丹尼亞歷山大 我是亞投行副行長合適人選

Danny Alexander, the former Treasury minister appointed vice-president of a Chinese-led Asian investment bank, has dismissed criticisms that he is not qualified to do the job.

英國財政部前官員丹尼騠虎煓大(Danny Alexander)被任命爲中國發起設立的亞洲基礎設施投資銀行（AIIB，簡稱亞投行）的副行長。他對關於其不夠資格的指責不以爲然。

Sir Danny, who has been taking Mandarin lessons ahead of his posting to Beijing, said that similar criticisms were made of him before he became Treasury chief secretary in the coalition government.

亞歷山大表示，在他擔任聯合政府財政部首席祕書之前也有類似指責。亞歷山大在赴北京上任前在學習普通話。

“I think I proved people wrong,” the former Liberal Democrat minister said in an interview with the Financial Times. Sir Danny was George Osborne’s deputy at the Treasury, responsible for implementing cuts and bringing down Britain’s record deficit.

這位前自由民主黨官員在接受英國《金融時報》採訪時表示：“我想我已經證明人們錯了。”亞歷山大此前擔任英國財政大臣喬治攠斯本(George Osborne)的副手，負責執行緊縮計劃並削減英國創紀錄的赤字。

“Over five years we put the economy back on track and provided solid foundations for this Conservative government,” he said with heavy irony. “I’m very proud of what we achieved but sorry I lost my seat.”

他不無嘲諷地說道：“我們在5年時間裏讓經濟重回正軌，併爲這屆保守黨政府提供了堅實的基礎。我非常自豪我們取得的成就，但遺憾的是，我丟掉了自己的議員席位。”

Mr Osborne also felt sorry for his deputy and rewarded him by nominating him as one of five vice-presidents of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, even though the job description required lengthy experience in international finance.

奧斯本也對亞歷山大感到遺憾，並通過提名他出任亞投行五名副行長之一給予回報，即便該職位人選要求具有長期的國際金融履歷。

Officials in Beijing close to the nomination process also criticised Mr Osborne’s nomination, saying they would have preferred a leading financier to a professional politician.

接近提名過程的北京官員也批評奧斯本的提名，稱他們更願意要一名領先的金融家，而不是一名職業政客。

But Sir Danny said his role would involve ensuring strong communications between the Beijing-based bank and its 57 founding members — including Britain, France and Germany — over its plans and operations.

但亞歷山大表示，他的角色將包括確保亞投行與其57個創始成員國（包括英國、法國和德國）在計劃和運營方面的溝通順暢。

“We have to make sure they are fully engaged and that we proceed together,” he said, in a tacit acknowledgment there could be teething problems as the Chinese-led equivalent of the World Bank takes the stage.

他說：“我們不得不確保他們全力參與，確保我們一起前進，”此言含蓄地承認了亞投行在登上舞臺初期可能出現一些問題。亞投行由中國主導，相當於世界銀行(World Bank)的角色。

He said it was “the right initiative at the right time” and the AIIB would help to fund infrastructure in Asia that would help to sustain growth and help to reduce carbon emissions.

他表示，這是“正確時間的正確舉措”，亞投行將幫助亞洲基礎設施建設融資，這些基礎設施將有助於保持增長和降低碳排放。

He said that as a Liberal he was a big supporter of multilateral organisations, but he did not seem to recognise the apparent problem of working in Beijing for a bank backed by a Chinese government with an illiberal view of human rights.

他說，作爲一名自由民主黨人，他是多邊組織的堅決支持者，但他似乎沒有意識到，在北京爲抱有不開明人權觀念的中國政府支持的銀行工作，顯然會有問題。

“I’m looking forward to getting to know China and getting to know people in Beijing,” he said. “I want to understand more about how the system works. “The job I’m doing is with the AIIB and I very much applaud the Chinese government initiative in setting it up. It’s a great opportunity for more co-operation across Asia.”

亞歷山大表示：“我期待了解中國，瞭解北京的人們。我想進一步明白這個體系是如何運作的。我將爲亞投行工作，我爲中國政府創立亞投行的舉措喝彩。這是亞洲各國加深合作的偉大機遇。”

Sir Danny said he and Mr Osborne agreed in 2015 that it would be right for Britain to be a founding member of the bank, in spite of the opprobrium of the White House. One US official bemoaned Britain’s “constant accommodation” of China.

亞歷山大表示，他和奧斯本在2015年一致認爲，英國成爲亞投行發起國將是正確的，儘管遭到白宮方面的抨擊。一位美國官員指責英國“不斷遷就”中國。

Asked whether the AIIB job was payback time after being Mr Osborne’s sidekick during the coalition government, Sir Danny said: “We worked very closely and effectively over five years. He knows me and what I can do. But my skills and experience are what’s important.”

在被問及亞投行的職位是否是爲了回報他作爲奧斯本的副手的時候，亞歷山大表示：“我們在5年時間裏密切而有效地合作。他了解我，知道我可以做什麼。但重要的是我的技巧和經驗。”

Although the 43-year-old said he was making “slow but steady progress” in learning Mandarin, the working language of the bank will be English.

儘管43歲的亞歷山大表示，他在學習普通話方面取得了“緩慢而穩定的進步”，但亞投行的工作語言將是英語。

He is on a three-year contract but says he has no immediate plans to return to British politics to help his ailing party ahead of the 2020 general election. “My life has taken a different turn now,” he said.

亞歷山大簽了3年的合同，但他目前還沒有在2020年大選前返回英國政界幫助其陷入困境的政黨的計劃。他說：“我的生活已轉向另一個方向。”