First, we must seek an open system where any person anywhere can participate in markets everywhere.
首先,我們必須努力建立一個開放的體系,讓任何地區的任何人都能參與任何一處市場。
Second, we must seek a free system, one in which ideas, information, products and capital can flow unimpeded by unnecessary or unjust barriers. That is why President Obama has mobilized a government-wide effort to attract foreign investment to America. Now, in the past, foreign investment has been seen as controversial. But today we know it helps create growth and jobs, and it can attract American dollars held overseas back into the U.S. economy. As we welcome investors to our country, we hope that all investors, including those from America, will receive an enthusiastic welcome overseas.
其次,我們必須努力建立一個自由的體系,讓創意、信息、產品和資本能夠自由流通,不被不必要或不公平的壁壘所阻礙。正是出于這個原因,奧巴馬總統已調動政府各部門努力將外國投資吸引到美國。而在過去,外國投資曾被視為是有爭議的。但現在,我們知道外國投資有助于創造增長和就業機會,還能將海外持有的美元吸引回美國經濟中。在我們歡迎投資者到我國投資的同時,我們也希望包括美國投資者在內的所有投資者都能在海外受到熱情歡迎。
Third, we must seek a transparent economic system. Rules and regulations need to be developed out in the open through consultation with stakeholders. They must be known to all and applied equally to all. Hong Kong is a testament to the power of transparency, good governance, the rule of law, freedom of the press, an independent judiciary, and a vibrant civil society, all of which help to explain why so many people choose to do business here.
第三,我們必須努力建立一個透明的經濟體系。規則和規章應當經與利益相關者共同磋商公開制定。它們必須為所有各方所了解,并平等適用于所有各方。香港展示了透明、良治、法治、新聞自由、司法獨立和一個欣欣向榮的公民社會的力量,所有這些都有助于說明為什么這么多人選擇在香港從事商業經營。
Openness, freedom and transparency contribute to the fourth principle we must ensure: fairness. Fairness sustains faith in the system. That faith is difficult to sustain when companies are forced to trade away their intellectual property just to enter or expand in a foreign market, or when vital supply chains are blocked. These kinds of actions undermine fair competition, which turns many off from competing at all.
開放、自由和透明都為我們必須保障的第四項原則創造了條件,這就是公平。公平能夠保持人們對這個體系的信任。當公司企業為了開辟或擴大一個外國市場而不得不以其知識產權作交換時,或當關鍵的供應鏈被切斷時,這種信任便難以維持。這類行為有損于公平競爭,挫傷了很多人的競爭意愿。
A growing number of countries in Asia are proving the value of these principles. And the United States deeply believes in them, because their value has been proven time and again, not only in times of prosperity but also in times of hardship, as well. At the end of the Vietnam War, there was a thriving commentary around the world on the idea of America’s economic decline. That seems to be a theme that kind of repeats itself every couple of decades. But all the while, then and now, these principles were nurturing a system of entrepreneurship and innovation that allowed two college students to found a small tech startup called Microsoft. And today, they are helping power companies like Solyndra, a green-energy startup in California that began producing solar panels in 2007 and now installs them in more than 20 countries worldwide.
越來越多的亞洲國家正在證明上述原則的價值。美國堅信上述原則,因為其價值一次又一次地得到驗證,不僅是在繁榮時期,而且是在困難時刻。在越戰結束時,全世界有關美國經濟衰退的言論流行一時。這種言論似乎每隔20年便會再次冒頭。然而,從過去到現在,上述原則扶持了一個鼓勵創業和創新的體系,這個體系促使兩名大學生創立了一家名叫微軟的小型科技公司。今天,上述原則正在扶植著像加州綠色能源初創公司Solyndra這樣的能源公司,這家公司自2007年起開始生產太陽能板,現在他們的太陽能板被用于全世界20多個國家。
Every time in history when the United States has experienced a downturn, we’ve overcome it through reinvention and innovation. Now, these capacities are not unique or innate to the people of the United States. They are activated by our economic model, which we work hard to keep open, free, transparent, and fair, a model that has its imperfections but remains the most powerful source of prosperity known to humankind.
歷史上,美國經濟每一次陷入衰退,都能通過革新與創新脫離困境。然而,這些能力并不為美國人民所特有或與生俱來;它們是由我們的經濟模式所激發的,我們奮力維持這樣一個開放、自由、透明、公平的模式。這個模式有它的不完善之處,但仍然是人類所知的最強大的繁榮之源。
Of course, no nation is perfect when it comes to safeguarding these principles, including my own. We all recognize the temptation to bend them. And we all recognize the inevitability of human nature's capacity to look for ways around them. Some nations are making short-term gains doing that. Some developing countries—admirably focused on fighting poverty—might be slow to implement at home the same rules they benefit from abroad. And a number of nations, wealthy in the aggregate but often poorer per capita, might even think the rules don’t apply to them.
當然,在維護這些原則的時候,沒有一個國家是完美的,包括我自己的國家。我們都知道到給原則打折扣的誘惑力,我們都認識到人類本性中那種對原則繞道而行的能力會不可避免地出現。有些國家正在那樣做而獲得短期的利益;有些發展中國家——它們正令人欽佩地集中精力與貧窮作斗爭——當在國內實施那些它們在國際貿易中獲益的相同的規則時或許行動較為遲緩;還有一些整體富裕但按人均所得較貧困的國家,甚至可能認為那些規則并不適用于它們。