霧都慎入:中國網民懷疑鮑卡斯能否應付北京空氣

Chinese social media users wonder whether the White House's new choice for ambassador to China will survive in Beijing. Not politically, but physically.

中國社交媒體用戶在思忖，白宮計劃提名的新任駐華大使能否在北京生存。這不是說要在政治圈子內生存下來，而是說他的身體是不是吃得消。

U.S. President Barack Obama plans to nominate Sen. Max Baucus to replace outgoing envoy Gary Locke, The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday. The six-term Democrat, who has said he doesn't plan to run for re-election, just turned 72.

《華爾街日報》(The Wall Street Journal)週三報道稱，美國總統奧巴馬(Barack Obama)計劃提名參議員鮑卡斯(Max Baucus )接替即將離任的駱家輝(Gary Locke)出任駐華大使。民主黨人鮑卡斯現年72歲，目前是他在參議院的第六任議員任期，他此前表示明年將不再尋求連任議員。

If confirmed, Mr. Baucus would be the oldest person to take up the post since the U.S. and China formally re-established diplomatic relations in 1979.

若提名得到批准，鮑卡斯將成爲1979年中美正式恢復外交關係以來年齡最大的美國駐華大使。

The Helena native has a wealth of experience in dealing with trade issues--a key issue for Beijing and Washington--but China's Internet users appeared more concerned with the whether someone with so many years under his belt would be able to handle the rigors of life in the Chinese capital.

鮑卡斯來自蒙大拿州海倫娜，在處理北京和華盛頓都密切關注的貿易問題上擁有許多經驗。不過中國互聯網用戶似乎更關心這位老人能否應付中國首都的艱難生活環境。

'A venerable 72 and he wants to come to the Celestial Kingdom to breathe the poisoned cloud,' wrote one user of the Twitter-like Sina Weibo microblogging service. Another user was more direct: 'So old! Don't die in the Beijing smog!'

一位新浪(Sina)微博(Weibo)用戶寫道，72歲的老頭還想到天朝來吸毒氣。另一位用戶則更直接：太老了！別被北京霧霾弄死！

Still another user suggested Mr. Baucus should be known in Chinese as Ambassador Bao Kesi (包咳死 ). The last two characters, when combined, mean 'cough to death.'

另外一位用戶認爲，鮑卡斯的名字應該被翻譯成“包咳死”。

Older American emissaries have served in Beijing and lived to tell about it. David Bruce was 75 when he set up the U.S. Liaison Office in Beijing in 1973 --though China Real Time assumes the air was at least slightly cleaner then.

曾有年齡更大的美國駐華使節在北京供職，並且在北京的空氣中活了下來。1973年負責建立美國駐華聯絡處的卜大衛(David Bruce)就有75歲高齡，但中國實時報(China Real Time)認爲當時的空氣至少要略微乾淨一些。

Reaction to news of Mr. Baucus's impending nomination was far more muted than it was when the White House tapped Mr. Locke in 2011. Mr. Locke, whose grandfather emigrated to the U.S. from southern China in the 1890s, was the first Chinese-American to be named to the post. He quickly won over the Chinese Internet, despite state media efforts to brand him an agent of 'neo-colonialism,' largely by conducting himself with a humility perceived to be lacking in China's own officials.

鮑卡斯可能提名駐華大使引發的反響遠不如白宮2011年提名駱家輝擔任駐華大使的反響強烈。駱家輝是第一位擔任美國駐華大使的美籍華人，他的祖父是在19世紀90年代從中國南部移居美國的。儘管中國國有媒體試圖給他貼上“新殖民主義”代言人的標籤，但駱家輝仍迅速在中國互聯網上樹立了良好聲譽，這主要是因爲他行事低調謙遜，而這正是一些中國官員所缺乏的。

Pollution also figured into the online speculation when Mr. Locke announced his intention to step down last month, though he has denied that the city's chewable air had anything to do with his decision to return to the U.S.

就在駱家輝上個月宣佈他有意辭去駐華大使一職時，也有一些網民猜測北京的污染可能是原因。不過，駱家輝否認北京的霧霾與他本人辭職返回美國的決定有任何關係。

Unlike the previous two U.S. envoys, Mr. Baucus has little personal connection to the world's second-largest economy. (Jon Huntsman, Mr. Locke's predecessor, speaks Mandarin and has an adopted daughter from China.) Some Internet users saw that as a positive, arguing that the Montanan would be a less confusing representative than Mr. Locke, who was accused by a few nationalists of betraying his motherland.

與前兩任美國駐華大使不同，鮑卡斯與中國這個全球第二大經濟體的個人情感聯繫並不多。（駱家輝的前任洪博培(Jon Huntsman)會說普通話，並從中國領養了一個女兒。）一些互聯網用戶認爲這帶來了一些好處，認爲這位蒙大拿州議員與駱家輝相比將是一位立場不那麼令人感到困惑的美國駐華代表。中國的少數“愛國主義者”曾指控駱家輝背叛祖國。