香港遭遇的困局與英國的關聯

The former British colony of Hong Kong has all the attributes of a liberal society except one: its people lack the ability to choose who governs them. The latest political convulsion in the territory has been caused by electoral arrangements proposed by the National People’s Congress, which would prevent democrats and others of whom China might disapprove from seeking election as chief executive in a vote of Hong Kong’s citizens.

前英國殖民地香港具有一個自由社會的所有屬性，唯一的例外是香港市民缺乏選擇由誰管治自己的能力。這個特別行政區最新的政治痙攣是由全國人大提議的選舉安排引起的，這一安排將阻止民主派和中國可能不認同的其他派別人士競選行政長官，參加一場全體市民投票的選舉。

Such vetting is more or less what happens in Iran. Sooner or later this plan, or a modification of it, will have to be voted on by Hong Kong’s legislature, and I hope a compromise can be found. The territory’s citizens remain remarkably moderate and responsible. It is not democracy that produces the sort of mass demonstrations we have recently witnessed but its denial.

這種審覈在一定程度上與伊朗的制度相同。這個計劃（或其修改後的版本）遲早將提交香港立法會投票表決，我希望各方能夠找到一個妥協方案。香港市民仍然是非常溫和、負責任的。釀成我們近期見證的那種大規模示威的，並不是民主，而恰恰是對民主的拒絕。

I have expressed my agreement with Andrew Li Kwok-nang, the distinguished former Chief Justice, who has written that Beijing’s views on the status of the Hong Kong judiciary raise concerns about judicial independence and therefore the integrity of the rule of law. But in the 17 years since I left the territory at the end of my term as the last British governor, I have tried to avoid being drawn into the debate about democracy there, lest my intervention complicate matters.

我已經表達了我認同香港終審法院前首席法官李國能(Andrew Li Kwok-nang)的看法。他寫道，北京方面對於香港司法體系地位的觀點，令人擔憂司法獨立，進而擔憂法治的完好性。但在我結束自己末任香港總督任期、離開香港以來的17年裏，我一直試圖避免捲入有關香港民主的辯論，以免我的介入使問題複雜化。

On this occasion my comments are not directed principally to Beijing or Hong Kong’s democrats. What a former Hong Kong governor can more legitimately do is to invite an interrogation of Britain’s sense of honour. It may not be welcome to ministers, at a time when so many appallingly difficult international issues crowd their agenda, to remind them that we have moral responsibilities for what happens in Hong Kong.

這一次，我的意見主要不是針對北京，也不是針對香港的民主派。一名前香港總督可以更合理地做的事，是邀請各方拷問英國的榮譽感。在部長級官員們的議程上有那麼多困難得令人震驚的國際問題之際，提醒他們英國對香港的情況負有道義責任，可能不受這些官員們的歡迎。

The Joint Declaration under which the territory passed from British to Chinese rule guaranteed Hong Kong’s way of life for 50 years after 1997. Deng Xiaoping’s “one country, two systems” pledge is backed by an international treaty, lodged at the UN. As successive British governments have accepted, the UK has a continuing “moral and political obligation” to ensure that China respects its commitments.

《中英聯合聲明》保證了香港在1997年迴歸中國後的50年生活方式不變；英國據此將香港主權移交給中國。鄧小平的“一國兩制”承諾被列入一份在聯合國備案的國際條約。正如歷屆英國政府都認可的，英國在確保中國尊重其承諾方面負有持續的“道德和政治義務”。

When Chinese officials attack British MPs and others for commenting on developments in Hong Kong, they ignore the fact that Britain too has treaty obligations for 50 years, which reflect what our country has said and promised in the past. Failure to do as we pledged would clearly be dishonourable.

當中國官員抨擊英國議員和其他人就香港事態發表評論時，他們忽略了這樣一個事實：英國也負有50年的條約義務，反映出我國在過去說過的話、作出過的承諾。未能履行我方的承諾顯然將是不光彩的。

In the 1980s and 1990s, parliament was told that the development of democratic structures underpin the territory’s stability, prosperity and limited autonomy. No one envisaged that, 30 years after the Joint Declaration, a fair electoral system would still be beyond the horizon.

20世紀80和90年代，英國議會被告知，民主架構的發展支撐着香港的穩定、繁榮和有限自治。沒有人預料到，在《中英聯合聲明》簽署30年後的今天，一個公平的選舉制度仍然是不可企及的。

Sooner or later, I assume, the British government will comment on Beijing’s plan. This would not be a provocation but a duty. No one can seriously believe that this would have commercial consequences, or that such consequences should be an overriding concern when our honour is on the line. We have a huge stake in the wellbeing of Hong Kong, with a political system in balance with its economic freedom. I hope these questions will be resolved in a way that does not jeopardise the city’s future.

我假定，英國政府遲早將對北京的計劃發表評論。這將不是一種挑釁，而是一種責任。沒有人能真的相信，這將產生商業方面的後果，或者說，在我們的榮譽命懸一線的情況下，這樣的後果應該是壓倒一切的考慮因素。香港的福祉，香港擁有與經濟自由相稱的政治體制——這些對我們事關重大。我希望這些問題將在不危及香港未來的情況下得到解決。

China’s ascent has been a bonus for the world. It is not a threat. Surprisingly, however, it has not yet been accompanied by an accretion of China’s soft power. The way in which Beijing handles Hong Kong’s aspirations will clearly affect that.

中國的崛起迄今對世界是一大利好。中國不是一個威脅。但令人驚訝的是，這種崛起尚未伴隨中國軟實力的增強。北京方面把握香港抱負的方式顯然將影響這一點。

Yet my main appeal is to Westminster not China. During a visit to a mental hospital before I left Hong Kong, a patient politely asked me how a country that prided itself on being the oldest democracy in the world had come to be handing over his city to another country with a very different system of government, without either consulting the citizens or giving them the prospect of democracy to safeguard their future. Strange, said one of my aides, that the man with the sanest question in Hong Kong is in a mental hospital.

然而，我的主要訴求是針對英國議會，而不是中國的。在我離開香港之前，我曾走訪香港一間精神病院，一個病人禮貌地問我，一個號稱是世界上最古老民主國家的國家，怎麼能在既不徵求市民意見、又不給他們留下民主前景以捍衛自己未來的情況下，把他所在的城市交給政府體制非常不同的另一個國家？當時我的一個助手說，怪事，住在精神病院的一個男子居然提出了香港最清醒的問題。

But we did promise him democracy. We should go on making that point, ever so diplomatically. If not us, then who?

但是，我們確實向他作出了民主承諾。我們應該繼續以高超的外交手腕強調這一點。如果我們不這麼做，又有誰會這麼做呢？