VOA慢速英语:China Replaces Commerce Minister as Trump Repeats Threat

President Donald Trump made news last week when he repeated his belief that China is a currency manipulator.
川普上周重申他认为中国是货币操纵国，引发了媒体的关注。

His comments came weeks after many observers felt that United States and Chinese officials had decided to delay action on the issue. And they were made hours after the new U.S. Treasury Secretary, Steven Mnuchin, said China would not be punished.
在川普发表该言论的几个星期前，很多观察家认为中美官员已经决定在此问题上推迟行动。而就在几个小时前，美国新任财政部长史蒂文·努钦（Steven Mnuchin）还声称中国不会受到惩罚。

Trump said the Chinese are, in his words, "grand champions at manipulation of currency. So I haven't held back. We'll see what happens." The Reuters news agency reported the comments.
据路透社报道，川普的原话称中国“是操纵货币的冠军。所以我不会退缩，我们走着瞧。”

The U.S. Treasury Department is expected to make a decision on the issue on April 15th. But Mnuchin may be forced to provide details of the Trump administration's plans when finance ministers meet in Germany later this month. The meeting is for representatives of the Group of 20 (G20) major economies.
美国财政部预计在4月15日就此事做出决定。不过在本月晚些时候各国财长到德国开会时，努钦可能会被迫透露川普政府计划的细节。这次会议是20国集团代表参加的峰会。

Many economists believe China's money, the yuan, is not being devalued on purpose -- as it has been in recent years.
很多经济学家认为，中国并未像近几年一样蓄意压低人民币的币值。

Last year, the International Monetary Fund said the value of the yuan was at the right level for an economy the size of China's. In other words, the Chinese government was not taking steps to force down the yuan's value.
去年，国际货币基金组织表示，人民币币值与中国经济规模大致相符。换句话说，中国政府并未采取步骤压低人民币币值。

Kaushik Basu is a former chief economist at the World Bank. He now teaches at Cornell University in New York State.
考什克·巴苏（Kaushik Basu）是世界银行前首席经济学家，他目前在纽约州的康奈尔大学任教。

Basu told VOA "there is no evidence of currency manipulation (by China) in recent times beyond the occasional buying and selling of foreign exchange to stabilize volatilities, which all countries -- rich and poor -- do. I hope the U.S. (does) not (name) China a currency manipulator, which would not be right and would also unleash destabilizing forces in foreign exchange markets the world over."
巴苏对记者表示，“目前没有证据表明中国操纵货币，除了偶尔会买卖外汇以稳定市场。而各国无论穷富都会这样做。我希望美国不要将中国定义为货币操纵国，这不是正确的举措，而且还会打破全球外汇市场的平衡。”

The U.S. Treasury normally uses a three-part test to decide if a country is taking steps to influence the value of its money.
美国财政部通常采用3条标准裁定一个国家是否正在采取措施影响其货币价值。

Scott Kennedy directs the project on Chinese business and political economy at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, D.C. He said that if the Treasury Department uses the test, it will not find that China is a currency manipulator because China meets only one of the three parts. But Kennedy thinks the administration could decide not to use the test. In his words, "the ultimate decision will turn on broader U.S. policy toward China, which is still being decided."
甘思德（Scott Kennedy）在华盛顿战略与国际研究中心负责中国商业和政治经济项目。他说，如果美国财政部这样测试，就会发现中国不是货币操纵国，因为中国只满足其中一条标准。但是甘思德认为，美国政府可能不会进行测试。用他的话来说就是，“最终的决定将会广泛影响美国对中政策，目前尚在研究之中。”

China announced last Friday it was removing Gao Hucheng as Minister for Commerce. The move came after Trump repeated his threat of declaring China a currency manipulator.
在川普再次威胁要宣布中国为货币操纵国之后，中国于周五宣布撤换商务部长高虎城。

China watchers are not sure if President Xi Jinping decided to replace Gao as part of the government's preparations to deal with economic disputes with the United States. They say Gao may have been replaced only because he was close to the age at which the Communist Party directs officials to retire.
中国观察人士并不确定习主席撤换商务部长高虎城是否是中国政府准备处理同美国经济争端的举措之一。他们表示，高虎城被撤可能只是因为他已经接近中共规定的官员退休年龄。

Kennedy says the decision "suggests the commerce minister has reached retirement age and Xi is starting to consider the composition of the Cabinet for his second term. Zhong Shan (the new commerce minister) may or may not stay on."
甘思德称这一决定“表明这名商务部长已经接近退休年龄，习主席开始考虑他第二个任期的内阁人选。新任商务部长钟山可能会留下，也可能会走人。”

The American Chamber of Commerce in China said 25 percent of American companies in China have moved their operations out of the country or are planning to do so. Kennedy said this is a result of worsening investment conditions in China and stronger controls on money.
中国美国商会表示，在中国的美国公司有25%已经或正在准备迁往其他国家。甘思德说，这是中国投资环境恶化和加强资本管控的结果。

Jacob Kirkegaard is an economist at the Peterson Institute of International Affairs. He says that "as Chinese growth slows and financial risks increase, many foreign investors will rightly ask if their investments in China continue to be justified by the ‘ooh, it's a billion people so we gotta be there' factor. If foreign businesses don't make much money in China, he notes, they will stop coming."
雅各·齐克果（Jacob Kirkegaard）是彼得森国际经济研究所的经济学家。他说，“随着中国经济放缓和金融风险增加，很多外国投资者自然会衡量他们在中国投资的因素，是不是还是因为那里有十亿人的市场，所以我们要去。如果外国企业无法在中国赚大钱，他们就不会再来中国。”