Practices Going Against the Trend of Time Are Destined to Lose

19.6.4逆势而动必将失败

Zhong Sheng

钟声

Rejecting globalization was like rejecting the sunrise, senior journalist George Packer once warned US years ago.

“拒绝全球化就是拒绝太阳升起。”几年前，美国资深记者乔治·帕克曾对美国国内发出过这样的警告。

Unfortunately, such constructive remarks have been completely ignored by some US politicians who go against the trend of time and declared that Americanism, not globalism, will be their credo. What the US has done only hurts the others without necessarily benefiting itself. Under trade protectionism, it resorted to additional tariffs, export control, and the Entity List, and made a series of actions that go against the trend of time, including its withdrawals from international organizations, building the border wall and initiating the trade war. Such practices have made the world wonder that if the US is leaving the Earth.

令人遗憾的是，美国一些政客完全无视逆耳忠言、不管不顾历史浪潮，公然声称今后“美国主义而不是全球主义将成为我们的信条”。他们把自己关进黑屋子，没完没了干各种不合时宜、损人害己的蠢事。加征关税、发布出口管制“实体名单”，贸易保护主义大棒越挥越猛；退群、筑墙、打贸易战，逆历史潮流而动的行为越来越多。以至于世人惊叹，如此下去，美国是不是要退出地球了？！微博@高斋翻硕 公众号高斋翻译学堂

Economic globalization has injected strong impetus to world economic growth. During the past decades, the US, calling itself an advocate for economic globalization, was also the largest beneficiary in the integration process. However, the US is becoming a destroyer, which has to a large extend disappointed the world. Some US politicians even talked nonsense that free trade isn't globalization, and globalization has left millions of US workers with nothing but poverty and heartache. Such voice aims at nothing but to divert the antagonistic problems at home to economic globalization, wishing to maximize its own profits at the sacrifice of global interests.

经济全球化为世界经济增长提供了强劲动力。过去几十年，美国一向自诩经济全球化的倡导者，也是最大受益者。然而，现在的美国却变成了“搅局者”“破坏者”，这实在是让世人大跌眼镜。美国一些政客大放厥词，说什么“自由贸易不是全球化”“全球化带给美国千千万万工人的只有贫穷和悲伤”。这些论调无非是想把国内矛盾的锅甩给经济全球化，妄图以牺牲全球利益和他国利益为代价来谋求自身利益最大化。

Because of such voice, some US politicians have lost their rationality and resorted to obsolete approaches. They arbitrarily imposed additional tariffs and abused national security investigations, creating challenges for global countries. Leave aside the lack of respect for rules and morality of the US, will the anti-history "America first" strategy "make America great again?"

正是这种阴暗的想法，让美国一些政客失去了理性，搬出锈迹斑斑的“冷兵器”，动辄以关税施压，滥用“国家安全审查”，搅得各国不得安生。且不谈规则意识和道义感，这种逆时代潮流而动的“美国优先”真的能让美国“再次伟大”吗？微博@高斋翻硕 公众号高斋翻译学堂

Just as a Kazakh proverb aptly puts it, "One who tries to blow out other's oil lamp will get his beard on fire." What the trade war has brought is the rising prices of the commodities in the shopping carts of America citizens who had no other choice but to shoulder the loss. The net income of US farmers, plunging by 16 percent last year, went back to the same level of that 10 years ago when financial crisis broke out. American Soybean Association, American Apparel and Footwear Association and US Consumer Technology Association have all expressed the concern that the additional tariffs would only hurt US farmers, US enterprises and US consumers.

“吹灭别人的灯，会烧掉自己的胡子。”贸易战带来的是“美国人整个购物车里的东西都涨价”“这是美国消费者自己在埋单”。2018年美国农民净收入同比下降16%，跌至10年前国际金融危机发生时的水平。美国社会各界倍感失望，美国大豆协会、美国服装和鞋类协会、美国消费者技术协会等纷纷控诉，“提高关税只会惩罚美国的农民、企业和消费者。”

Washington is not capable of moving manufacturing back to the US as it turns its back on the laws of industry transfer and international labor division. Backwardness won't help, especially in the US, said German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung. To produce the commodities it used to import from other countries, the US has to regain a huge labor force. However, many regions of the country are currently suffering from a lack of human resource. Economic data of the US also heralded potential risks. Manufacturing output declined 2.1 percent in the first quarter from a year ago, and the monthly performance dropped by 0.5 percent this April. What will the US obtain by interfering with global industrial chain with its bullying practices? Nothing but the destruction of its own image.

无视产业转移和国际分工背后的规律，华盛顿使“蛮力”就能把制造业全部搬回美国？这是痴人说梦！《南德意志报》最近刊文指出“恰恰在美国，倒退是完全不可能的”——想自己生产进口的那些产品，首先要重新拥有劳动力大军。现实是，美国许多地区正受到劳动力短缺困扰。经济数据不乏风险征兆，在制造业方面，一季度美国工业产值同比下降了2.1%，4月份又较3月份下降0.5%。美国用强权手段赤裸裸干预全球产业链，又会给美国带来什么呢？除了自毁形象，到头来只能是竹篮打水一场空！微博@高斋翻硕 公众号高斋翻译学堂

Washington always likes to brag about its sense of international responsibility, but it has severely damaged the world trade orders and global public products by its wide provocation of trade wars. The World Trade Organization has slashed global trade growth forecast for 2019 from 2.6 percent from 3.7 percent, the lowest in the recent three years. In indicates that the US never cares about its due responsibilities, but has set a "recession trap" for the world.

华盛顿不是惯于标榜“国际责任”吗？美国四处挑起贸易战，已经严重破坏了世界经济秩序、破坏了“全球公共产品”。世贸组织已将2019年全球贸易增长预期从3.7%下调至2.6%，为3年来最低水平。这表明，恰恰是美国无视国际责任，再一次给世界制造了“衰退陷阱”。

Even American economists refused to accept the remarks and practices of certain US politicians, saying the anti-globalization moves under the banner of protecting domestic interests and laborers will not contribute any constructive solution, but damage the international image that the country has long maintained.

美国一些政客的种种言行，让美国经济学家都嗤之以鼻：“这种打着维护本国利益、劳工利益幌子，试图扭转全球化进程的举动，既不能解决国内问题，又损害美国长期构建的国际形象。”

The US is going too far on the road of anti-globalization. On the contrary, China, fulfilling its responsibilities and with its commitment to globalization, is sending positive signal that the country will always act as a builder of world peace, a contributor to global development, and an upholder of the international order. China's openness is not forced, but a proactive decision that injects certainty to the world standing at a "crossroad". History will eventually reveal who upholds justice, follows moral code and wins people's support.

美国在逆全球化路上正越走越远。而中国始终以责任和笃行全力支持全球化，向世界传递出中国担当——中国始终是世界和平的建设者、全球发展的贡献者、国际秩序的维护者。今日中国之开放，不是被动地跟随同行，而是主动地引领潮流，为站在“十字路口”的世界注入确定性。一退一进，公理在哪边？道义在哪边？人心在哪边？历史自有公论。微博@高斋翻硕 公众号高斋翻译学堂

The trend of the world is surging forward. Those who follow the trend will prosper, and those who go against it will perish, said Dr. Sun Yat-sen, the pioneer of China's democratic revolution. A country is destined to lose if it goes against the trend of time, no matter how powerful it is. Today's world village is no longer a primitive tribe, and the days when isolation worked has long gone. Any attempt to channel the waters in the ocean back into isolated lakes and creeks is simply not possible. History has proved, and will once again prove that the ones rejecting the world will end up being objected by this world. We hope the US officials can understand that there is no future for anti-history practices.

世界潮流，浩浩荡荡，顺之则昌，逆之则亡。一个国家不管有怎样的实力，倘若与潮流为敌、同大势作对，必然会碰得头破血流。今天的地球村早已不是蒙昧的原始部落，关起门来朝天过的日子也早已一去不复返，让世界经济的大海退回到一个一个孤立的小湖泊、小河流注定没有出路。历史已经证明，还将再次证明，谁拒绝这个世界，定会被这个世界所拒绝。我们奉劝那些美国政客：一味逆历史潮流而动必将失败！微博@高斋翻硕 公众号高斋翻译学堂