特朗普稱可能干預孟晚舟案，這意味著什么？

WASHINGTON — When President Trump said in an interview this week that he was willing to intercede in the case of a Chinese telecom executive facing extradition to the United States if it helped achieve “the largest trade deal ever made,” it was a clear signal that his White House saw no problem intervening in the justice system to achieve what it considered economic gain.

華盛頓——特朗普總統(tǒng)在本周的一次采訪中表示，如果對達成“史上最大的貿(mào)易協(xié)議”有幫助，他愿意為一名面臨被引渡美國的中國電信高管的案子求情。這是一個明確的信號，表明他的白宮為了得到其認為經(jīng)濟上有好處的東西，干預司法系統(tǒng)不是問題。

A range of experts agreed on Wednesday that the president had the legal authority to order the government to rescind the extradition request for the executive, Meng Wanzhou, or even drop the charges against her. But they could not point to another instance of a president injecting himself into a criminal proceeding in a similar way.

周三，多名專家認為，總統(tǒng)有權(quán)下令政府撤銷孟晚舟的引渡請求，甚至撤銷對她的指控。但他們舉不出有哪位總統(tǒng)以類似方式讓自己卷入刑事訴訟的例子。

“It sets a very bad precedent,” said Nicholas Burns, a former under secretary of state and ambassador to NATO who served in Republican and Democratic administrations and now teaches diplomacy and international relations at Harvard. “By mixing justice with trade and the rule of law with trade, it devalues both.”

“這會設(shè)下一個非常糟糕的先例，”尼古拉斯·伯恩斯(Nicholas Burns)說，他曾在共和黨和民主黨的政府中擔任過副國務(wù)卿和駐北約大使等職，現(xiàn)在哈佛大學講授外交與國際關(guān)系。“把司法與貿(mào)易、法治與貿(mào)易混在一起，降低了兩者的價值。”

Ms. Meng, the chief financial officer of the telecommunications giant Huawei, was arrested last week by Canadian authorities at the request of the American government on suspicion of fraud related to Iranian sanctions. Mr. Trump said in an interview with Reuters that “I would certainly intervene if I thought it was necessary” for a trade deal.

12月1日，加拿大當局應(yīng)美國政府的要求逮捕了電信巨頭華為的首席財務(wù)官孟晚舟，理由是她涉嫌與伊朗制裁有關(guān)的欺詐行為。特朗普在接受路透社采訪時說，“如果我認為(對達成貿(mào)易協(xié)議)有必要，我肯定會進行干預。”

The White House did not respond to a request to explain how Mr. Trump arrived at that position.

白宮沒有回復記者讓其對特朗普如何決定持此立場給予解釋的請求。

But John Demers, the assistant attorney general for the Justice Department’s National Security Division, bristled at the notion that the motivation behind the charges might have anything to do with leverage in trade talks. “We are not a tool of trade when we bring the cases,” Mr. Demers said.

但有人認為，這些指控背后的動機可能與貿(mào)易談判中的砝碼有關(guān)，負責司法部國家安全部門的助理司法部長約翰·德默斯(John Demers)對此說法感到憤怒。“我們提起訴訟時，不是貿(mào)易的工具，”德默斯說。

Mr. Burns and others, however, said the president’s remarks could be seen by other countries as a green light.

不過，伯恩斯等人表示，總統(tǒng)的言論可能會被其他國家視為開綠燈。

“By interfering in a Justice Department decision and giving the impression he may release her in exchange for concessions on trade talks, Trump may inspire authoritarian leaders to do the same to Americans around the world,” Mr. Burns said. “You have seen that China has detained a Canadian International Crisis Group leader. Reciprocity is a fundamental foundation stone of international politics. Others will do unto you what you have done unto them.”

“特朗普干涉司法部的決定，并給人們留下可能會釋放孟晚舟以換取在貿(mào)易談判讓步的印象，恐怕會激勵專制領(lǐng)導人在世界各地對美國人采取同樣的做法，”伯恩斯說。“你已經(jīng)看到中國拘留了國際危機組織的一名加拿大領(lǐng)導人?；セ菔菄H政治的根本基石。你怎么對別人，別人就怎么對你。”

Unlike most of his predecessors, Mr. Trump has offered strong opinions on numerous pending court cases, in ways that lawyers said could shape everything from jury selection to the ultimate outcome. In the extradition case involving Ms. Meng, the president seemed willing to treat it as just another element in a deal.

特朗普不同于大多數(shù)前任總統(tǒng)，他對許多尚未審理的法庭案件都表達過自己的強烈觀點，律師們認為，這些意見可能會影響從陪審團選擇到最終判決的全部司法過程。就孟晚舟的引渡案而言，特朗普總統(tǒng)似乎愿意將其僅僅視為達成交易的又一個元素。

“It takes the term ‘transactional’ to a new level because he is basically suggesting everything is for sale,” said Wendy Cutler, a trade negotiator in President Barack Obama’s administration. “There’s a reason why these issues are in traditional lanes. And once you signal you are going to trade one off for the other, then you are in a whole new world. This undermines the rule of law.”

“這種做法把‘交易’一詞提升到了一個新高度，因為他基本上是在暗示，所有東西都可以出賣，”曾在巴拉克·奧巴馬(Barack Obama)政府擔任貿(mào)易談判代表的溫迪·卡特勒(Wendy Cutler)說。“這些問題在傳統(tǒng)上各行其道是有原因的。一旦你發(fā)出信號，可以做交換的話，你就進入了一個全新的世界。這是對法治的破壞。”

To be sure, the United States has often been willing to mix issues of justice to achieve other ends, such as swapping captured spies with other nations. The Iran nuclear deal offers another example.

無可否認，美國為了實現(xiàn)其他目的，常常愿意把司法問題混在一起，比如與其他國家交換被抓獲的間諜。伊朗核協(xié)議也是一個例子。

As part of the Obama administration’s nuclear agreement with Iran, Iran released five American prisoners and Mr. Obama freed seven Iranian and Iranian-American prisoners. In addition to that swap, the Justice Department also quietly dropped sanctions-related charges and rescinded international arrest warrants against 14 other Iranian fugitives.

作為奧巴馬政府與伊朗達成的核協(xié)議的一部分，伊朗釋放了五名美國囚犯，奧巴馬釋放了七名伊朗籍和伊朗裔美籍囚犯。除此之外，司法部還悄悄地撤銷了與制裁有關(guān)的指控，撤銷了對另外14名伊朗逃犯的國際逮捕令。

But Lisa Monaco, who was Mr. Obama’s top homeland security and counterterrorism adviser during the Iran deal — and the former head of the Justice Department’s national security division — argued that dropping the cases against the 14 Iranians was very different from what Mr. Trump is floating as a possibility in the Huawei case.

在達成伊朗核協(xié)議期間擔任奧巴馬的國土安全和反恐問題高級顧問，也曾擔任司法部國家安全部門負責人的莉薩·莫納科(Lisa Monaco)認為，撤銷針對那14名伊朗人的案子與特朗普就華為一案提出的可能性很不一樣。

For one thing, she said, the Justice Department had concluded it was unlikely ever to be in a position to extradite the Iranians, while American prosecutors are now close to having Ms. Meng in their grasp.

她說，一方面，司法部那時已得出結(jié)論，引渡那些伊朗人的可能性很小，而美國檢方目前離將孟晚舟捉拿歸案的距離已經(jīng)很近了。

For another, the Iran nuclear deal was an international agreement with numerous other nations, not a common bilateral trade dispute. What is more, it was also a one-time move made in a unique context: a deal to end Iran’s nuclear ambitions without war. Trade negotiations, on the other hand, happen all the time — so the precedent, she said, could endanger Americans.

另一方面，伊朗核協(xié)議是與許多其他國家一起達成的國際協(xié)議，而不是普通的雙邊貿(mào)易爭端。更重要的是，那也是在獨特背景下采取的一個一次性做法：達成了在不發(fā)動戰(zhàn)爭的情況下終結(jié)伊朗核野心的協(xié)議。而任何時候都能進行貿(mào)易談判，她說，所以這種先例可能會危及美國人的安全。

“I think as a matter of law Trump could direct the Justice Department to drop the prosecution that is the basis of the extradition request,” Ms. Monaco said. “That would be wrong and outside any acceptable norm, and it would be open season on our own executives to be detained and hassled in other countries that want to get leverage in trade talks. But he could do it.”

“我認為，從法律上看，特朗普可以指示司法部撤銷作為引渡請求基礎(chǔ)的起訴，”莫納科說。“但那會是錯誤的，超出了任何可接受的標準，那會給希望在貿(mào)易談判中獲得砝碼的其他國家在他們國內(nèi)拘留和騷擾我們的高管敞開大門。但他可以那樣做。”

Curtis Bradley, a Duke University law professor who has written about international law and extradition issues, said what was most unusual about Mr. Trump’s views was that he expressed them publicly as opposed to making them known through diplomatic channels. But he said that from a legal perspective, the decision to request extradition or drop such a request was primarily a matter of foreign affairs, over which the president had broad legal authority.

杜克大學(Duke University)法學教授柯蒂斯·布拉德利(Curtis Bradley)寫過關(guān)于國際法和引渡問題的文章。布拉德利說，特朗普的觀點最不尋常之處在于，他公開表達了這些觀點，而不是通過外交渠道傳達。但他說，從法律角度來看，要求引渡或放棄這一請求的決定，主要是一個外交問題，總統(tǒng)在這方面有廣泛的法律權(quán)力。

“Extradition is sufficiently political already and part of our foreign affairs,” he said. “I don’t think it’s comparable to intervening in domestic criminal decision-making.”

“引渡已是足夠政治化的問題，是我們外交事務(wù)的一部分，”他說。“我認為這與干預涉及國內(nèi)犯罪的決定沒有可比性。”

Still, the move could raise diplomatic tensions with Canada, one of the largest trading partners of the United States.

但是，那樣做可能會加劇與加拿大的緊張外交關(guān)系，加拿大是美國最大的貿(mào)易伙伴之一。

“Our extradition partners should not seek to politicize the extradition process or use it for ends other than the pursuit of justice,” Chrystia Freeland, Canada’s foreign minister, said at a news conference on Wednesday, adding that she had spoken to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo about the case earlier in the week and had stressed that Canada was a “rule of law country.”

“我們的引渡合作伙伴關(guān)系不應(yīng)用于尋求引渡過程政治化或用來尋求追求正義以外的目的，”加拿大外交部長克里斯蒂婭·弗里蘭(Chrystia Freeland)周三在一個新聞發(fā)布會上說。她還表示，她已在本周早些時候與美國國務(wù)卿邁克·龐皮歐(Mike Pompeo)就此案交流了看法，她強調(diào)，加拿大是一個“法治國家”。

She said that it would be up to Ms. Meng’s “lawyers whether they choose to raise comments in the U.S. as part of their defense” and that it would then be up to “Canadian judges how to weigh the significance.”

她說，引渡與否取決于孟晚舟的“律師選擇是否向美國提出說法，作為他們辯護的一部分”，也將取決于“加拿大法官如何權(quán)衡重要性”。

Mr. Bradley noted that the extradition treaty with Canada made an exception for crimes of “a political character.” Mr. Trump’s comments, he said, might give Ms. Meng’s lawyers a hook to argue that Canada should not send her to the United States.

布拉德利指出，與加拿大簽訂的引渡條約對“具有政治性質(zhì)”的罪行做了例外。他說，特朗普的言論也許會吸引孟晚舟的律師提出加拿大不應(yīng)該把她送往美國的理由。

“If there was evidence that the U.S. prosecution was initiated for political reasons, I suppose Meng’s lawyer could argue that the offense is of a political character,” he said. “And Trump’s remarks might at least be further evidence of that.”

“如果有證據(jù)表明美國的起訴是出于政治原因的話，我認為孟晚舟的律師可以爭辯說，這個違法行為具有政治性質(zhì)，”他說。“而特朗普的言論至少可以為這個說法提供進一步的證據(jù)。”