The Anglo-American dispute over membership of a new Beijing-led development bank is one of the early chapters in the growing competition between the US and China over who will write the rules for the 21st century global economy.
由中国牵头的新的开发银行的成员资格引发了英美之争。这场争执是美国与中国之间一场日益加剧的激烈竞争的序曲之一，而美中竞争的核心内容是：谁将书写21世纪全球经济规则？
The Obama administration reacted angrily to the British decision on Thursday to become a founding member of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, a $50bn Chinese initiative that could end up rivalling the Washington-based World Bank.
奥巴马(Obama)政府对上周四英国决定成为亚洲基础设施投资银行(Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank，简称亚投行)的创始成员表示愤怒。亚投行由中国牵头，资本规模达500亿美元，最终可能会与总部位于华盛顿的世界银行(World Bank)形成竞争。
Britain will become the first G7 economy to join the AIIB, giving the bank an important boost of credibility and potentially funds at a time when it has been struggling to establish itself.
英国将成为第一个加盟亚投行的七国集团(G7)经济体。在亚投行努力创建之际，英国的加入将对该行的信誉和潜在资金起到重要的推动作用。
The new Asian bank is one part of an ambitious Chinese push to create a new generation of financial and economic institutions that could give it greater political influence in the Asia-Pacific region and potentially in other parts of the world.
这家新的亚洲银行是中国一个宏图大志的一部分，中国欲打造新一代的金融和经济机构，让其在亚太地区、并可能在世界其他地区拥有更大的政治影响力。
“At the heart of this dispute is the long-term contest over the rules, norms and institutions that will govern economics and politics in Asia,” says Ely Ratner, senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security, a Washington think-tank.
位于华盛顿的智库新美国安全中心(Center for a New American Security)的高级研究员埃利•拉特纳(Ely Ratner)表示：“这场争执的核心，是对主导亚洲经济和政治的规则、规范和制度的一场长时间竞争。”
In addition to the AIIB, China is the leading country behind the Brics development bank that was launched last year and has announced a $40bn Silk Road Fund to back projects that will link China to central Asia.
除了亚投行，中国还是去年成立的金砖国家开发银行的主导国，此外中国已宣布投入400亿美元成立丝路基金(Silk Road Fund)，对将中国连接到中亚的项目进行支持。
The new Chinese initiatives all meet a gaping financial hole — the demand for infrastructure in developing countries. The Manila-based Asian Development Bank — one of the direct rivals of the AIIB — has estimated that the East Asia region needs infrastructure investment of $8tn over the next decade to maintain economic growth.
中国这些新举措全都是为了满足一个越来越大的资金缺口，即发展中国家对基础设施的需求。据亚投行的直接竞争对手之一，位于马尼拉的亚洲开发银行(Asian Development Bank)估计，未来十年东亚地区需要8万亿美元的基础设施投资以保持经济增长。
But the Chinese initiatives also represent a direct political challenge to the Washington-based institutions, such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, where the US has been the dominant voice since their foundation after the second world war.
但中国的这些举措，也对世界银行和国际货币基金组织(IMF)等位于华盛顿的机构构成政治上的直接挑战，自二次大战后成立以来，这些机构一直由美国主导。
The US has its own plans to forge a new economic architecture for the Asian region, most notably through the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a 12-nation trade agreement that is under negotiation. Combined with the separate trade agreement the US is discussing with the EU, the broader American strategy is to establish a new set of global trading rules that would set higher standards for intellectual property rights, state subsidies and environmental protection — all areas where China and the US have different interests and approaches.
美国对在亚洲地区建立一个新的经济架构也有自己的计划，其中最引人注目的就是《跨太平洋伙伴关系协定》（Trans-Pacific Partnership，简称TPP）——一份正在谈判中的12国贸易协定。结合美国正与欧盟(EU)讨论的那份单独贸易协定，美国的整体战略是建立一套新的全球贸易规则，就知识产权、国家补贴和环保问题设立更高的标准，而在所有这些领域，中国和美国都存在利益和处理方式的分歧。
According to Yun Sun, an expert on Chinese foreign policy at the Stimson Center in Washington, China has already faced a number of internal challenges as it tries to set up the AIIB. Officials have promised the new bank will deliver funds with less bureaucracy than the World Bank, but they also realise that the rigorous conditions adopted by the other banks are partly designed to prevent ill-advised loans and to maintain a strong credit rating.
位于华盛顿的史汀生中心(Stimson Center)的中国外交政策专家孙云（音译）表示，中国在试图建立亚投行时已经面临一些内部挑战。官员们已承诺，新银行提供资金时不会像世界银行那样官僚，但他们也意识到，其他银行所采用的严格条件，部分是为了防止不明智的贷款、以及保持较高的信用评级。
She adds there has been pressure from interest groups in China to use the bank’s loans to “advance China’s economic agenda, especially the export of Chinese products and services”, while Chinese foreign policy strategists argue the bank “should support China’s strategic interests, with a result that countries disrespectful of China should receive less favourable consideration”.
孙云补充说，中国已经有一些利益集团在施压，要求利用亚投行贷款“推进中国的经济议程，特别是推动中国商品和服务的出口”，而中国的外交政策战略专家则认为，亚投行“应该支持中国的战略利益，给予不尊重中国的国家较差待遇”。
During the cold war, the US faced the organised political and economic bloc of the Warsaw Pact. However, China is representing a very different challenge — a great power with the capacity to establish economic institutions and partnerships with countries that also maintain strong relationships with the US. “It is a new problem for the US to have,” says Mr Ratner. “Even if the US does not itself join, it will not be sufficient for Washington to simply oppose these new institutions, especially if other western countries are actively participating.”
冷战时期，美国曾面对过华沙条约(Warsaw Pact)下有组织的政治和经济集团。但中国代表着一种截然不同的挑战，这一超级大国有能力与那些同时与美国关系密切的国家一道，建立起国际经济机构、并构建伙伴关系。拉特纳表示：“这对美国而言是一个新问题。即使美国本身不参加，华盛顿方面仅仅是反对这些新机构也是不够的，尤其是如果其他西方国家都在积极参与。”
Some former US officials believe that the US has also hurt itself in this new competition for influence with China. Having urged China for years to be a “responsible stakeholder” in global governance, the administration supported a reform of the IMF’s quotas that would give China a larger role. However, the proposal has languished in Congress.
一些前美国官员认为，美国与中国展开的这场新的影响力之争，也伤害到了它自身。美国政府多年来一直敦促中国在全球治理中成为“负责任的利益攸关方”，它曾支持对IMF的份额分配进行改革，赋予中国更重要的地位。然而，这一提议在美国国会已经没戏了。
China’s desire to forge its own institutions is in part a reflection of the perception that it has been shut out of the existing architecture.
中国希望建立自己的金融机构，部分反映出中国感觉自己在现有架构中遭到排斥。