Danny Alexander, the former Treasury minister appointed vice-president of a Chinese-led Asian investment bank, has dismissed criticisms that he is not qualified to do the job.

英国财政部前官员丹尼騠虎煓大(Danny Alexander)被任命为中国发起设立的亚洲基础设施投资银行（AIIB，简称亚投行）的副行长。他对关于其不够资格的指责不以为然。

Sir Danny, who has been taking Mandarin lessons ahead of his posting to Beijing, said that similar criticisms were made of him before he became Treasury chief secretary in the coalition government.

亚历山大表示，在他担任联合政府财政部首席秘书之前也有类似指责。亚历山大在赴北京上任前在学习普通话。

“I think I proved people wrong,” the former Liberal Democrat minister said in an interview with the Financial Times. Sir Danny was George Osborne’s deputy at the Treasury, responsible for implementing cuts and bringing down Britain’s record deficit.

这位前自由民主党官员在接受英国《金融时报》采访时表示：“我想我已经证明人们错了。”亚历山大此前担任英国财政大臣乔治攠斯本(George Osborne)的副手，负责执行紧缩计划并削减英国创纪录的赤字。

“Over five years we put the economy back on track and provided solid foundations for this Conservative government,” he said with heavy irony. “I’m very proud of what we achieved but sorry I lost my seat.”

他不无嘲讽地说道：“我们在5年时间里让经济重回正轨，并为这届保守党政府提供了坚实的基础。我非常自豪我们取得的成就，但遗憾的是，我丢掉了自己的议员席位。”

Mr Osborne also felt sorry for his deputy and rewarded him by nominating him as one of five vice-presidents of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, even though the job description required lengthy experience in international finance.

奥斯本也对亚历山大感到遗憾，并通过提名他出任亚投行五名副行长之一给予回报，即便该职位人选要求具有长期的国际金融履历。

Officials in Beijing close to the nomination process also criticised Mr Osborne’s nomination, saying they would have preferred a leading financier to a professional politician.

接近提名过程的北京官员也批评奥斯本的提名，称他们更愿意要一名领先的金融家，而不是一名职业政客。

But Sir Danny said his role would involve ensuring strong communications between the Beijing-based bank and its 57 founding members — including Britain, France and Germany — over its plans and operations.

但亚历山大表示，他的角色将包括确保亚投行与其57个创始成员国（包括英国、法国和德国）在计划和运营方面的沟通顺畅。

“We have to make sure they are fully engaged and that we proceed together,” he said, in a tacit acknowledgment there could be teething problems as the Chinese-led equivalent of the World Bank takes the stage.

他说：“我们不得不确保他们全力参与，确保我们一起前进，”此言含蓄地承认了亚投行在登上舞台初期可能出现一些问题。亚投行由中国主导，相当于世界银行(World Bank)的角色。

He said it was “the right initiative at the right time” and the AIIB would help to fund infrastructure in Asia that would help to sustain growth and help to reduce carbon emissions.

他表示，这是“正确时间的正确举措”，亚投行将帮助亚洲基础设施建设融资，这些基础设施将有助于保持增长和降低碳排放。

He said that as a Liberal he was a big supporter of multilateral organisations, but he did not seem to recognise the apparent problem of working in Beijing for a bank backed by a Chinese government with an illiberal view of human rights.

他说，作为一名自由民主党人，他是多边组织的坚决支持者，但他似乎没有意识到，在北京为抱有不开明人权观念的中国政府支持的银行工作，显然会有问题。

“I’m looking forward to getting to know China and getting to know people in Beijing,” he said. “I want to understand more about how the system works. “The job I’m doing is with the AIIB and I very much applaud the Chinese government initiative in setting it up. It’s a great opportunity for more co-operation across Asia.”

亚历山大表示：“我期待了解中国，了解北京的人们。我想进一步明白这个体系是如何运作的。我将为亚投行工作，我为中国政府创立亚投行的举措喝彩。这是亚洲各国加深合作的伟大机遇。”

Sir Danny said he and Mr Osborne agreed in 2015 that it would be right for Britain to be a founding member of the bank, in spite of the opprobrium of the White House. One US official bemoaned Britain’s “constant accommodation” of China.

亚历山大表示，他和奥斯本在2015年一致认为，英国成为亚投行发起国将是正确的，尽管遭到白宫方面的抨击。一位美国官员指责英国“不断迁就”中国。

Asked whether the AIIB job was payback time after being Mr Osborne’s sidekick during the coalition government, Sir Danny said: “We worked very closely and effectively over five years. He knows me and what I can do. But my skills and experience are what’s important.”

在被问及亚投行的职位是否是为了回报他作为奥斯本的副手的时候，亚历山大表示：“我们在5年时间里密切而有效地合作。他了解我，知道我可以做什么。但重要的是我的技巧和经验。”

Although the 43-year-old said he was making “slow but steady progress” in learning Mandarin, the working language of the bank will be English.

尽管43岁的亚历山大表示，他在学习普通话方面取得了“缓慢而稳定的进步”，但亚投行的工作语言将是英语。

He is on a three-year contract but says he has no immediate plans to return to British politics to help his ailing party ahead of the 2020 general election. “My life has taken a different turn now,” he said.

亚历山大签了3年的合同，但他目前还没有在2020年大选前返回英国政界帮助其陷入困境的政党的计划。他说：“我的生活已转向另一个方向。”