評論
打印
Returning students
歸來的學子
Plight of the sea turtles
“海龜”們的困境
Students coming back home helped build modern China. So why are they now faring so poorly in the labour market?
學子們歸國幫助中國現代化。為什么他們會在勞動力市場里步履維艱？
“I LEFT in 1980 with only three dollars in my pocket,” recalls Li Sanqi. He was one of the first allowed to study overseas after the dark days of the Cultural Revolution. Like most in that elite group, he excelled, rising to a coveted position at the University of Texas, while launching several technology firms. Now he is a senior executive at Huawei, a Chinese telecoms giant, enticed back by the chance to help build a world-class multinational.
"我在1980年離開的時候口袋里只有3美元"—李三琦回憶說。他曾是文化大革命那段灰暗時期后頭一批準許出國留學的人之一。和這群精英中的大多數人一樣，他脫穎而出。不僅升學至令人眼紅的德州大學，還在這期間創立了幾家科技公司。當初，他被幫助建立世界一流跨國公司的機遇吸引回國。如今，他是中國電信巨頭——華為的高級行政主管。
Mr Li seems the perfect example of a sea turtle, or hai gui , long applauded in China for bringing back advanced skills. In the past such folk reliably reaped handsome premiums in the local job market, but no longer. Sea turtles are not universally praised, the wage differential is shrinking and some are even unable to find jobs. Wags say they should now be called hai dai, or seaweed. This is a startling turn, given their past contributions.
李三琦就好像是一個“海龜”的完美范例。“海龜”亦即“海歸”，長久以來，因帶回先進技術而為國人所贊不絕口。在過去，這類人在國內的就業市場毫無懸念地，能夠獲取可觀的報酬。然而，好景不再。“海龜”們不再受到人們一致的稱贊，大家的工資差距也在縮小，有的“海龜”甚至找不到工作。有人還開玩笑說他們應該被稱作“海帶”。回想起之前他們所作的貢獻，就會發現，這真是一個驚人的轉變。
Mr Li ：本來翻譯成李先生，但我認為，這種翻譯是死板的翻譯。地道的中文文章里并不會這樣”禮貌“地稱前面出現過的人物。而多是采用全名。英語中常常為了避免重復啰嗦，改用單詞，或使用代詞來使文章更為簡潔、地道。
Wang Huiyao of the China Western Returned Scholars Association, which celebrates its centenary this year, observes that sea turtles have returned in five waves. The first, in the 19th century, produced China’s first railway-builder and its first university president. The second and third, before 1949, produced many leaders of the Nationalist and Communist parties. The fourth wave, which went to the Soviet bloc in the 1950s, produced such leaders as Jiang Zemin and Li Peng.
歐美同學會今年將迎來其百年會慶，聯誼會副會長王輝耀指出，到現在已經迎來五波“海龜”的歸潮了。第一波是在19世紀，培養出了中國第一位鐵路建造者和第一位大學校長。第二波和第三波是在1949年之前，培育出許許多多民族主義領袖和共產黨領導人。第四波是在19世紀50年代前往蘇聯集團的人。培育出像江澤民、李鵬這樣的領導人。
The present wave began in 1978, and is by far the biggest. Since then, about 2.6m Chinese have gone abroad to study. The exodus has grown of late to about 400,000 per year. The majority stay overseas, but the 1.1m who have come back have made a difference. Mr Wang argues that whereas the first three waves revolutionised China and the fourth modernised it, the fifth wave is globalising the country.
當下的這一波開始于1978年，這也是目前為止人數最多的一波。從那時起，約有兩百六十萬中國人走出國門念書。有關這樣大規模出國，其人數的最新增長情況是大約每年增加40萬人。他們中大多數人留在國外，而回國的這一百一十萬人則帶來了改變。王輝耀說，前面三波人給中國帶來了革命，第四波人讓中國實現了現代化。如今，第五波人正在讓中國走向全球化。
Sea turtles are helping to link China’s economy to the world. They founded leading technology firms such as Baidu. Many are senior managers in the local divisions of multinational firms. They are helping to connect China to commercial, political and popular culture abroad.
“海龜”們正在幫助中國經濟接軌全世界。他們創立了像“百度”這樣的科技公司的領頭羊。很多“海龜”是跨國公司各地方分部的高級管理人員。他們正在幫助把中國和國外的商業、政治、以及大眾文化連接起來。
Why then is their importance declining? Several studies show that sea turtles on average must now wait longer to find a less senior post at a smaller salary premium over local hires. The weakening job market for all graduates is one reason. Another is that, as China’s domestic market has taken off, industries such as e-commerce have evolved in ways unfamiliar to those who spent years abroad. Gary Rieschel of Qiming Ventures, a venture-capital firm, says that investors who a decade ago would have funded only those returning from Silicon Valley are now backing entrepreneurs from local universities, who are more familiar with local consumption patterns, computer-gaming habits and social media such as Weibo and Weixin.
那么，為何他們的重要性會日益下降呢？幾項研究表明，現在”海龜“們要找的一份工資獎金小，職務也比較低的工作通常要比本地求職者等待更長的時間。對于畢業生們來說，持續衰弱的就業市場是原因之一。另外一個原因是，隨著中國國內市場的起飛，像電子商務之類的產業已經在許多方面發展成了對于那些海歸們來說陌生的產業。風險投資公司——啟明創投的蓋里·瑞斯徹說，投資者們在十年前只會投資給從硅谷歸來的人。如今，他們資助著來自國內大學的創業者們，這些創業者更加清楚當地的消費方式、玩電腦游戲的習慣、以及社交媒體，例如微博和威信。
As China has boomed, its managers have started to shed their inferiority complex. A senior executive at Tencent, a Chinese social-media giant, says he still poaches sea turtles from foreign firms, but finds they have difficulty managing local engineers. A European investment banker says turtles often cling to quaint Western notions like transparency, meritocracy and ethics, which puts them at a disadvantage in China’s hyper-Darwinian economy, where locals are more willing to do whatever the boss or client wants.
隨著中國的蓬勃發展，國內的管理人員已經開始擺脫其自卑感。中國社交巨頭——騰訊的一位高級主管說，他現在仍舊從外國企業里”挖“海龜。但是他發現，這些”海龜“們在管理本地工程人員時困難重重。一位歐洲投資銀行家說，”海龜“們常常秉持西方國家獨特的觀念，諸如透明性、英才教育和倫理道德。這使得他們在中國這樣一個”超達爾文“經濟體中處于不利位置。在這里（比起他們）本地人更愿意做上司或者客戶所要求的事。
inferiority complex ： 自卑情結；自卑感 poach sb from XX ：把誰從XX挖走 The Hunan TV poached Zhu Dan from Zhejiang TV.湖南衛視從浙江衛視挖走了朱丹。
Even foreign firms in China are getting pickier about whom they hire. Yannig Gourmelon of Roland Berger, a German management consultancy, believes the broader profit squeeze at multinational firms that killed off gilded expatriate packages has also sharply reduced the salary premium offered to sea turtles.
雖然中國的外企在挑選雇員時愈發挑剔。德國管理咨詢公司——羅蘭伯格的古默龍（Yannig Gourmelon）認為，跨國公司利潤的大幅度減少，使雇請“海龜“的計劃泡了湯，也是讓海龜們獲得更少薪金的原因。
C grade turtles
C級海龜
There is another explanation: many of the latest wave are of lower quality. In the past, only the very best were allowed to go out and so competition for government scholarships was fierce. But as incomes have risen, many families of mediocre Chinese students have spent a fortune on degrees from universities of dubious quality that do little to enhance their job prospects. Worse yet, partly because of the downturn in Western economies, many have come back without work experience.
現在還有另外一個解釋：許多最近歸國的海龜們（和之前相比）質量較低。過去，只有那些精英中的精英才被允許出國留學，因此，政府獎學金的競爭異常激烈；但是現在，隨著人們收入的增加，許多中國家庭資質平庸的學生也在文憑上花了大錢，這些學校質量不可信，對提高學生的就業前景沒有任何幫助。更遭的是，（造成這種局面的）一部分原因來自于西方國家的經濟衰落，很多海龜歸國時全無工作經驗。
Even as hordes of less employable expatriates return, the brightest remain abroad. A study funded by America’s National Science Foundation found that 92% of Chinese with American PhDs still lived in that country five years after graduation. For Indians, the figure was 81%, for South Koreans 41% and for Mexicans 32%.
即便不大適合被雇傭的海龜成群歸來，最明智的卻仍舊留在國外。美國國家科學基金會贊助的一項研究發現，92%擁有美國博士學位的中國人在畢業五年后仍舊生活在美國。印度人是81%，韓國人是41%，墨西哥人則是32%。
To lure such superstars back, the Chinese government is pouring pots of money into a scheme called 1,000 Talents, which offers generous subsidies and other perks. The powerful Organisation Department of the Communist Party is urging regional leaders and university heads to meet quotas for securing talent. In a forthcoming paper, Mr Wang and David Zweig of Hong Kong University of Science and Technology argue that China has been “perhaps the most assertive government in the world” in such efforts.
為了吸引這些”超級明星“回國，中國政府正在向一個叫做”千人計劃“的項目傾注巨額資金。此項計劃將提供充裕的資金補貼，以及其它特權。職能強大的中共組織部正在敦促宗教領袖和大學領導為保障此計劃安排足夠的份額。
Will it work? It seems doubtful. Despite the policies, returning entrepreneurs hit many problems. Labour and land costs are rising, the theft of intellectual property is still rampant and corruption is widespread. Few top-tier scientists have returned. Mr Wang and Mr Zweig’s paper explains why: “If China wants to bring back the best, it needs a fundamental reform of its academic and scientific institutions” to break the power of politicised administrators over hiring and funding.
這樣行得通嗎？看起來有些可疑。無論政策如何，這些歸國的企業家們遇到的問題比比皆是。勞動力和土地的成本正在不斷上漲，盜用知識產權的行為依舊猖獗，貪污腐敗的現象也廣泛存在。頂級的科學家選擇回國的更是鳳毛麟角。王輝耀和崔大偉的文章道出了原委：”如果中國想要帶回最好的人才，就需要通過學術和科學機構的根本性改革，打破政治色彩濃厚的行政人員雇請人員與提供資助的權利。“
The hard truth is that Chinese abroad often have ambivalent attitudes towards their homeland. The wife and children of Huawei’s Mr Li, the seemingly archetypal sea turtle, still live in America. Rather than just shovelling out subsidies, Chinese officials might do better to strengthen the rule of law, root out corruption and clean up China’s air, water and food. Sea turtles would be sure to notice.
鐵一般的事實是：海外華人對于自己祖國的態度時常是有著矛盾的。李三琦似乎就是這樣一位典型的”海龜“，他的妻兒仍都住在美國。中國官員們要做的不能僅僅是調用津貼，他們也能夠在加強法制建設，祛除貪污腐敗，凈化空氣、水和食物的領域里做的更好。海龜們呢，肯定會注意到的。
補充：插入法：
指把難以處理的句子成分用破折號、括號或前后逗號插入譯句中。這種方法主要用于筆譯中。偶爾也用于口譯中，即用同位語、插入語或定語從句來處理一些解釋性成分。
如：
如果說宣布收回香港就會像夫人說的"帶來災難性的影響"，那我們要勇敢地面對這個災難，做出決策。
If the announcement of the recovery of Hong Kong would bring about, as Madam put it, "disastrous effects," we will face that disaster squarely and make a new policy decision.
