【台美日共同守護印太安全】
美國、日本、台灣三國智庫共同主辦「2020台美日三邊印太安全對話」,包括蔡英文總統、美國前國務院助卿坎博(Kurt Campbell)、前國防部印太安全助理部長薛瑞福(Randall Schriver)、日本前駐美大使佐佐木賢一郎等重要人士都與會。
我也參與三國國會議員的對談,與羅致政委員、陳以信委員、美國聯邦眾議員貝拉(Ami Bera)以及日本眾議員鈴木馨祐,交流2020後的印太及台海情勢與願景。
結果準備厚厚一疊的英文講稿幾乎沒派上用場,講太HIGH不小心就脫稿演出....。無論如何還是提供原本的講稿跟大家參詳,一起來練習英文吧:
2020 Taiwan-US-Japan Trilateral Indo-Pacific Security Dialogue
Hello moderator, fellow panelists, I am Taiwan legislator Freddy Lim.
This year, due to the pandemic, we can only conduct this panel online. I’m still very glad to be invited to attend this event and exchange ideas with these great panelists. Here I want to share my views on today’s main topic: “Challenges and Opportunities in the Indo-Pacific Region and the Taiwan Strait in 2020 & Beyond”.
First I want to start with the conventional positioning of Taiwan under the established international order.
After WWII, the international order led by the allies dragged Taiwan into China’s civil war. Since then, Taiwan's been struggling with the “One China” dispute, unable to gain independence and world recognition like many other colonies.
Even though Taiwanese people have built an independent and democratic country after half a century of hard work, now we enjoy freedom and human rights, the international community still isolates Taiwan. One of the main reasons is obviously China.
The established international community viewed China as a huge economic opportunity, a partner that would eventually carry out political reforms and be integrated into modern international order. Under this conventional thinking, the international community is willing to help China ease and suppress many of its unpleasant problems, including the thorny "Democratic Taiwan."
This has reduced Taiwan to merely China’s “Taiwan Problem”. We’re even slandered as the “troublemaker” of the Taiwan Strait; As a result, the respect that Taiwan deserves continues to be shelved, and the active role we can play, the contributions we can make in the international community are also ignored.
However, this established international structure is now changing.
After decades of appeasement policy, and acquiring WTO membership in 2001, China’s various structural changes that the world anticipated have never taken place. On the contrary, China’s been using organized measures, such as bribing, infiltration, and hybrid-warfare, to undermine international norms. It’s worked hard to manipulate and control international organizations, in order to project its influence onto the world. These actions have been even more distinct after Xi Jinping became President of China in 2012.
Internationally, China implemented debt-trap diplomacy on many countries through the Belt and Road Initiative. It established Confucius Institutes around the world, which are basically intelligence operations in the name of culture. Chinese tech giant, Huawei also aids China’s international surveillance. Not to mention China’s relentless expansion in the South China Sea, building military bases, creating man-made islands. This year, it’s even more serious. We witnessed the long time Chinese infiltration into UN organizations. The favoritism towards China helped its cover-up, which led to the dysfunction of WHO, ultimately causing the COVID-19 global pandemic.
Domestically, the Chinese government not only failed to implement any political reforms, but it also created the “Social Credit” system with advanced technology, to surveil and control its own people; In addition, the Chinese government built the notorious “Reeducation Camps” - concentration camps in reality, in Tibet, Xingjian, where human rights conditions were already in a bad shape. Even the Hong Kong people, who were supposed to be protected by the promise of “One Country, Two Systems”, their freedom and human rights were completely destroyed by the Chinese government.
These compelling examples show that there is some serious fallacy in the conventional way of viewing China. All facts point to this: Taiwan is not the problem. China is the problem. China is the troublemaker of the Taiwan Strait. It’s the troublemaker of the Indo-Pacific region. It’s even the troublemaker of the entire world.
Under decades of collective misjudgement, China was allowed to become the most terrifying, largest digital authoritarian government in human history. It’s a new form of dictatorship. As a response, many countries have vastly changed their China policy in recent years, thus the change of international structure.
This brings me to my next point: Give Taiwan the status it deserves. Let us contribute to the international society.
In a new international structure, Taiwan shouldn’t be categorized as “China’s Taiwan Problem”. Instead, we should be one of the key countries for international cooperation, responding to the new type of dictatorship.
Taiwan has faced authoritarian China on the front line for decades. Many countries are now facing the problem of China's infiltration under its United Front programs. Taiwan started dealing with the same problems 10 to 20 years ago. We have gained a lot of experience to contribute to the international community.
Taking the COVID pandemic as an example, Taiwan has studied and analyzed the actual situation and the information provided by the Chinese government with a serious and high-vigilance attitude. Based on our experience and lessons learned from the China SARS epidemic in 2001, we decisively formed a series of epidemic preventive measures. We have handled the crisis with the principle of openness and transparency. Our people have been self-disciplined and willing to cooperate. All of this demonstrates the high level of democracy in Taiwan’s society.
After the domestic epidemic was brought under control, Taiwan has continued to share our epidemic prevention supplies and the experiences on forming epidemic prevention policies with the world.
Although Taiwan was suppressed, even excluded by China in various international organizations in the past, we’ve been doing our best to comply with the norms & regulations of international organizations. We always actively contribute every time we have the opportunity. What I want to say is, all of this proves Taiwan could be a reliable partner in the international community. We are capable of working with other countries to solve major problems. We deserve our seats and participation in international organizations.
Regarding the impact of U.S. change of administration.
Now the U. S. presidential election is over and the administration is currently under transition. Many countries, including Taiwan, are concerned about whether the new U.S. government will change its course on foreign policy, especially its China policy. However, the "Rebalance (of Asia-Pacific Region)" proposed by the Obama administration in 2011, was in fact already a strategic adjustment in response to the rise of China and possible subsequent expansion.
The Trump administration further proposed the Indo-Pacific strategy in 2017 to promote and uphold international law and regulations, aiming to ensure every country has the liberty to be free from oppression and coercion. I believe that both parties in the U.S. understand the root cause of the Indo-Pacific regional problem comes from the Chinese government. Even for the Biden administration, it will have to provide practical responses. Facing the new structure, they can’t just go back to the traditional thinking of the last century.
As for Taiwan, the pro-Taiwan acts in the U.S., such as the Asia Reassurance Initiative Act of 2018, Taiwan Travel Act, Taiwan Allies International Protection and Enhancement, were passed with strong consensus between the Republicans and the Democrats. I believe Taiwan could be a key partner to the international community and play an active role in the free world. This isn’t just the consensus of the two parties in the U.S., but will be the consensus of all democratic countries.
In a progressive aspect, the International community can benefit from a wider recognition of Taiwan.
In recent years, the performance of Taiwanese society in terms of epidemic prevention performance, human rights, gender equality, marriage equality, and open government are actually in line with many progressive ideas and visions. The ideas and visions that many democratic countries have long supported. Therefore, I’m quite optimistic that, after 2020, Taiwan can make even greater progress, on multiple levels and in broader aspects, contributing to the international community.
Finally, I want to emphasize again that to truly resolve regional problems, we need dynamic multilateral cooperation. But this must not be a return to the conventional thinking of the past century, which was "expecting" China to abide by the international order. The outdated thinking had been proved to be a failure. Otherwise there wouldn’t be a series of Chinese infiltration and aggression after its rise in recent years, which became one of the most difficult issues in the world. I believe after 2020, U.S., Japan, and Taiwan can establish a new model of international cooperation through deeper collaboration and communication. And hopefully, this model will maximize the security of the Indo-Pacific region and promote peace, stability and development in the region.
This concludes my speech, thank you all for listening.
Lastly, I’d like to express my gratitude to the moderators, my fellow panelists, and the organizers of this event.
I wish everyone peace and good health. Thank you.
social norms in hong kong 在 黃傑龍 Simon - 窮富翁 好人好事 Facebook 的最讚貼文
以下係我已經喺WhatsApp收咗三次嘅前高等法院英女王御用大律師,Henry Litton (列顕倫)* QC ;給香港市民的一封信:~ (裏便了無新意, 不過有兩個好處. 1) 洋人寫係唔同啲, 仲要係有名望嘅大法官, 特別有說服力 2)啲英文寫得好靚, 仲有中文翻譯可以學習英文。
Henry Litton (列顕倫)* QC was the Judge of the highest Court in Hong Kong. He retired in 2015.
英女皇御用大律師列顕倫(亨利·利頓)QC,是香港最高法院的法官。他於2015年退休。
The following is what he’s written...
以下是他寫的。
There are few certainties in life. One of them is this: The common law system underpinning Hong Kong’s “core values” is destined to expire in 27 years’ time. The One Country Two Systems formula was designed to last for 50 years and no more. Hence Article 5 of the Basic Law. There is no mechanism in the Basic Law for the system to continue beyond 30 June 2047.
生活中很少有確定性。其中之一是:支撐香港“核心價值”的普通法制度將在27年後失效。一國兩制方案的設計時限是50年,之後,再也沒有了。因此,“基本法”第五條清楚指出。2047年6月30日以後,“基本法”中沒有任何機制讓這制度繼續下去。
All the calls for Freedom, Democracy etc have no meaning if the common law crumbles.
如果普通法崩潰,所有要求“自由、民主”等的呼籲都是沒有意義。
If the protesters truly value their professed aims, *their focus should be on demonstrating to Beijing and to the rest of the world that the One Country Two Systems formula works, and to promote an atmosphere in which Beijing feels comfortable with the system – and when the time comes, to extend the Basic Law for another 50 years, 100 years*. Then liberal democratic norms and values might have a chance to flourish.
如果抗議者真的誠心誠意的重視他們宣稱的目標,*他們的重點、重心,應該是向北京和世界其他地方展示“一國兩制”的方案是有效的,並推展“一國兩制”的成功實施。令北京對這一制度感到寛心舒泰的環境下 - 當時機成熟時,說服北京將“基本法”再延長50年,100年*。那麼,自由、民主的模式、準則和價值觀還可能有延續蓬勃、活躍的機會。
Crunch time is not 27 years away. It is just round the corner. For Hong Kong to continue as one of the world’s greatest financial and trading centres, planning for the future must necessarily look 20 -30 years ahead. So the hard question will soon be asked: is the common law system to continue beyond June 2047 ? The answer lies in Beijing and nowhere else.
擔心不安的時刻不是27年後的事。就在拐角處。要使香港繼續成為世界上最大的金融和貿易中心之一,對未來的規劃必須著眼於未來20-30年。因此,我們很快便會提出一個棘手的問題:普通法制度是否會延續至2047年6月以後?答案就在北京,而不是其他任何地方。
The last time this issue arose – back in 1982 – Hong Kong had the backing of Great Britain. This time Hong Kong stands alone. And, up to this point, Hong Kong has demonstrated for all the world to see that the One Country Two Systems formula is extremely fragile: and, if the unrest continues, it would surely fracture beyond any hope of recall.
回顧1982年,上一次被問到這個問題的時候,當時香港是得到了大英帝國的支持。而這一次,香港只能孤掌難鳴。到目前為止,香港已經向全世界展示了“一國兩制”這方案是極其脆弱的:如果動亂繼續下去,它肯定會褫奪,無望地被撤銷。
It is beyond the power of the Hong Kong SAR government to devise the governing model for the future. Pressing the Hong Kong government to promote greater democracy is futile. Rightly or wrongly, that power lies in Beijing. Nowhere else. Hong Kong enjoys freedoms found nowhere else in China. To think that unlawful assemblies and demonstrations, and violence in the streets, would soften Beijing’s attitude towards Hong Kong is absurd. Common sense suggests it would have the opposite effect.
為未來設計治理模式,是超出了香港特別行政區政府的權力範圍。要迫使香港政府促進更大的民主是徒勞的。不管是你喜歡也好。不喜歡也好。權力就是在北京。沒有別的地方了。香港現在享有中國其他地方沒有的自由。認為非法集會示威和街頭暴力會軟化北京的對香港的態度是荒謬的。常識表明,它只會產生相反的效果。
But there are deep social issues which the SAR government can redress, having regard in particular to the huge foreign currency reserves it holds:USD425 billion – by far the largest in the world, enough to guarantee public servants’ pensions hundreds of times over. And yet Hong Kong’s social services are crumbling, hospitals are understaffed, public education is poor, teachers are ill-paid, young people cannot afford to rent even the most substandard apartment, the gap between rich and poor is ever-widening.
但是,有一些深層次的社會問題是特區政府可以解決的,特別是考慮到特區政府擁有世界上最龐大的外匯儲備:4,250億美元 - 是政府公務員的長俸所需要的保證金額的數以百倍。然而,香港的社會服務卻每況愈下,醫院人手不足,全民所需的教育不論在質素及資源都極差,教師薪酬偏低。年輕人怎都難以負擔租用即使是最不合標準的居所,社會上,貧富差距在不斷拉大。
The laissez-faire policy of the colonial government has been carried to extremes by the SAR government in the past 20-odd years. The rich have prospered in the meanwhile whilst the bulk of the people suffered. The influx of Mainlanders under the One-Way Permit system has caused great strain on all services. The people’s needs have been neglected. The young see little prospect of a fulfilling future and even university graduates find difficulty in meaningful employment.
大英帝國殖民地政府的自由放任政策在過去二十多年來一直被特區政府極端化。與此同時,大多數富人們卻在此期間更加繁榮昌盛、更加富裕起來,而相反普通市民却受苦了。在單程證制度下,內地人士大量湧入,對所有服務造成更大壓力。市民的需求、需要被忽視。年輕人看不出有向上游、向上流的任何富圖的希望。甚至大學畢業生也很難找到有合識、合意的工作。
These, I suggest, are the deep-seated ills which sustain the fire of discontent in the wider community, and bring hundreds of thousands to march in the streets. These are not matters which a commission of inquiry can resolve.
我認為,這些水深火熱的社會問題及弊病,這些憤懣之火已經廣泛地蔓延在整個社會,並促使數以十萬人走上街頭。這些都不是一個所謂諮詢委員會可以解決。
The media here is full of Hong Kong stories, and of course footage of the riotous behaviour on the streets: what empty slogans, meaningless rhetoric the protesters display ……….In watching these events I am reminded of the prayer attributed to Saint Francis:
今天的媒體充斥著不同形式的香港事件,當然有街頭暴力行為的鏡頭:抗議者們展示的空洞口號和毫無意義的粗言穢語。…當我在觀看這些事件時,‘我想起聖弗朗西斯的禱告:
Pray God give me the courage to change the things I can change, the fortitude to bear the things I cannot change, and the wisdom to know the difference.
願上帝賜給我勇氣去改變我能改變的事情,給我勇氣去承受那些我無法改變的事情,給我智慧去分辨其中的黑白。
I arrive in Hong Kong Thursday 24 October, staying for one month.
我在今年的10月24日星期四抵達香港,逗留一個月。
As ever
如常,祝願香港
H
列顕倫
PS Please feel free to convey these observations to anyone you chose ………….They are *not confidential*.
歡迎隨時將我這些意見傳達給你所選擇的任何人.此文是*不保密的*。
social norms in hong kong 在 黃梓謙 Gary Wong Facebook 的最佳解答
人生獨一無異,不應「倒模」出來,也不應受社會慣例規範。早點找到夢想,就早點勇往直前,專心執行,永不言敗,將夢想化為現實。
AIESECers ,以至更多大學生,加油!只要用心做人做事,只會有不一樣的經歷和人生。
AIESEC in Hong Kong
AIESEC Alumni Association of Hong Kong
'We all are unique, and we should not be bound by our social norms.'
『 每一個人都是不一樣的,我們不應被社會慣例限制。』
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University Students nowadays are trying to stay competitive and fulfilling the so-call '5 must-dos in university life' by joining many different committees, competitions, interns, etc - but this might not be what our alumni Gary Wong would choose. Back in his days, Gary, who is now engaged in politics, business and charity work, had set his university goals as getting an all-round learning, global mindset and leadership development and was glad to find AIESEC which helped to accomplish a big part of his goals. Check out his stories in the link below!
「大學五件事」係大學裏面流傳多年嘅指定動作,更因為社會競爭愈發激烈而令原本嘅五件事發酵成幾十件事。相反,我地嘅alumni Gary Wong 黃梓謙,一位係政界、商界、慈善界三線發展嘅八十後就有一個不一樣嘅看法。對於佢黎講,多元發展、國際化、當領袖,三件事先至係Gary係當年大學時定立嘅目標,更有幸透過AIESEC達成目標嘅一大部分。即刻Click入條Link睇下佢有咩講喇!
記住我哋每星期都會出新Blog,記得到時留意喇!
#OurAIESECWay #From50toInfinity #50thAnniversary #ImAnAIESECer #AIESECinHongKong