政治学教授时殷弘表示，中国清楚，目前自己除了继续增持美元，几乎没有其它选择。但购买一种自己揣想总有一天会崩溃的货币，作为回报，中国将为其在向台湾出售武器、西藏独立、以及在苏丹等国的活动等议题上的观点寻求更多的尊敬。

实际上，已有迹象表明，中国增强的金融影响力正带来政治回报。美国国务卿希拉里•克林顿(Hillary Clinton)今年2月访问中国时表示，人权问题“不能干扰”更重要的经济和外交大事。

在所有人中，偏偏是希拉里•克林顿采取如此温和的语气，这表明，事态发展是多么有利于中国。

译者/何黎