口译时事：中国矿企在缅遇阻折射缅甸之变

　　Chen Defang, president of a Chinese firm at the center of a politically charged dispute over a copper mine in newly democratic Myanmar, has been treading in unfamiliar territory for the past few months.

　　新近实行了民主制度的缅甸围绕一座铜矿展开了一场以政治为目的的争端，位于争端中心的是一家中国企业，这家企业的总裁陈德芳过去几个月一直在一个陌生的领域中谨慎而行。

　　He used to keep the kind of low public profile you might expect from the head of a company owned by a Chinese arms manufacturer and whose partner in Myanmar is owned by the military there. Wanbao Mining Ltd. relied on Myanmar's generals rather than community relations to get the land and permits needed for the Letpadaung copper mine near Monywa in northwestern Myanmar.

　　他过去在公开场合一直保持低调，这或许是意料之中的，因为他所在的公司隶属于一家中国武器制造商，而且公司在缅甸的合作伙伴是由缅甸军方所有。万宝矿产有限公司(Wanbao Mining Ltd.)依靠缅甸高层将领而不是社会关系取得了Letpadaung铜矿所需的土地和许可。这座铜矿位于缅甸西北部地区的蒙育瓦附近。

　　But since protests from local villagers halted construction at the mine in November, Mr. Chen has had to launch a public-relations and lobbying offensive to deal with Myanmar's dramatically altered political climate.

　　但自去年11月当地村民的抗议令铜矿的建设陷入停顿之后，陈德芳不得不发动一场公关和游说攻势，以便应对缅甸急剧变化的政治环境。

　　In an interview last week with The Wall Street Journal─his first with Western media─Mr. Chen was enthusiastic about his meeting this month for the first time with Aung San Suu Kyi, Myanmar's opposition leader and spending several days touring villages near the mine to discuss local people's demands.

　　陈德芳上周接受了《华尔街日报》的采访，这是他首次接受西方媒体的采访。他热情洋溢地谈到了本月与缅甸反对党领袖昂山素季(Aung San Suu Kyi)的首次会面，谈到对铜矿附近几个村子进行的数日考察，探讨当地村民的要求。

　　'The mistake we made is we didn't consult the people enough; local people weren't involved in our development plan,' he said.

　　他说，我们犯的错误是没有充分征求当地居民的意见，当地居民没有参与到我们的开发计划中。

　　'She's an amazing lady,' said Mr. Chen, who hadn't met Ms. Suu Kyi before.

　　陈德芳说，昂山素季是一位令人惊奇的女性。他以前从未见过昂山素季。

　　He went on to give details of how Wanbao─based on Ms. Suu Kyi's suggestions─had increased compensation to local residents for land around the mine and was drawing up plans to build libraries and other local infrastructure, as well as to boost local employment by helping small and medium-size enterprises.

　　他接着详细介绍了万宝矿产的一些措施，比如该公司增加了铜矿周边当地居民的土地补偿款，并正在制定在当地修建图书馆和其他基础设施的方案，以及通过帮助中小企业来促进当地的就业。这些措施都是根据昂山素季的建议做出的。

　　'My strategy is to kill the 'resource curse,'' he said, adding that he hoped to resume construction within three months. 'Sooner or later they will say: 'Thank you, Mr. Chen.''

　　他说，我的战略是要消除“资源诅咒”。他还说，他希望在三个月内恢复施工，早晚他们会说：“谢谢你，陈先生”。

　　Whether Wanbao will deliver on such promises, and whether its opponents will be grateful, remains to be seen. Critics say Chinese companies have little experience in democratic consultation because of their own country's authoritarian political system.

　　万宝矿产是否会兑现这些承诺，它的反对者是否会心存感激，这仍有待观察。批评人士说，由于中国的威权政治制度，中国企业几乎没有什么民主协商的经验。

　　'They are still acting like a bossy partner: These suggestions are just cosmetic,' said Win Myo Thu, managing director at Ecodev, a nongovernmental group that studies the environmental impact of large industrial projects in Myanmar, including the mine. He said it was 'ridiculous' to aim to complete the consultation in just three months.

　　非政府组织Ecodev董事总经理Win Myo Thu说，他们的行为举止仍像个跋扈的合作伙伴：这些意见只是为了粉饰太平。该组织研究缅甸大型工业项目对环境的影响，包括上述铜矿项目。他说，力争在短短三个月内征求完意见太“荒唐”了。

　　Still, that Wanbao is even talking in such terms─Mr. Chen spoke of 'empowering' locals by providing education and employment─reflects the impact of Myanmar's democratic transition on its once cozy, but highly opaque, relations with China.

　　尽管如此，单凭万宝矿产谈论此事时的措辞就可以看出，缅甸向民主制度的转型对中缅之间曾经惬意但不透明的关系带来了影响。陈德芳谈到通过向当地居民提供教育和就业机会给予当地居民权利。

　　It also hints at the broader pressures facing Chinese companies in the developing world, where they have often been accused of fostering corruption, damaging the environment and neglecting local people's interests in a scramble to secure supplies of industrial raw materials.

　　它还暗示出中国企业在发展中世界中所面临的更广泛的压力。在发展中世界，中国企业常常被指在急于保障工业原材料供应的过程中助长腐败风气、破坏环境、忽视当地居民的利益。

　　Wanbao is at the forefront of that quest. A unit of China North Industries Corp., Wanbao says it controls more than $10 billion worth of mineral resources., including the Myanmar mine and a cobalt deposit in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

　　万宝矿产处于风口浪尖上。该公司是中国兵器工业集团公司(China North Industries Corp.)的子公司，自称控制着价值100多亿美元的矿产资源，包括上述缅甸的铜矿和刚果民主共和国的一座钴矿。

　　When Wanbao sealed the Myanmar mine deal in 2010, after three years of talks, the country was ruled by a military junta close to China. there was no public scrutiny of the agreement with the military-owned Union of Myanmar Economic Holdings, or UMEHL.

　　2010年万宝矿产在经过了三年的谈判后达成了缅甸铜矿协议，当时缅甸是在一个与中国关系密切的军政府的统治下。那个时候，万宝矿产与隶属于缅甸军方的缅甸联邦经济控股有限公司(Union of Myanmar Economic Holdings)之间的协议，并没有让公众进行审查。

　　Mr. Chen said Wanbao agreed to invest $1 billion in the new mine at Letpadaung, plus $500 million in two existing mines nearby. UMEHL would provide a 25-year license and take 51% of profits, with the rest going to the Chinese.

　　陈德芳说，万宝矿产同意对Letpadaung的这座新铜矿投资10亿美元，另外对附近两座现有的矿投资5亿美元。缅甸联邦经济控股有限公司将提供为期25年的许可证，收取51%的利润，剩余的利润则归中方所有。

　　n order to obtain the 7,800 acres (3,160 hectares) needed for the new mine, Wanbao offered locals $600 an acre, he said.But in Wanbao's plans were thrown into turmoil in November construction was halted by local protests over low land compensation and the project's environment impact.

　　他说，为拿到新矿所需的7,800英亩（合3,160公顷）土地，万宝矿产向当地居民提供了一英亩600美元的补偿款。但去年11月，当地居民抗议土地补偿款过低以及项目对环境造成影响后，铜矿的施工暂停，万宝矿产的计划被打乱。

　　A government panel led by Ms. Suu Kyi said this month the project should go ahead as it benefitted the economy. It said the owners should correct mistakes and urged measures, such as periodic environmental monitoring, better land compensation and more involvement of small and medium-size enterprises.

　　昂山素季领导的一个政府委员会本月说，该项目应该继续，因为项目对缅甸的经济有利。委员会说，铜矿所有人应该改正错误，采取抗议者要求其采取的措施，比如定期进行环境监测，提高土地补偿金额，让中小企业更多地参与其中。

　　Mr. Chen said Wanbao would comply with those recommendations, but he gave details of only some measures, saying others were still being worked out.Asked whether he agreed with the report's findings, he said: 'My concern is not whether I agree with everything or not.…I didn't really research or study the details of everything. I focused on their instructions for what we do in the future.'He declined, however, to blame UMEHL or local authorities for their handling of opposition to the mine. The commission's report concluded that police had used incendiary devices containing phosphorus to break up protests over the mineMr. Chen said he thought that part of UMEHL was owned by Myanmar's ministry of defense, but he didn't know its exact ownership structure. 'Why should we be concerned who owns their shares?' he asked. 'We didn't focus on that.'

　　陈德芳说，万宝矿产将听取这些建议，但他仅详细介绍了部分措施，说其他措施仍在研究之中。当记者问他是否赞同报告的研究结果时，他说，我关心的并不是我是否赞同所有的东西……我并没有真正研究或调查所有事情的细节。我看重的是他们对我们未来应该做的事情的建议。不过，他不愿指责缅甸联邦经济控股有限公司或当地政府应对铜矿项目反对意见的方式。委员会的报告得出结论说，警方在驱散抗议者时使用了含磷易燃设备。陈德芳说，他认为缅甸联邦经济控股有限公司有一部分是隶属于缅甸国防部的，但他不知道它的确切所有权结构。他反问，我们为什么要在乎谁持有他们的股份呢？我们的重点不在这上。

　　He said his company had already started paying higher compensation of $700-$1,200 an acre, depending on what the owners had been using the land for, and it had drawn up new plans to build local infrastructure, including a library in each of the 30 affected villages.

　　他说，万宝矿产已经开始提高补偿款，根据土地此前的用途，每英亩支付700至1,200美元不等的补偿款，该公司还制定了在当地修建基础设施的新方案，包括在30个受影响的村子各建一个图书馆。

　　He said the company hadn't increased the number of local people it planned to employ at the project, which currently has 2,400 staff, including 200 foreigners. But he said Wanbao had committed to invest $1 million annually in small and medium-size enterprises, such as brick factories, to boost local employment.

　　他说，万宝矿产一直没有增加计划为该项目在当地雇佣的人员数量，目前人数为2,400人，包括200名外国人。但他说，万宝矿产已经承诺每年向砖厂等中小企业投资100万美元来促进当地的就业。

　　He also said the company had established a new 'community and social development' department and was in talks about setting up local joint ventures to manufacture machinery for the mine, most of which currently has to be imported.

　　他还说，万宝矿产成立了一个新的“社区及社会发展”部门，并正在就在当地组建几家生产铜矿机械设备的合资企业进行谈判。目前大部分机械设备都必须从国外进口。

　　'Our company has nothing to do with what happened. I was really upset with what happened,' Mr. Chen said when asked about the use of phosphorus. But asked whether Wanbao had expressed its dissatisfaction to UMEHL or Myanmar authorities, he said: 'I can't tell them what they should do and not do.'

　　当记者问他对缅甸警方用含磷设备驱散抗议者的看法时，陈德芳说，我们公司与发生的事无关，我对发生的事深感不安。但当记者问他万宝矿产是否曾向缅甸联邦经济控股有限公司或缅甸政府表达过不满，他说，我不能告诉他们他们应该做什么，不应该做什么。

　　He also brushed off concerns raised by many of the project's opponents that it channels revenues to current and retired military officers with interests in UMEHL.

　　他也没有理会铜矿项目的很多反对者提出的担忧。反对者说，铜矿项目的收入会流入在缅甸联邦经济控股有限公司存在利益的现任及退休军官手中。


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