【英语国际】中国在全球事务中的新角色对美国有利

President Barack Obama, badly in need of good news, got some over the weekend from the most unlikely of sources: China, which said it would allow the value of its currency to rise, thereby answering the single most fervent prayer U.S. officials utter when seeking divine intervention to help with America's big trade deficit.

In fact, this is the second time in a month that American prayers have been answered in Beijing. The first came when the Chinese agreed to a United Nations Security Council resolution imposing economic sanctions on Iran, then stuck to that agreement despite a diplomatic volley from Tehran designed to coax the Chinese into backing down.

Let's not get misty-eyed about a new age of Sino-American cooperation here. The Chinese moved on their currency as much for their own inflation-fighting self-interest as out of any concern for U.S. wishes, and they are moving slowly in any case. And one can argue that the Chinese did the minimum necessary, and belatedly, on Iran sanctions.

Still, the two moves show that the U.S.-Chinese relationship has a healthier glow than it did just a few months ago, when the two nations were arguing about global warming, a visit by the Dalai Lama to the White House and American arms sales to Taiwan.

More importantly, the steps suggest a certain maturing of China's view of its role in global affairs -- and a more deft touch by the Obama administration in coaxing China into playing that role responsibly.

'In both cases there was a perception the Chinese had that they were in the danger of being isolated internationally,' says Charles Freeman, a China watcher at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. 'In both cases you can look at their moves as things the Chinese wanted to do in order not to be seen as troublemakers internationally.'

The first thing to note here is that the Chinese actually cared that they not be isolated, or be seen as troublemakers. That wasn't always the case in years gone by.

Now, these recent events provide more evidence that China is slowly but steadily coming to see itself as a partner in world affairs, not just an observer and critic of them. As Mr. Freeman notes: 'They are feeling both the joys of having achieved a certain global status, as well as the pressures.'

A few years ago, the Chinese acted as if they could have the former, and not worry about the latter.

In the case of the currency revaluation, that meant the Chinese didn't want to be the subject of pressure and tongue-lashings at the summit meeting of the Group of 20 major economies later this week. With China's artificially low currency widely seen as favoring its exports at the expense of economic recovery in the rest of the industrialized world, that was certainly going to be the case.

In that environment, the U.S. appears to have done two things right.

Mr. Obama, in a conversation with Chinese leader Hu Jintao, both assured him that China was headed for G-20 trouble, and used the threat of protectionist legislation from Congress, to underscore Beijing's political problems.

Then Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner gave China breathing space to act by delaying an April report that would have branded the Chinese as currency manipulators -- a report that likely would have produced an unhelpful nationalistic backlash.

Now Mr. Obama moves on to two more challenges. The first is to return the favor to the Chinese by cooling off a drive in Congress to impose trade penalties on China. Sen. Charles Schumer of New York, in particular, has been pushing such legislation, and already has signaled he'll continue to do so because the rise in the value of the Chinese yuan may be too gradual.

Yet it shouldn't be too hard for the president to deflect congressional action. Mr. Schumer knows by now that his role is to be the bad cop keeping up pressure on Beijing, while the White House gets to play the good cop. No reason to think that will change now. But the odds that legislation will actually pass just went way down.

The second challenge lies in North Korea. Exactly a year ago, China cooperated in passing economic sanctions on its friends in North Korea because of their nuclear-weapons program. But backsliding is underway. The Chinese refuse to blame North Korea for sinking a South Korea military vessel in March, and Beijing recently dis-invited Defense Secretary Robert Gates from visiting.

Meanwhile, a North Korean border guard shot three Chinese residents dead recently, in an incident that has Beijing fuming.

Maybe that also will be a wake-up call to China that, having been a stand-up player on Iran and economics, it should follow suit on North Korea.

Reuters中国央行行长周小川在本月的一次G20会议上。急需好消息的美国总统奥巴马(Barack Obama)周末从最不大可能的地方得到了一些：中国说将允许其货币升值，从而回应了美国官员们在乞求神助以解决美国巨额贸易逆差时最热诚的一句祈祷。

事实上，这是一个月内北京第二次回应美国的祷告。第一次是中国同意联合国安理会对伊朗实施制裁的决议，并不顾德黑兰旨在哄骗中国撤消支持的外交努力始终坚持这一立场。

请不要为中美合作的新时代而感动得泪眼汪汪。中国的汇改不仅是为了回应美国的期待，同时也是出于对抗通胀的自身利益，而且无论如何，他们行事缓慢。你还可以说中国在制裁伊朗方面贡献不大，且姗姗来迟。

尽管如此，中国的这两个举动表明中美关系已得到明显改善。就在几个月前，两国还为全球气候变暖、达赖访问白宫以及美国对台军售的问题而吵得不可开交。

更重要的是，中国的这些举动表明中国对待其在全球事务中角色的看法正趋于成熟，且奥巴马政府诱使中国更负责地承担这一角色的方式也更巧妙了。

战略与国际问题研究中心(Center for Strategic and International Studies)的中国观察家弗里曼(Charles Freeman)说，这两件事都使人感觉到，中国担心自己处于被国际孤立的危险之中，中国人想这么做是为了不被国际社会看作是惹是生非之人。

此处要注意的第一件事是，中国人真的在乎被孤立或被当成惹是生非之人。多年来，他们并不总是这样。

而近来的事态发展愈发证明，中国正慢慢但不断地视自己为国际事务的参与者，而不仅仅是一个旁观者或批评者。正如弗里曼指出的：他们取得了一定的国际地位，他们既感到高兴又感到压力。

几年前，中国人的行为让人觉得他们好像能获得国际地位，却不担心会有压力。

就货币升值而言，这意味着中国不愿在本周末20国集团(G20)峰会上成为众矢之的。由于外界普遍认为中国人为压低人民币汇率是以其它工业化国家的经济复苏为代价促进自身的出口，如果中国不对人民币进行汇率重估，它肯定要受到各方的压力。

在这种情况下，美国显然走对了两步棋。

奥巴马在与中国领导人胡锦涛交谈时，既使其相信中国将在G20峰会上遇到麻烦，又利用国会保护主义法案的威胁强调北京将遇到政治麻烦。

然后，美国财政部长盖特纳(Timothy Geithner)推迟了将把中国定名为汇率操纵国的4月报告。这份报告很可能于事无补，并在中国激起反对美国的民族主义情绪。

现在，奥巴马又面临着另外两项挑战。第一项是给国会向中国施加贸易惩罚措施的热情降降温，从而还中国一个人情。代表纽约州的参议员舒默(Charles Schumer)尤其热衷推动这项法案，并表示将继续推动该法案，理由是人民币升值的速度或许过慢。

然而，对总统来说，让国会的行动偏离方向不是太难之事。舒默知道，在白宫唱红脸时，他的角色就是持续向北京施压的大白脸。现在没理由做出改变。但法案通过的机率越来越小。

第二项挑战与朝鲜有关。就在一年前，在中国的合作下，因朝鲜发展核计划而对其进行经济制裁的决议得以通过。但中国故态复萌。它拒绝就3月份韩国军舰沉没事件而指责朝鲜，并于近期取消了对美国国防部长盖茨(Robert Gates)访华的邀请。

与此同时，朝鲜边防部队近期击毙了三名中国居民，此事让北京方面大为恼火。

或许此事也将让中国明白，既然它在伊朗问题与经济问题上已经出手参与，在朝鲜问题上也应如此。