上海世博会美国馆建设资金有望落实

　　Hillary Clinton is on course to raise the $61m in private money needed to build a US pavilion for a trade fair in Shanghai next year, clearing one of the main foreign policy obstacles ahead of Barack Obama's state visit to China next week.
　　希拉里•克林顿(Hillary Clinton)有望完成筹集6100万美元私营部门资金的工作，这些资金将用于建造明年上海世博会上的美国馆，从而在巴拉克•奥巴马(Barack Obama)下周对中国展开国事访问之前，扫除主要外交政策障碍之一。

　　Mrs Clinton, whose first visit as secretary of state was to China, inherited a situation where the US was the only country other than Andorra that had failed to confirm its attendance at the Shanghai Expo – to the chagrin of the Chinese.
　　希拉里就任美国国务卿后，第一个出访的国家就是中国。当时她接手了一个棘手的局面：美国是除了安道尔以外，世界上唯一未确认参加上海世博会的国家。这令中方非常失望。

　　America's absence from the fair, running from May to October, was the first issue to be raised by the Chinese when Mrs Clinton visited in February. “The Chinese were very upset,” says Elizabeth Baghley, who heads Mrs Clinton's office for global partnerships. “When she came back from China she said: “Whatever it takes, this matters to China and to US business and we are going to get this done.”
　　希拉里今年2月访问中国时，中方提出的第一个问题，就是美国仍缺席将于明年5月至10月举办的上海世博会。“中方非常不快，”在希拉里手下执掌全球伙伴关系事务办公室的伊丽莎白•巴格利(Elizabeth Bagley)表示。“从中国回来后，她说：‘无论需要付出多大努力，这件事对中国、对美国企业很重要，我们一定要办到。'”

　　The task was more arduous than expected. Unlike all the other participants in what is expected to be the largest trade fair in history, the US administration is barred by federal law from spending a single public dollar on global trade fairs. Mrs Clinton, who has extensive experience at fundraising as a presidential and senatorial candidate, was also prevented from asking for money herself.
　　这项任务的难度高于外人预期。与其它所有参展国家不同，美国联邦法律规定，联邦政府不得在国际贸易展会上支出哪怕一美元的公共资金。以希拉里本人的总统候选人和参议员候选人经历，她在募集资金方面拥有大量经验，但她也不得亲自开口要钱。上海世博会预期将成为有史以来规模最大的博览会。

　　The bureaucratic obstacles were made worse by the fact the Chinese had already tapped large US companies, such as Cisco and Coca-Cola, to spend money on their own corporate pavilions that will face their national counterparts across the river around the fair in Shanghai. The situation was retrieved when three companies – Chevron, GE and PepsiCo – were persuaded to put up $5m (€3.4m, £3m) each. So far $46m has been pledged.
　　除了官僚制度障碍以外，令情况更加糟糕的是，中方已说动思科(Cisco)和可口可乐(Coca-Cola)等美国大公司掏钱兴建自己的企业展馆，这些展馆将与美国馆隔江对望。直到三家美国公司——雪佛龙(Chevron)、通用电气(GE)和百事可乐(PepsiCo)——被说服各自贡献500万美元后，局面才有所挽回。迄今各方已总共承诺赞助4600万美元。

　　Mrs Clinton's emphasis on getting a US pavilion contrasted strongly with the attitude of the Bush administration. Some even referred disparagingly to the “Chi-comms” – an old-fashioned abbreviation for Chinese communists. “The state department basically saw it as a lost cause,” says one state department official. “Some people laughed when they heard Hillary wanted to do this.”
　　希拉里对美国馆的重视，与布什政府的态度形成鲜明对比。有人甚至轻蔑地使用了“赤共”这一指代中国共产党的陈旧缩略语。“国务院基本上认为这件事没什么指望，”美国国务院一名官员表示。“有人听说希拉里想要做这件事的时候，还笑出了声。”

　　Shanghai has huge hopes for the Expo, which it sees as a chance to cement the city's global brand as an international financial centre and modern metropolis. With an official budget of Rmb28.6bn ($4.2bn, €2.8bn, £2.5bn) and 70m expected visitors over the six months, the Expo has been marketed as the sort of coming-out party for Shanghai that last year's Olympics was for Beijing – and an event to rival the great 19th century world fairs in London, Paris and Chicago.
　　上海对世博会寄予厚望，将其视为一个契机，来巩固该市作为一个国际金融中心和现代化都市的全球品牌。凭借286亿元人民币（合42亿美元）的官方预算，以及6个月的会期里预期将吸引来的7000万参观者，本届世博会已被包装成上海的首次亮相盛会，正如去年的奥运会之于北京。上海世博会还有意与19世纪先后在伦敦、巴黎和芝加哥举办的世界盛会相媲美。

　　Given such heady expectations for what will be the largest world's fair, the absence of the US would have been considered an enormous slight and a loss of face for the Chinese. Mindful of how much it mattered to the Chinese, Mrs Clinton saw it as an opportunity to build their trust. During strategic and economic talks with Chinese counterparts in Washington last summer, Mrs Clinton vowed she would get it done even if she had to “build it myself, brick by brick”.
　　鉴于中国方面对这一历来规模最大的世博会有如此兴奋的预期，美国缺席将被视为一种严重的冷落之举，令中方大丢面子。考虑到这对中方有多么重要，希拉里视其为赢得中方信任的良机。在今年夏天与中方代表团在华盛顿举行战略与经济对话期间，希拉里誓言将落实美国馆的建设，即便她不得不“亲手一块砖一块砖地把它建起来”。

　　Mrs Clinton was also backed by John Huntsman, the US ambassador to China and former governor of Utah, who repeatedly told Washington how much symbolic value it would bring to China.
　　希拉里在这方面还得到美国驻华大使、犹他州前州长洪博培(John Huntsman)的支持，洪博培多次向华盛顿表示，这件事对中国有多大的象征价值。

　　Mrs Clinton, who will be with the US president on his state visit next week, is expected to visit the site and may be in a position to announce that all the money has been raised.
　　希拉里下周将随同奥巴马访问中国，预期她将参观美国馆建设工地，或许届时她可能将宣布全部资金均已到位。
　　
　　译者/和风