中國人“買光”貝加爾湖畔引發俄居民擔心

A sleepy tourist town on the shores of Siberia’s Lake Baikal has become an unlikely lightning rod among Russian nationalists after Chinese investors bought up properties on town’s lakefront.

在西伯利亞的貝加爾湖畔，一個寂靜的旅遊小鎮令人難以置信地成爲了俄羅斯民族主義者的火力聚集之地，因爲中國投資者買光了該鎮的湖濱地帶。

Russian newspapers have inflamed public opinion over the town of Listvyanka, running headlines about a Chinese “invasion”, “conquest” and even China’s “yoke” — a reference to the Mongol invasions of the Middle Ages.

俄羅斯報紙使用中國“入侵”、“征服”以及甚至中國的“枷鎖”等新聞標題，在斯特維揚卡(Listvyanka)鎮加劇了公衆輿論。中國的“枷鎖”指的是中世紀的蒙古入侵。

An online petition with 55,000 signatures (Listvyanka has a population of less than 2,000) claims that Beijing is seeking to transform the area into a Chinese province, and asks Russia’s President Vladimir Putin to ban land sales to the Chinese there.

一份徵集到5.5萬個簽名（斯特維揚卡的人口不足2000）的網絡請願書聲稱北京方面正尋求把該地區變成中國的一個省，並請求俄羅斯總統弗拉基米爾?普京(Vladimir Putin)下令禁止把那裏的土地賣給中國人。

The petition has received wide coverage in newspapers including Moskovsky Komsomolets, a national tabloid.

這份請願書得到了包括全國性小報《莫斯科共青團報》(Moskovsky Komsomolets)在內的多份報紙的廣泛報道。

“The people are in a panic! The authorities are inactive, but if this situation will not change, we will continue to lose our underbelly! Our property!” reads the petition on the website published by Yulia Ivanets, who is identified by her page on Russian social media site Vkontakte as being from the neighbouring town of Angarsk. “We have let the goat into the garden,” she wrote. Ms Ivanets did not respond to emails and messages on social media.

“大家都慌了!當局行動遲緩，但如果這種情況不改變，我們將繼續失去我們的薄弱地帶!我們的財產!”這份由尤利婭?伊萬涅茨(Yulia Ivanets)發佈在網站上的請願書聲稱。她在俄羅斯社交媒體網站Vkontakte上的主頁顯示，她來自鄰近的安加爾斯克(Angarsk)鎮。“我們已讓山羊進入了花園，”她寫道。伊萬涅茨沒有回覆記者給她的郵件和社交媒體留言。

The message fuels familiar Russian fears about its more prosperous and populous neighbour — the sparsely populated and economically undeveloped eastern third of Russia is seen as vulnerable to large scale Chinese immigration.

這些內容加劇了俄羅斯人對於他們更富裕、人口更多的鄰國的類似擔憂——他們認爲，人口分散、經濟欠發達的俄羅斯東部三分之一國土可能遭到中國的大規模移民。

These local tensions are at odds with the diplomatic efforts of both countries’ leaders, and threaten to frustrate grand designs of a budding Russian-Chinese pseudo-alliance.

但是，當地的緊張情緒跟俄中兩國領導人的外交努力格格不入，並可能令處萌芽階段的俄中準同盟宏偉藍圖受挫。

The two countries have a “comprehensive strategic partnership of co-ordination [that] has continuously been running at a high level over the past year”, said Wang Yi, China’s foreign minister, during a visit to Moscow last month.

兩國“全面戰略協作夥伴關係在過去一年裏始終保持了高水平運行，”中國外長王毅在上月訪問莫斯科時表示。

Russia needs investment by China to help its economy, which has been hit by western sanctions in the aftermath of its invasion of Ukraine. Meanwhile, China has made a priority of investing in Russia and other Eurasian countries as part of its Belt and Road strategy of building infrastructure across the region.

俄羅斯需要中國投資支持其經濟。在入侵克里米亞之後，俄羅斯經濟受到了西方制裁的衝擊。另一方面，中國把投資於俄羅斯等歐亞國家列爲重點，作爲其旨在歐亞大陸興建基礎設施的“一帶一路”戰略的組成部分。

But at a local level, mutual mistrust and cultural insensitivity threaten to undo the careful diplomatic work of both countries’ leaders.

但在地方層面，相互不信任和文化不敏感可能會削弱兩國領導人小心的外交努力。

Viktor Sin’kov, head of the legal department in Listvyanka’s municipal government, said Chinese property development in the town had angered residents.

斯特維揚卡市政府法律部部長維克托?辛科夫(Viktor Sin’kov)表示，中國企業在該市的地產開發惹惱了居民。

“People really are worried about the Chinese buying everything here. They build huge hotels. They tear down and change the fa?ades,” he said. “Their advertisements are everywhere, hanging from fences.”

“人們真的對中國人在這裏買走一切感到擔憂。他們建設大型賓館。他們拆毀並改變建築物外觀，”他說，“到處都是他們的廣告，掛在柵欄上。”

While Ms Ivanets’ petition claimed that 10 per cent of the town’s prime real estate had been bought by Chinese developers, Mr Sin’kov said: “Ten per cent is an exaggeration. It’s a lot less than that.”

儘管伊萬涅茨的請願書聲稱該市10%的最高端房產已被中國開發商買走，但辛科夫表示：“10%誇張了，比這個低得多。”

But he said that Chinese tour groups made a point of telling visitors that Lake Baikal — the world’s deepest freshwater lake — was part of China during the Tang and Han dynasties. “People here say this means they want it back,” said Mr Sin’kov.

但他表示，中國旅遊團着重告訴遊客，世界上最深的淡水湖貝加爾湖在唐朝和漢朝時期曾是中國的領土。“這裏的人們說，這意味着中國人想把它拿回去，”辛科夫說。

Indeed, Chinese tourism websites claim that Lake Baikal was once part of China.

確實，中國的一些旅遊網站聲稱，貝加爾湖曾是中國的一部分。

Cassia, a Chinese travel agency, advertised trips to Lake Baikal recalling its Chinese past: “It was called the Northern Sea during the Han Dynasty?.?.?.?it had been China’s territory for a long time in history.”

中國旅行社凱撒(Cassia)以回顧中國歷史的方式宣傳貝加爾湖之旅：“在漢朝，它曾被稱爲北海……在歷史上的很長時間內，它一直是中國的領土。”

Chinese tourists report a largely friendly reception by their Russian hosts, especially in winter — traditionally the low season in Siberian tourism.

中國遊客表示，俄羅斯接待方對他們基本很友好，尤其是在西伯利亞處於旅遊淡季的冬季。