中國駐英國大使傅瑩在英語聯(lián)盟的演講

Speech by Fu Ying, China's Ambassador to UK, at the English Speaking Union 

2009年12月10日

December 10, 2009

尊敬的亨特勛爵，
女士們、先生們：

Lord Hunt,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

很高興應(yīng)英語聯(lián)盟之邀做丘吉爾講座，索姆斯女男爵（丘吉爾之女）的光臨令我深感榮幸。

It is a great honor for me to be invited to speak at the Churchill Lecture. And it is a special honor to have Lady Soames with us in the audience.

丘吉爾爵士一生成就斐然，曾擔(dān)任英語聯(lián)盟的第一任主席，足見他致力于通過英語促進(jìn)和平、增進(jìn)了解的決心。

Sir Winston Churchill was a man of many great accomplishments. The fact that he was the first Chairman of the ESU, is a clear indication of his commitment to promoting peace and understanding across the world through the use of the English language.

24年前我在英國留學(xué)的時候，曾到查特韋爾的丘吉爾故居參觀，在那兒買了一本丘吉爾自傳。當(dāng)時對我來說，買課外書是一件很奢侈的事，所以很珍惜，把那本書一字不漏地從頭讀到尾。

When I was a student in the UK 24 years ago, I bought his autobiography when visiting Chartwell House. Buying books was luxury for me at that time and I valued it and read from cover to cover.

丘吉爾爵士勤奮好學(xué)的態(tài)度深深感染了我。當(dāng)他還是后座議員時，這位聰明的年輕人已經(jīng)在下議院中脫穎而出。他在自傳中講到，沒有勤奮就不可能有聰明。他談到每次在議會發(fā)言，哪怕只是提一個2分鐘的問題，都會花上幾個小時甚至幾天的時間在議會大廈走廊的圖書架上查閱大量資料，研究事情的背景，做認(rèn)真準(zhǔn)備。

I was deeply struck by Sir Winston’s attitude towards learning. When still a backbencher, he already distinguished himself in the Commons and was seen as a bright young man. He explained that no one can be bright, without learning and disclosed how he devoted hours and days finding the background of the facts from books in the corridors of Westminster every time before asking the two-minute question.

這對我很有啟發(fā)，尤其是當(dāng)我在學(xué)習(xí)中遇到困難的時候。直到今天，我對自己做的每一場演講和接受的每次采訪都精心準(zhǔn)備，當(dāng)然也包括今天這場演講。我留學(xué)英國時，也曾在牛津大學(xué)參加過英語聯(lián)盟辦的演講和辯論技巧培訓(xùn)班，我要借此機會表示感謝。今天是檢驗培訓(xùn)對我是否起作用的好機會，如果今天我講得不好，也有英語聯(lián)盟的責(zé)任吧。

This inspired me greatly especially, when my classes got harder. To this day, I still work very hard on every speech or interview I take, including this one and I thank the English Speaking Union for giving me a unique training course in Oxford for speaking and debating skill during my study in UK. I hope the training worked for me or, if you judge me to be a poor speaker today, at least you know where part of the blame lies.

我演講的主題是：更好地了解中國。

Today, I have entitled my speech as Understanding China.

根據(jù)美國一家專門跟蹤全球媒體報道的研究機構(gòu)—全球語言監(jiān)控機構(gòu)的統(tǒng)計，過去10年最熱門的新聞中，中國崛起占據(jù)榜首，甚至大大超過9·11恐怖襲擊和伊拉克戰(zhàn)爭。

According to Global Language Monitor, an American research body following the global media reporting, on its list of the Top News Stories of the Decade, the rise of China came as the first, even well ahead of 9/11 and the war in Iraq.

的確，2009年很可能將被作為中國邁向發(fā)揮世界大國作用的轉(zhuǎn)折之年而載入史冊。

But I think 2009 will probably be remembered in our history, as China’s transition into playing a major role in the world.

我在倫敦能清楚地感受到，中國正在走上世界舞臺。在G20倫敦金融峰會上，中國與美國、英國和其他國家的密切合作顯示出，中國已經(jīng)進(jìn)入處理全球事務(wù)的中心舞臺。

Here in London, I could clearly sense China’s emergence onto the world stage. During the G20 London Summit, the close cooperation between China, US, UK and other countries shows that China has come to the centre stage of addressing global issues.

美國總統(tǒng)奧巴馬不久前訪華時談到，中國在全球事務(wù)中發(fā)揮更大的作用是過去20年最重大的事件之一。他說，美國對此表示歡迎，并期待成為中國有效的伙伴。

During his recent visit to China, President Obama referred to China’s playing a larger role in global events as one of the most important things happened over the last two decades. He welcomed it and said that US looked forward to being an effective partner with China.