美國間諜活動再一次惹火德國
German officials reacted ominously Monday to the latest allegations of U.S. spying, saying that the affair threatened to make a return to ‘business as usual’ impossible.
德國官員週一就美國在德國從事間諜活動的最新指控表現出的反應給人以不祥之感。他們表示，這起事件可能將導致德美關係再無可能迴歸“一切如常”的軌道。The air over Germany has been thick with moral outrage over the weekend after revelations that an employee of Germany’s secret service, the Bundesnachrichtendienst or BND, had been arrested on suspicion of passing information to the CIA in return for cash payments.
上週末，一位供職於德國聯邦情報局(BND)的僱員因爲涉嫌向美國中央情報局(CIA)傳遞情報以獲取現金報酬而被捕。消息一經披露，德國上下一片譁然，羣情激奮。Reports citing political and diplomatic sources said the employee had passed information to the CIA from the very parliamentary committee that Germany set up last year to look into allegations made by former NSA analyst Edward Snowden.
相關報道援引政治和外交消息源稱，這位僱員是從一個議會委員會向中情局傳遞情報的，而德國去年成立這個委員會正是爲了審查美國國家安全局(NSA)前分析師愛德華o斯諾登曝光的美國間諜活動。
According to the newspaper Bild-Zeitung, officials swooped when the man tried to sell information to Russia. But as they made the arrest, he admitted “I’ve been selling to the Americans for two years already!”
據德國《圖片報》(Bild-Zeitung)報道，就在這名男子試圖向俄羅斯出售情報那一刻，他被執法官員一舉捕獲。但他在被捕後承認，“我一直在向美國人出賣情報，已經兩年了！”The furore over Snowden’s disclosures–including accusations that the U.S. had tapped the mobile phone of Chancellor Angela Merkel–has never really died down.
斯諾登此前披露稱，美國曾經竊聽德國總理默克爾的手機。這些指控引發的怒火從未真正平息過。Currently on an official visit to China, Merkel told a press conference that, if confirmed, the “serious” allegations “would be for me a clear contradiction of what I consider to be trusting cooperation between agencies and partners.”
目前正在中國進行國事訪問的默克爾在一個記者招待會上表示，如果得到證實，這些“嚴重”指控“顯然跟我所認爲的兩國機構的互信合作關係背道而馳。”Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier also weighed in, saying that if it’s confirmed that U.S. services are involved, “it will become a political issue and we can’t just get back to business as usual,” Reuters reported.
路透社(Reuters)報道稱，德國外交部長弗蘭克-瓦爾特o施泰因邁爾也發表了自己的看法。他說，如果證實美國情報機構參與了這起事件，“它將成爲一個政治問題，我們根本無法重建正常關係。”Lower-ranking officials have been less restrained, with senior Bundestag members calling for the expulsion of the BND agent’s U.S. handlers from Germany.
低級別官員就沒這麼剋制了，一部分聯邦議院的資深議員甚至呼籲德國政府將這位BND僱員的美國聯絡人驅逐出境。The newspaper Bild-Zeitung, meanwhile, reported Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere as telling colleagues that they should be prepared to get themselves “a 360-degree view” by spying back on Germany’s western allies such as U.S., U.K. and France.
《圖片報》同時報道稱，內政部長托馬斯o德邁齊埃告知同事，他們應該做好萬全準備，讓自己獲得“一個360度的視角”，對美英法等德國西方盟友進行反刺探。The Interior Ministry didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment, but any such step would represent a dramatic watershed in post-war German policy. Acutely conscious of the excesses of the Nazi-era Gestapo and the communist East German Stasi, spying is something the Federal Republic would still rather pretend it didn’t have to do–especially if by doing so it casts doubt on its anchoring in the Atlantic alliance.
內政部沒有立即迴應記者的置評請求，但任何此類動作都將成爲德國戰後政策一道頗具戲劇性的分水嶺。德意志聯邦共和國一直對納粹時期的蓋世太保和東德祕密警察的猖獗活動十分敏感，一直假裝自己沒必要從事間諜活動——特別是，如果德國搞這一套，外界對德國在大西洋聯盟中的支柱作用產生懷疑。Attempts by Merkel to agree a mutual “no spying” arrangement with the U.S. were rejected by Washington last year.
默克爾去年曾試圖與美國簽署“互不刺探”協定，但遭到華盛頓拒絕。Snowden’s disclosures have already encouraged some in Germany to hold back in the new free trade initiative between the E.U. and the U.S., known as the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, or TTIP. U.S. internet and digital giants are set to be among the biggest beneficiaries of those talks.
斯諾登曝光的間諜活動已經鼓勵一些德國官員阻止歐盟和美國簽訂新的自由貿易協定——跨大西洋貿易與投資夥伴協議(Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership，簡稱TTIP)。美國互聯網和數字巨頭將是這些貿易談判的最大受益者之一。“Free trade and spying don’t mix,” said Ralf Stegner, a deputy head of the Social Democratic Party (Merkel’s coalition partners), told the newspaper Handelsblatt.
社會民主黨（默克爾執政聯盟夥伴）副黨魁拉爾夫o斯特格納對德國《商報》(Handelsblatt)說：“自由貿易和間諜活動不可調和。”
