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Chinese social media users wonder whether the White House's new choice for ambassador to China will survive in Beijing. Not politically, but physically.
中国社交媒体用户在思忖，白宫计划提名的新任驻华大使能否在北京生存。这不是说要在政治圈子内生存下来，而是说他的身体是不是吃得消。
U.S. President Barack Obama plans to nominate Sen. Max Baucus to replace outgoing envoy Gary Locke, The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday. The six-term Democrat, who has said he doesn't plan to run for re-election, just turned 72.
《华尔街日报》(The Wall Street Journal)周三报道称，美国总统奥巴马(Barack Obama)计划提名参议员鲍卡斯(Max Baucus )接替即将离任的骆家辉(Gary Locke)出任驻华大使。民主党人鲍卡斯现年72岁，目前是他在参议院的第六任议员任期，他此前表示明年将不再寻求连任议员。
If confirmed, Mr. Baucus would be the oldest person to take up the post since the U.S. and China formally re-established diplomatic relations in 1979.
若提名得到批准，鲍卡斯将成为1979年中美正式恢复外交关系以来年龄最大的美国驻华大使。
The Helena native has a wealth of experience in dealing with trade issues--a key issue for Beijing and Washington--but China's Internet users appeared more concerned with the whether someone with so many years under his belt would be able to handle the rigors of life in the Chinese capital.
鲍卡斯来自蒙大拿州海伦娜，在处理北京和华盛顿都密切关注的贸易问题上拥有许多经验。不过中国互联网用户似乎更关心这位老人能否应付中国首都的艰难生活环境。
'A venerable 72 and he wants to come to the Celestial Kingdom to breathe the poisoned cloud,' wrote one user of the Twitter-like Sina Weibo microblogging service. Another user was more direct: 'So old! Don't die in the Beijing smog!'
一位新浪(Sina)微博(Weibo)用户写道，72岁的老头还想到天朝来吸毒气。另一位用户则更直接：太老了！别被北京雾霾弄死！
Still another user suggested Mr. Baucus should be known in Chinese as Ambassador Bao Kesi (包咳死 ). The last two characters, when combined, mean 'cough to death.'
另外一位用户认为，鲍卡斯的名字应该被翻译成“包咳死”。
Older American emissaries have served in Beijing and lived to tell about it. David Bruce was 75 when he set up the U.S. Liaison Office in Beijing in 1973 --though China Real Time assumes the air was at least slightly cleaner then.
曾有年龄更大的美国驻华使节在北京供职，并且在北京的空气中活了下来。1973年负责建立美国驻华联络处的卜大卫(David Bruce)就有75岁高龄，但中国实时报(China Real Time)认为当时的空气至少要略微干净一些。
Reaction to news of Mr. Baucus's impending nomination was far more muted than it was when the White House tapped Mr. Locke in 2011. Mr. Locke, whose grandfather emigrated to the U.S. from southern China in the 1890s, was the first Chinese-American to be named to the post. He quickly won over the Chinese Internet, despite state media efforts to brand him an agent of 'neo-colonialism,' largely by conducting himself with a humility perceived to be lacking in China's own officials.
鲍卡斯可能提名驻华大使引发的反响远不如白宫2011年提名骆家辉担任驻华大使的反响强烈。骆家辉是第一位担任美国驻华大使的美籍华人，他的祖父是在19世纪90年代从中国南部移居美国的。尽管中国国有媒体试图给他贴上“新殖民主义”代言人的标签，但骆家辉仍迅速在中国互联网上树立了良好声誉，这主要是因为他行事低调谦逊，而这正是一些中国官员所缺乏的。
Pollution also figured into the online speculation when Mr. Locke announced his intention to step down last month, though he has denied that the city's chewable air had anything to do with his decision to return to the U.S.
就在骆家辉上个月宣布他有意辞去驻华大使一职时，也有一些网民猜测北京的污染可能是原因。不过，骆家辉否认北京的雾霾与他本人辞职返回美国的决定有任何关系。
Unlike the previous two U.S. envoys, Mr. Baucus has little personal connection to the world's second-largest economy. (Jon Huntsman, Mr. Locke's predecessor, speaks Mandarin and has an adopted daughter from China.) Some Internet users saw that as a positive, arguing that the Montanan would be a less confusing representative than Mr. Locke, who was accused by a few nationalists of betraying his motherland.
与前两任美国驻华大使不同，鲍卡斯与中国这个全球第二大经济体的个人情感联系并不多。（骆家辉的前任洪博培(Jon Huntsman)会说普通话，并从中国领养了一个女儿。）一些互联网用户认为这带来了一些好处，认为这位蒙大拿州议员与骆家辉相比将是一位立场不那么令人感到困惑的美国驻华代表。中国的少数“爱国主义者”曾指控骆家辉背叛祖国。
