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America’s “international credibility and influence” is under threat as China sets up rivals to the International Monetary Fund and World Bank and draws the support of long-time US allies, the US Treasury Secretary warned on Tuesday.
美国财政部长杰克•卢(Jack Lew)周二警告称，在中国设立与国际货币基金组织(IMF)和世界银行(World Bank)争风头的机构、并吸引美国长期盟友的支持之际，美国的“国际可信度和影响力”正受到威胁。
Jack Lew said that the US would lose some of its ability to mould international economic rules if Republicans in Congress did not drop their opposition to reforms of the IMF that would give China and other emerging economies a greater voice in the fund.
卢表示，如果国会中的共和党人不放弃反对IMF改革、不打算让中国和其他新兴经济体在该机构拥有更大发言权，美国塑造国际经济规则的能力将有所减弱。
“Our international credibility and influence are being threatened,” he said. “To preserve our leadership role at the IMF, it is essential that these reforms be approved. The alternative will be a loss of US influence and our ability to shape international norms and practices.”
“我们的国际可信度和影响力正受到威胁。”他说，“为了保持我们在IMF的领导力，批准这些改革是至关重要的。不然的话，美国将在一定程度上失去影响力，失去塑造国际规范和惯例的能力。”
Mr Lew’s warning came as a growing number of Washington’s European allies, led by the UK, have signed on to become founding members of the new, China-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank despite vigorous US lobbying to stop them joining.
卢发出这一警告之际，在英国带头之下，美国在欧洲的越来越多的盟国申请加入中国主导的亚洲基础设施投资银行（Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank，简称：亚投行），以成为这家新机构的创始成员国，尽管美国大力游说阻止它们这么做。
The decision by the Europeans to join the new bank has left the Obama administration scrambling for a new approach towards the AIIB, which US officials fear could end up being used as a tool of Chinese foreign policy in the region.
欧洲国家纷纷决定加入亚投行，使奥巴马(Obama)政府忙于寻找一种对待该行的新姿态。美国官员担心，该行最终可能被用作中国在亚洲的对外政策工具。
As well as the UK, France, Germany and Italy, which have all indicated they will become founding members of the AIIB, Australia and South Korea are now thought likely to join. The initial British move to sign up for the bank last week brought accusations from Washington about London’s “constant accommodation” of China.
继英国之后，法国、德国和意大利都已表示，他们将成为亚投行的创始成员国。澳大利亚和韩国现在被认为很可能加入。上周英国最先作出加入亚投行的决定，此举招致华盛顿方面指责英方“不断迁就”中国。
The dispute over the AIIB is part of what the US sees as a broader strategic contest with China for control of the rule-setting bodies for the international economy.
围绕亚投行产生的纷争，在美国眼里是其与中国全面战略较量的一部分，目的是控制那些为国际经济制定规则的机构。
Beyond its efforts to defend the power of the IMF and the World Bank, the US is negotiating the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal with Japan and 10 other economies which pointedly does not include China.
除了努力捍卫IMF和世行的影响力，美国正同日本以及另外10个经济体谈判《跨太平洋伙伴关系》（Trans-Pacific Partnership，简称TPP）协定，该协定刻意把中国挡在门外。
Speaking at a congressional hearing on Tuesday, Mr Lew said the US was not opposed to the creation of the AIIB and recognised the need for greater infrastructure spending in Asia.
卢周二在国会听证会上发言时表示，美国并不反对创建亚投行，而且认识到亚洲有必要加大基础设施建设支出。
But he said the US was concerned that the new bank would not live up to “the highest global standards” for governance or lending and urged those now joining the bank to consider that.
但他表示，美国担心这家新的银行在治理或放贷方面达不到“全球最高标准”，并敦促那些正在加入该行的国家考虑这一点。
“Anyone joining needs to ask those questions at the outset,” he said.
“决定加入的任何国家，都需要在一开始就问这些问题，”他表示。
Eswar Prasad, a former head of the IMF’s China department, said the Obama administration’s inability to get Congress to back the 2010 IMF reforms that it had pushed for was steadily eroding its credibility with allies.
前IMF中国部负责人埃斯瓦尔•普拉萨德(Eswar Prasad)表示，奥巴马政府未能争取到国会支持其在2010年推动的IMF改革，这正在日益削弱美国在盟友心中的可信度。
“When the US exercises leadership but then fails to deliver at the finish line that does lead to a marginalisation of US influence,” he said. “The fact that the old players like the UK and Germany are falling over each other to prostrate themselves before China is certainly a sign of the new world order.”
“美国行使领导力，但随后却在终点线上不了了之，这的确会导致美国的影响力被边缘化。”他表示，“英国和德国等老牌国家如今竞相对中国顶礼膜拜，这个事实无疑是世界新秩序的一个标志。”
Daniel Blumenthal, director of Asia studies at the American Enterprise Institute, said that the administration had been giving too much attention to the AIIB, which was a much less important part of the region’s emerging economic architecture than the TPP trade deal.
美国企业研究所(American Enterprise Institute)亚洲研究部主任卜大年(Daniel Blumenthal)表示，奥巴马政府对亚投行关注过头了，作为亚洲正在形成的经济架构的组成部分，该行的重要性远远不如TPP贸易协定。
“The administration should stop its pattern of lecturing our closest allies and instead finish the TPP which offers a real economic vision for Asia,” he said. “The AIIB is just a stagnating China’s way of recycling dollars.”
“奥巴马政府应停止对我们最密切的盟友说教，并抓紧完成TPP谈判，后者为亚洲提供了一个真正的经济愿景。”他说，“亚投行只不过是正陷入停滞的中国循环利用资金的一种方式。”
Matthew Goodman, a former senior White House official now at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, said that China would probably end up with some form of veto power at the new bank, given that it will be the main shareholder.
华盛顿战略与国际问题研究中心(Center for Strategic and International Studies)学者、前白宫高级官员马修•古德曼(Matthew Goodman)表示，中国最终很可能在亚投行拥有某种形式的否决权，因为中国将是主要股东。
However, the new European members would likely influence the way the bank is run over issues such as procurement rules, the social and environmental standards attached to new loans and the ability of borrowers to repay loans — all of which would make it harder for China to use the AIIB as a tool of economic diplomacy.
然而，新加入的来自欧洲的成员国将有望在采购规则、附加于新贷款的社会和环保标准、以及借款人偿贷能力等问题上影响该行的运作方式——这一切将使中国更难把亚投行用作经济外交工具。
“The US has lost a round in this match, but the irony is that the entry of the Europeans is likely to push the bank in a direction that is more favourable to US interests,” he said.
“美国在这场比赛中输掉了一局，但讽刺的是，欧洲人的加入很可能推动该行转向更有利于美国利益的方向，”他说。
Ted Truman, a former assistant Treasury secretary for international affairs, said the Obama administration had made a tactical error in not trying to join the AIIB. “If you want to influence that [the bank’s lending standards] you should be inside the tent rather than outside the tent,” Mr Truman said. However, the US Congress would block any US effort to join.
前美国财政部负责国际事务的助理部长泰德•杜鲁门(Ted Truman)表示，奥巴马政府没有尝试加入亚投行是一个战术性错误。“如果你想影响（该行的放贷标准），你应该在帐篷里面，而不是在帐篷外面，”杜鲁门说。然而，美国国会将阻止美国加入亚投行的任何努力。
“The US to some degree is withdrawing from the world and it’s true that our role in the world is going to continue to shrink and it’s difficult for us to accept it,” he said.
“美国在一定程度上正在退出世界舞台，的确，我们在世界上发挥的作用将继续减弱，我们很难接受这一点，”他说。
