VOA常速英语:China Increases Investment in Himalayan Neighbor Nepal

KATHMANDU — In recent years, Nepal has deepened its already strong ties with China - some say to counter its reliance on India for aid and investment.
近年来，尼泊尔加深了同中国已经牢固的关系。一些人认为，这样做的目的是不要过分依赖印度的援助和投资。

Inside a sprawling 132-bed hospital in Nepal’s capital, patients receive treatment for everything from blood disorders to heart disease - vital services in a country that the United Nations ranks 157th in the world for human development.
尼泊尔首都的这家医院占地面积很大，有132张床位，病人在这里接受各种治疗，从血液病，到心脏病。在联合国的全球人类发展排名中，尼泊尔名列第157，对尼泊尔来说这家医院的服务是必不可少的。

The Civil Service Hospital, which treats the country’s 86,000 government workers as well as the general public, was inaugurated in 2009 and built by the Chinese government.
这家“公务员医院”为尼泊尔的8万6千名政府工作人员和公众提供医疗照顾。这家医院是由中国政府援建的，2009年正式启用。

Hospital Director Bimal Kumar Thapa says Chinese assistance did not end with construction of the building.
院长比尔马.库马.塔帕说，中国的援建绝不仅仅是修建医院本身。

 “They will train our staff, doctors and technicians, and they will transfer the skill and transfer the technology through this hospital in Nepal and we will provide better and better service,” Thapa said.
“他们培训我们的员工，医生和技术人员。通过尼泊尔的这家医院，他们向我们转移技能，向我们转移技术，以便我们能提供更好的服务。”

China’s direct investment in Nepal nearly doubled between 2007 and 2011, with the East Asian giant funding everything from new roads to hydropower projects.
中国对尼泊尔的直接投资从2007年到2011年几乎翻了一番，从修筑新道路到水电项目，尼泊尔几乎所有的项目都有中国投资。

Nepali Times Editor Kunda Dixit says it would be absurd if a next-door neighbor of China would see a drop in investment at a time when Chinese investment is growing everywhere else in the world. He adds that Nepal also wants to come out from the shadow of India - its biggest trading partner.
尼泊尔时报编辑孔达.迪克西说，中国在世界其他地方不断扩大投资，在这个时候，如果中国对邻国尼泊尔减少投资，那将是荒诞可笑的。他说，尼泊尔也希望能从其最大的贸易伙伴-印度的阴影中走出来。

“Geopolitically, successive Nepali governments have tried to lean over backwards to be close to China to offset our overwhelming economic and political dependence on India,” Dixit said.
“从地缘政治上讲，历届尼泊尔政府都努力向中国靠拢，以平衡我们对印度的过度的经济和政治依赖。”

Evidence of China and Nepal’s strong ties can even be seen here in Nepal’s education system, where more than 60 schools throughout the country offer courses in Chinese to children as young as seven years old.
尼泊尔的教育系统也见证了中国和尼泊尔牢不可破的关系。尼泊尔全国有60多所学校开中文课，最小的学生才7岁。

Valley View School Secondary School in Kathmandu has been offering Chinese language classes to students for the last five years.
过去5年来，加德满都的“谷观中学”一直开设中文课。

Principal Dev Raj Paneru says the instruction is key as more Nepali students and Chinese tourists cross the border.
校长德夫.杰拉.帕内鲁说，由于越来越多的尼泊尔学生到中国去，中国游客到尼泊尔来，中文教学就变得很重要。

 “Nepali students prefer visiting China for further studies in technical fields and besides, we feel that Chinese occupancy [presence] in the market has increased a lot,” Paneru said.
“尼泊尔学生喜欢到中国去在技术领域深造，除此之外，我们感觉中国在尼泊尔市场的占有率增加了很多。”

Teacher Wan Hai Lu moved to Kathmandu from outside Beijing two years ago to teach here as part of a program set up by the Chinese embassy.
两年前，万海璐老师从北京郊外来到加德满都，在中国大使馆开设的一个项目教中文。

 “From the development of China, I think many [Nepali] people want to learn Chinese words, so I come to Nepal and I think this is a win-win business,” Li said.
她说：“我认为，从中国的发展来看，很多尼泊尔人想学中文，所以我来到尼泊尔，这对双方来说都是个双赢。”

For many in the impoverished Himalayan nation of 30 million, the hope is that being landlocked between two emerging superpowers will pay off even more in the future.
在这个人口3千万的贫穷的喜马拉雅山国家，很多人希望，地处两个不断崛起的超级大国中间的尼泊尔，未来的前景一定会更好。