人走茶凉，卡梅伦卸任后筹划英中基金活动频受阻

David Cameron has come under scrutiny for discussing China in a meeting with Philip Hammond, the chancellor, just weeks before the British and Chinese governments endorsed a $1bn investment fund he is setting up.

戴维.卡梅伦(David Cameron)因去年与英国财相菲利普.哈蒙德(Philip Hammond)会面讨论中国事务而被置于放大镜下。就在两人会面几周后，英中两国政府对他正在筹划的10亿美元投资基金给予肯定。

Government records published last month show that Mr Cameron, who was prime minister until 2016, had a meeting last October at the Treasury with Mr Hammond to talk about China.

上月公布的政府记录显示，担任英国首相至2016年的卡梅伦去年10月在英国财政部与哈蒙德举行会议，讨论中国事务。

Mr Cameron had already disclosed in September that he was working with his old friend Peter Gummer, Lord Chadlington, a millionaire public relations veteran, on a new private sector “UK-China Fund”. The former prime minister discussed the idea of the fund with vice-premier Ma Kai, head of China’s finance ministry, during a trip to Beijing on September 20.

此前卡梅伦已在去年9月披露，他正与他的老友、百万富翁公关老将彼得.格默(Peter Gummer)——贵族名号查德灵顿勋爵(Lord Chadlington)——联手筹措一只新的私营部门“英中基金”。2017年9月20日，这位英国前首相在访问北京期间与中国副总理马凯讨论了该基金的构想。

Just weeks after Mr Cameron’s meeting with Mr Hammond, the private business initiative received a glowing endorsement from both governments at the end of a meeting of Mr Ma and Mr Hammond for the ninth UK-China Economic and Financial Dialogue in Beijing.

就在卡梅伦与哈蒙德会晤几周后，在马凯和哈蒙德挂帅的第九次中英经济财金对话(UK-China Economic and Financial Dialogue)结束之际，卡梅伦的私营部门倡议获得了两国政府的高度赞赏。

In a joint statement, the two governments said they welcomed the “bilateral UK-China investment fund” that would have target initial investment of $1bn.

在一份联合声明中，两国政府表示欢迎成立首期10亿美元英中“双边投资基金”的提议。

“The fund will be led by a number of institutions in the UK and China, with the involvement of former prime minister, The Rt Hon David Cameron, and will be established and operated on a commercial and market-orientated basis,” the announcement said. “It will invest in innovative, sustainable and consumption-driven growth opportunities in the UK, China and third markets to create employment and boost trade links, supporting the Belt and Road Initiative.”

“该基金将由中英机构牵头，以商业化和市场化为基础建立和运作。英国前首相戴维.卡梅伦也参与其中，”该公告称。“基金将投资于中、英及第三方市场的创新、可持续和消费驱动型增长机会，以创造就业、促进贸易，支持 ‘一带一路’倡议。”

But Peter Dowd, shadow chief secretary to the Treasury, has now written to Mr Hammond to ask for more details about the October meeting and whether the UK-China Fund was discussed.

但是，英国反对党的财政部影子首席秘书彼得.多德(Peter Dowd)现已致函哈蒙德，请求提供关于去年10月会议的更多细节，并说明会上是否讨论了上述英中基金。

“I hope that you will be able to shine some light on this matter, as I’m sure you will agree it is of the upmost importance that the British public has faith in the transparency and accountability of our system of government,” he wrote.

“我希望你将能够在这件事上展示一些透明度，因为我相信你会同意，英国公众对我国政府体系的透明度和问责制有信心是最重要的，”他写道。

Mr Cameron’s appointment as vice-chairman of the UK-China Fund was approved in December by the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments, a government body. Acoba ruled that Mr Cameron could approach the UK government to discuss the terms on which he could “facilitate dialogue” between Beijing and London. It concluded that Mr Cameron’s previous role as prime minister would not “provide an unfair advantage to the fund”.

卡梅伦被任命为该英中基金副主席，这项任命在去年12月获得英国政府机构——商业任命咨询委员会(Advisory Committee on Business Appointments)的批准。商业任命咨询委员会裁定，卡梅伦可以找英国政府讨论相关条款，以便他能够在北京和伦敦之间“促进对话”。该委员会得出的结论是，卡梅伦先前的首相角色不会“为该基金提供不公平的优势”。

It noted that the government believed the fund could bring economic benefits by promoting UK-China economic co-operation while Mr Cameron could play a role as a “trusted interlocutor”. But the body also said Mr Cameron could not be personally involved in lobbying Westminster on behalf of the UK-China Fund for two years after leaving government. He resigned in June 2016.

它指出，英国政府相信，该基金通过促进英中经济合作，有望带来经济利益，而卡梅伦可以扮演“可信对话者”的角色。但该机构也表示，卡梅伦在离开政府后的两年内不能亲自参与代表英中基金游说威斯敏斯特的活动。他是在2016年6月辞职的。

Mr Dowd said: “Philip Hammond needs to explain why the government has lent its credibility and support to what is a private sector venture run by one of David Cameron’s friends.” Mr Dowd also wrote to Acoba to ask if the meeting breached the lobbying ban.

多德表示：“菲利普.哈蒙德需要解释的是，对于一个由戴维.卡梅伦的朋友之一所经营的私营部门项目，政府为什么要押上自己的可信度和支持？”多德还致函商业任命咨询委员会，询问上述会议是否违反了游说禁令。

A spokesman for Mr Cameron said his meeting with the chancellor was not exclusively about China and occurred before he received the Acoba guidance. “Mr Cameron applied to Acoba about starting a new UK-China fund once its establishment looked likely,” the spokesman said. “He received their guidance in December 2017 and has abided by their advice.”

卡梅伦的一名发言人表示，他与财相的会晤并不完全是关于中国，而且该会是在他接到商业任命咨询委员会的指引之前发生的。“卡梅伦先生在新的英中基金项目有望上马之后，便立即就启动该基金向商业任命咨询委员会申请，”这名发言人说。“他在2017年12月接到了他们的指引，此后听从了他们的建议。”

The Treasury said: “The UK-China investment fund was one of many private, commercial ventures welcomed during the last Economic and Financial Dialogue. Similar private ventures have been launched at previous EFDs.”

英国财政部表示：“英中投资基金是上次经济财金对话期间受到欢迎的众多私营部门商业项目之一。在以往的对话期间也曾发起类似的私人项目。”

The FT reported earlier this year that Mr Cameron was struggling to get the fund off the ground, having failed to name major investors.

英国《金融时报》今年早些时候曾报道，卡梅伦在启动该基金方面举步维艰，迟迟未能列出主要投资者名单。