Section 1: English-Chinese Translation (50 points)
A Melting Greenland Weighs Perils Against Potential
By ELISABETH ROSENTHAL October 08, 2012
NARSAQ, Greenland — As icebergs in the Kayak Harbor pop and hiss while melting away,this remote Arctic town and its culture are also disappearing in a changing climate.
Narsaq’s largest employer, a shrimp factory, closed a few years ago after the crustaceans fled north to cooler water. Where once there were eight commercial fishing vessels, there is now one.
As a result, the population here, one of southern Greenland’s major towns, has been halved to 1,500 in just a decade. Suicides are up.
Andrew Testa for The New York Times
“Fishing is the heart of this town,” said Hans Kaspersen, 63, a fisherman. “Lots of people have lost their livelihoods.”
But even as warming temperatures are upending traditional Greenlandic life, they are also offering up intriguing new opportunities for this state of 57,000 — perhaps nowhere more so than here in Narsaq.
Vast new deposits of minerals and gems are being discovered as Greenland’s massive ice cap recedes, forming the basis of a potentially lucrative mining industry.
One of the world’s largest deposits of rare earth metals — essential for manufacturing cellphones, wind turbines and electric cars — sits just outside Narsaq.
This could be momentous for Greenland, which has long relied on half a billion dollars a year in welfare payments from Denmark, its parent state. Mining profits could help Greenland become economically self sufficient and render it the first sovereign nation created by global warming.
“One of our goals is to obtain independence,” said Vittus Qujaukitsoq, a prominent labor union leader.
But the rapid transition from a society of individual fishermen and hunters to an economy supported by corporate mining raises difficult questions. How would Greenland’s insular settlements tolerate an influx of thousands of Polish or Chinese construction workers, as has been proposed? Will mining despoil a natural environment essential to Greenland’s national identity — the whales and seals, the silent icy fjords, and mythic polar bears? Can fisherman reinvent themselves as miners?“I think mining will be the future, but this is a difficult phase,” said Jens B. Frederiksen, Greenland’s housing and infrastructure minister and a deputy premier. “It’s a plan that not everyone wants. It’s about traditions, the freedom of a boat, family professions.”
The Arctic is warming even faster than other parts of the planet, and the rapidly melting ice is causing alarm among scientists about sea-level rise. In northeastern Greenland, average yearly temperature have risen 4.5 degrees in the past 15 years, and scientists predict the area could warm by 14 to 21 degrees by the end of the century.
Already, winter pack ice that covers the fjords is no longer stable enough for dog sledding and snowmobile traffic in many areas. Winter fishing, essential to feeding families, is becoming hazardous or impossible.
It has long been known that Greenland sat upon vast mineral lodes, and the Danish government has mapped them intermittently for decades. Niels Bohr, Denmark’s Nobel Prize-winning nuclear physicist and a member of the Manhattan Project, visited Narsaq in 1957 because of its uranium deposits.
But previous attempts at mining mostly failed, proving too expensive in the inclement conditions. Now, warming has altered the equation.
Greenland’s Bureau of Minerals and Petroleum, charged with managing the boom, currently has 150 active licenses for mineral exploration, up from 20 a decade ago. Altogether, companies spent $100 million exploring Greenland’s deposits last year, and several are applying for licenses to begin construction on new mines, bearing gold, iron and zinc and rare earths. There are also foreign companies exploring for offshore oil.
“For me, I wouldn’t mind if the whole ice cap disappears,” said Ole Christiansen, the chief executive of NunamMinerals, Greenland’s largest homegrown mining company, as he picked his way along a proposed gold mining site up the fjord from Nuuk, Greenland’s capital. “As it melts, we’re seeing new places with very attractive geology.”
The Black Angel lead and zinc mine, which closed in 1990, is applying to reopen this year, said Jorgen T. Hammeken-Holm, who oversees licensing at the country’s mining bureau, “because the ice is in retreat and you’re getting much more to explore.”
The Greenlandic government hopes that mining will provide new revenue. In granting Greenland home rule in 2009, Denmark froze its annual subsidy, which is scheduled to be decreased further in the coming years.
Here in Narsaq, a collection of brightly painted homes bordered by spectacular fjords, two foreign companies are applying to the government for permission to mine.
“This is huge; we could be mining this for the next 100 years,” said Eric Sondergaard, a geologist with the Australian-owned company Greenland Minerals and Energy, who was on the outskirts of Narsaq one day recently, picking at rocks on a moon-like plateau rich with an estimated 10.5 million tons of rare earth ore.
That proximity promises employment, and the company is already schooling some young men in drilling and in English, the international language of mine operations. It plans to build a processing plant, a new port and more roads. (Greenland currently has none outside of settled areas.) Narsaq’s tiny airport, previously threatened with closure from lack of traffic, could be expanded. A local landlord is contemplating converting an abandoned apartment block into a hotel.
“There will be a lot of people coming from outside and that will be a big challenge since Greenlandic culture has been isolated,” said Jasper Schroder, a student home in Narsaq from university in Denmark.
Still, he supports the mine and hopes it will provide jobs and stem the rash of suicides, particularly among his peers; Greenland has one of the highest suicide rates in the world. “People in this culture don’t want to be a burden to their families if they can’t contribute,” he said.
But not all are convinced of the benefits of mining. “Of course the mine will help the local economy and will help Greenland, but I’m not so sure if it will be good for us,” said Dorothea Rodgaard, who runs a local guesthouse. “We are worried about the loss of nature.”
Section 2: Chinese-English Translation (50 points)
習近平主席接受拉美三國媒體聯(lián)合書面采訪2013年06月01日08:12 來源:人民日報
在對特立尼達和多巴哥、哥斯達黎加、墨西哥進行國事訪問前夕,國家主席習近平接受了特多《快報》、哥斯達黎加《共和國報》、墨西哥《至上報》的聯(lián)合書面采訪。全文如下:問:請介紹您此次訪問拉美及加勒比地區(qū)的意義。您對發(fā)展同拉美和加勒比國家關系有何期待?答:我擔任中國國家副主席期間,曾于2009年、2011年兩次出訪拉美和加勒比地區(qū),拉美人民的熱情友好和對中國人民的深厚情誼給我留下了深刻印象。這次是我擔任中國國家主席后首次訪問拉美,目的是深化中拉傳統(tǒng)友好、擴大互利合作。訪問期間,我將同三國領導人就加強雙邊和中拉關系深入交換意見,并同三國各界人士廣泛接觸。我相信,這次訪問將有力推動中拉平等互利、共同發(fā)展的全面合作伙伴關系進一步向前發(fā)展。
“海內存知己,天涯若比鄰。”中國和拉美雖然相距遙遠,但中拉友好源遠流長。早在幾個世紀前,中拉貿(mào)易使者就開辟了“海上絲綢之路”,成為聯(lián)系東西兩個半球的重要貿(mào)易通道。進入新世紀以來,面對復雜多變的國際形勢,中拉雙方堅持平等互利原則,牢牢把握共同發(fā)展主題,攜手努力推動中拉關系取得長足進展。政治上,中拉雙方在涉及彼此核心利益的重大問題上,在探索適合各自國情的發(fā)展道路的過程中,相互理解、相互支持,戰(zhàn)略互信不斷增強。經(jīng)濟上,中拉務實合作碩果累累,給雙方人民都帶來了實實在在的利益。2012年,中拉貿(mào)易額達到2612 億美元,中國已成為拉美第二大貿(mào)易伙伴國,拉美是目前全球對華出口增速最快的地區(qū)。中國在拉美累計投資將近650億美元,為拉美國家創(chuàng)造了大量就業(yè)崗位。在國際事務中,中拉加強協(xié)調配合,有力維護了雙方根本利益和發(fā)展中國家共同利益。中拉還積極探索開展整體合作,以綜合發(fā)揮雙方各自優(yōu)勢,為推進中拉全面合作伙伴關系搭建更好平臺。
中拉擁有共同的發(fā)展理念,不論在治國理政方面,還是在國際事務中,雙方都擁有越來越多的共同語言。事實已經(jīng)并將繼續(xù)證明,中拉關系發(fā)展是開放的發(fā)展、包容的發(fā)展、合作的發(fā)展、共贏的發(fā)展。這符合中拉雙方共同利益,也為地區(qū)和世界的和平、穩(wěn)定、繁榮作出了積極貢獻。展望未來,我們愿同拉美和加勒比國家一道努力,不斷推進中拉全面合作伙伴關系,更好造福雙方人民。我對中拉關系發(fā)展前景充滿信心。
問:如何看待中國同特多雙邊關系的發(fā)展?雙方在能源領域可以開展哪些合作?中國將在關稅等方面采取什么措施,以幫助特多制造業(yè)產(chǎn)品進入像金磚國家這樣增長較快的市場?
答:我即將訪問特立尼達和多巴哥。這是我首次訪問特多,也將是歷史上中國國家主席首次訪問英語加勒比地區(qū)。我對這次訪問充滿期待。中特友誼源遠流長。兩個多世紀前,首批華人抵達特立尼達島,在那里落地生根,同當?shù)孛癖姾湍老嗵?,成為特多多元民族和文化密不可分的一部分。中國人民不會忘記,在兩國建交前,特多人民就為中華人民共和國恢復在聯(lián)合國合法席位投下莊嚴的一票。1974年,中國同特多建交,兩國關系翻開了新篇章。我很高興地看到,建交以來,特別是2005年建立互利發(fā)展的友好合作關系以來,兩國關系取得長足發(fā)展。特多已經(jīng)成為中國在英語加勒比地區(qū)最重要的合作伙伴之一。兩國基礎設施建設、礦業(yè)、金融、通信、衛(wèi)生等領域合作富有成效,為中國和特多經(jīng)濟社會發(fā)展作出了積極貢獻,使兩國人民從中受益。明年是中特建交40周年,希望雙方以此為契機,共同努力,將兩國友好關系和互利合作推向更高水平。特多是加勒比地區(qū)油氣大國,中特能源領域合作互補性強,潛力巨大,完全可以成為兩國合作新的增長點。兩國政府、金融機構、企業(yè)可以就能源合作加強探討,不斷創(chuàng)新合作方式、拓寬合作面。特多和中國地理相距較遠,雙邊貿(mào)易一定程度上可能受高運輸成本的影響,但中國采取了有力的關稅政策,鼓勵同包括特多在內的加勒比國家發(fā)展經(jīng)貿(mào)往來。特方許多傳統(tǒng)優(yōu)勢產(chǎn)品在中國關稅稅則中已經(jīng)享有零關稅或較低關稅。事實上,近10年來,特多對華出口額增長了近30 倍,去年達到1.4億美元。我希望兩國企業(yè)加強合作,歡迎特多企業(yè)到中國開拓市場。
問:您如何評價中國同哥斯達黎加雙邊關系發(fā)展。您對未來兩國合作有何設想?
答:2012年8月,欽奇利亞總統(tǒng)對中國進行國事訪問,我們進行了很好的會見。欽奇利亞總統(tǒng)積極發(fā)展對華關系的意愿給我留下深刻印象。盡管中哥建交僅僅6年時間,但在雙方共同努力下,兩國關系快速穩(wěn)定發(fā)展,各領域合作成果豐碩。中哥關系已成為不同幅員、不同國情國家合作的典范。哥斯達黎加是第三個同中國簽訂自由貿(mào)易協(xié)定的拉美國家,這個協(xié)定于2011年8月正式生效。中方援建的哥斯達黎加國家體育場已經(jīng)成為兩國人民友誼的象征。哥斯達黎加大學孔子學院是中美洲第一所孔子學院,為增進兩國人民相互了解和友誼提供了重要平臺。事實證明,中哥兩國發(fā)展友好合作關系符合兩國和兩國人民的根本利益,具有強大生命力和廣闊發(fā)展空間。問:您如何評價中國同墨西哥雙邊關系發(fā)展?答:中墨同為新興市場國家和發(fā)展中大國,互為戰(zhàn)略伙伴,互為重要發(fā)展機遇。今年4月,培尼亞總統(tǒng)訪華并出席博鰲亞洲論壇年會,我們就加強雙邊關系進行了很好的交談,并達成重要共識。時隔2個月,我將對墨西哥進行國事訪問。短時間內兩國高層實現(xiàn)互訪,體現(xiàn)了雙方對中墨關系的高度重視。中墨建交41年來,特別是2003年建立戰(zhàn)略伙伴關系以來,兩國關系得到長足發(fā)展,各領域互利合作不斷深化,給兩國人民帶來了實實在在的利益。中墨關系越來越具有戰(zhàn)略性和全局性。雙方在重大全球性問題上保持密切溝通和協(xié)作,推動國際秩序和國際體系朝著更加公正合理的方向發(fā)展。中墨關系的發(fā)展為促進世界和平與穩(wěn)定發(fā)揮了重要作用。我期待著訪問期間同培尼亞總統(tǒng)繼續(xù)就深化兩國務實合作交換意見,推動兩國關系再上新臺階。
問:中方考慮通過哪些機制和措施促進中墨雙邊貿(mào)易平衡發(fā)展?中方希望對墨西哥哪些產(chǎn)業(yè)增加投資?中方將采取哪些政策鼓勵墨西哥企業(yè)對華投資?中墨簽署自貿(mào)協(xié)定可能性有多大?雙方將在哪些領域擴大相互開放?
答:近年來,中墨經(jīng)貿(mào)合作日益深化,不斷取得新成果。中國已經(jīng)成為墨西哥在全球的第二大貿(mào)易伙伴,墨西哥是中國在拉美地區(qū)的第二大貿(mào)易伙伴。兩國相互投資規(guī)模逐步擴大,合作領域不斷拓寬。中方在雙邊貿(mào)易中從不刻意追求順差,愿同墨方共同努力,挖掘雙邊貿(mào)易潛力,擴大貿(mào)易規(guī)模,優(yōu)化貿(mào)易結構,以積極方式尋求兩國貿(mào)易平衡。近年來,墨西哥對華出口多元化趨勢日益明顯,墨西哥電子和通信產(chǎn)品、原油、汽車、啤酒以及玉米餅、鱷梨等農(nóng)副產(chǎn)品越來越多地進入中國市場。我這次訪問墨西哥期間,雙方將解決墨西哥豬肉輸華問題。中方還將專門組織企業(yè)代表團赴墨西哥開展項目對接和市場開拓,也歡迎墨方派團參加中國相關貿(mào)易展會,增進對中國市場了解,積極宣傳符合中國消費者需求的墨西哥產(chǎn)品。墨西哥是中國在拉美重要投資合作伙伴。中國對墨西哥投資規(guī)模不斷擴大,領域日益拓寬。中國政府繼續(xù)鼓勵和支持有實力的中國企業(yè)積極參與墨西哥基礎設施建設,支持兩國企業(yè)在礦業(yè)、能源(包括新能源和可再生能源)、制造業(yè)、電信、農(nóng)業(yè)等領域開展實質性合作,不斷培育新的投資增長點。自2001年加入世界貿(mào)易組織以來,中國全面履行承諾,開放程度已經(jīng)接近發(fā)達成員平均水平。目前,農(nóng)業(yè)、制造業(yè)、服務業(yè)的絕大多數(shù)領域都已經(jīng)有外商投資。我們將實施更加積極主動的開放戰(zhàn)略,在更大范圍、更廣領域、更高水平上推進對外開放,鼓勵外資投向現(xiàn)代農(nóng)業(yè)、高新技術、先進制造、節(jié)能環(huán)保、新能源、現(xiàn)代服務業(yè)等領域。中方歡迎墨西哥企業(yè)擴大對華投資。中方將繼續(xù)推進投資環(huán)境便利化,保護外資企業(yè)合法權益,努力為包括墨西哥企業(yè)在內的外商投資企業(yè)營造公開透明的法律政策環(huán)境、高效規(guī)范的行政環(huán)境、平等競爭的市場環(huán)境。中國已同智利、秘魯、哥斯達黎加3個拉美國家簽署了自由貿(mào)易協(xié)定,為促進中國同三國經(jīng)貿(mào)往來和投資發(fā)揮了重要作用。中國還同哥倫比亞正式啟動兩國自由貿(mào)易區(qū)聯(lián)合可行性研究。如墨方提出愿同中方商談建立自由貿(mào)易區(qū),中方愿加強同墨方在這方面的合作。
問:請介紹中國“十二五”規(guī)劃對中國發(fā)展的重要性?
答:過去30多年,中國改革開放取得巨大成就,經(jīng)濟年均增長近10%,綜合國力大幅提升,國內生產(chǎn)總值躍居世界第二位。與此同時,中國發(fā)展不平衡、不協(xié)調、不可持續(xù)問題日益突出。2011年,中國制定了《國民經(jīng)濟和社會發(fā)展第十二個五年規(guī)劃》,提出以科學發(fā)展觀為主題、以加快轉變經(jīng)濟發(fā)展方式為主線,國內生產(chǎn)總值年均增長7%的目標。這意味著我們不一味追求經(jīng)濟增長速度,而是更加注重經(jīng)濟增長質量和效益。我們優(yōu)化經(jīng)濟結構,著力擴大內需和促進消費,推動消費、出口、投資并駕齊驅,拉動經(jīng)濟。“十二五”規(guī)劃還提出要努力提高創(chuàng)新能力,推動經(jīng)濟發(fā)展更多依靠科技創(chuàng)新驅動,將“中國制造”更多變成“中國創(chuàng)造”。“十二五”規(guī)劃堅持把保障和改善民生作為加快轉變經(jīng)濟增長方式的出發(fā)點和落腳點,提出城鎮(zhèn)居民人均可支配收入和農(nóng)村居民人均純收入分別年均增長7%以上,和經(jīng)濟發(fā)展實現(xiàn)同步或更高。我們大幅增加教育、醫(yī)療衛(wèi)生、社會保障、就業(yè)和住房保障支出,使發(fā)展成果更多更公平惠及全體人民。“十二五”規(guī)劃提出樹立綠色發(fā)展、循環(huán)發(fā)展、低碳發(fā)展理念,以節(jié)能減排為重點,加快構建資源節(jié)約型、環(huán)境友好型社會,促進經(jīng)濟社會發(fā)展和人口資源環(huán)境相協(xié)調,走可持續(xù)發(fā)展道路。當前,中國經(jīng)濟發(fā)展基本面是好的:一是經(jīng)濟增速趨于穩(wěn)定,2012年國內生產(chǎn)總值增長7.8%,今年一季度增長7.7%。二是轉變經(jīng)濟發(fā)展方式和調整經(jīng)濟結構取得積極成效,國內需求特別是消費需求對經(jīng)濟增長的拉動作用明顯提高,產(chǎn)業(yè)結構升級加快。三是就業(yè)穩(wěn)定,居民收入增加,2012年城鎮(zhèn)新增就業(yè)1266萬人,城鎮(zhèn)居民人均可支配收入和農(nóng)村居民人均現(xiàn)金收入實際分別增長9.6%和10.7%。四是物價和房價保持穩(wěn)定,2012年居民消費價格同比上漲 2.6%。中國作為世界上最大的發(fā)展中國家,前進道路上仍面臨著不少困難和挑戰(zhàn)。要使全體中國人民都過上美好生活,還需要做出長期不懈努力。我們將堅持改革開放不動搖,集中精力把我們的事情辦好,同世界各國開展友好合作,不斷推進改革開放和現(xiàn)代化建設。展望未來,我們充滿信心。
問:中國如何實現(xiàn)中國夢?
答:中華民族歷經(jīng)磨難,自強不息,從未放棄對美好夢想的向往和追求。實現(xiàn)中華民族偉大復興的中國夢是近代以來中華民族的夙愿。在新的歷史時期,中國夢的本質是國家富強、民族振興、人民幸福。我們的奮斗目標是,到2020年國內生產(chǎn)總值和城鄉(xiāng)居民人均收入在2010年基礎上翻一番,全面建成小康社會。到本世紀中葉,建成富強民主文明和諧的社會主義現(xiàn)代化國家,實現(xiàn)中華民族偉大復興的中國夢。實現(xiàn)中國夢,必須堅持中國特色社會主義道路。我們已經(jīng)在這條道路上走了30多年,歷史證明,這是一條符合中國國情、富民強國的正確道路,我們將堅定不移地沿著這條道路走下去。實現(xiàn)中國夢,必須弘揚中國精神。用以愛國主義為核心的民族精神和以改革創(chuàng)新為核心的時代精神振奮起全民族的“精氣神”。實現(xiàn)中國夢,必須凝聚中國力量。空談誤國,實干興邦。我們要用13億中國人的智慧和力量,一代又一代中國人不懈努力,把我們的國家建設好,把我們的民族發(fā)展好。實現(xiàn)中國夢,必須堅持和平發(fā)展。我們將始終不渝走和平發(fā)展道路,始終不渝奉行互利共贏的開放戰(zhàn)略,不僅致力于中國自身發(fā)展,也強調對世界的責任和貢獻;不僅造福中國人民,而且造福世界人民。實現(xiàn)中國夢給世界帶來的是和平,不是動蕩;是機遇,不是威脅。中國和拉美雖然遠隔重洋,但我們的心是相通的。聯(lián)結我們的不僅是深厚傳統(tǒng)友誼、密切利益紐帶,還有我們對美好夢想的共同追求。近年來,拉美和加勒比國家聯(lián)合自強不斷邁出新步伐。拉美和加勒比國家共同體的成立,充分表明拉美正在積極推進拉美獨立運動先驅們倡導的團結協(xié)作、共同發(fā)展的夢想。中國愿同拉美和加勒比各國緊密團結、相互支持、真誠合作,在通往發(fā)展繁榮的美好夢想的道路上攜手共進。