马来西亚取消两个大型中资大型项目 [美国媒体]

BEIJING — Malaysian Prime Minister MahathirMohamad announced Tuesday he will shelve two major infrastructure projects byChinese companies for being too expensive for his debt-ridden country.

北京-马来西亚总理马哈蒂尔星期二宣布，他将搁置由中国公司参与的两个大型基础设施项目，因为对于这个债务缠身的国家来说这太贵了。

The rejection of the projects, part ofChina’s signature Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), was in stark contrast to theprime minister’s cozy dinner with Chinese President Xi Jinping the day before,when they said they were “optimistic” about their shared future and promised to“enhance mutual political trust.”

中国“一带一路”的部分项目遭到拒绝，这与（马哈蒂尔）前一天与中国主席亲切的晚宴形成了鲜明对比，当时他们说他们对共同的未来“乐观”，并承诺“加强政治上的信任。”

“I believe China itself does not want to see Malaysia become abankrupt country,” he said. “China understands our problem and agreed.”

“我相信中国本身不希望看到马来西亚成为一个破产国家，”他说。“中国理解我们的困难并同意这一点。”



Mahathir’s decision is a bigblow for China, said Marina Rudyak, who studies Chinese foreign aid atHeidelberg University. “Xi Jinping frames BRI as China’s contribution in a ‘new era’ where China is a responsible global player,” she wrotein an email. “This means the canceled projects signify a failure of China’seconomic diplomacy.”

马哈蒂尔的决定对中国来说是一个巨大的打击，鲁迪亚克说，他在海德堡大学学习中国对外援助。“中国将一带一路视为中国在新时代的贡献，中国是一个负责任的全球参与者，”她在一封电子邮件中写道。“项目的取消意味着中国经济外交的一次失败。”

With its Belt and Road Initiative, Chinathought it could outperform Western projects “while at the same time helpingChinese companies to internationalize,” Rudyak said. “Turns out, there is areason for all those bulky international standards China had frequently portrayedas obsolete and obstructing development.”

鲁迪亚克说，凭借其“一带一路”的倡议，中国认为它可以超越西方国家，同时也能帮助中国企业国际化。“中国经常把那些繁杂的国际标准描绘成过时和阻碍发展的原因。”

The World Bank, which funds infrastructureprojects in many developing countries, has said the Belt and Road Initiativecomes with potential benefits and risks. In a blog post this spring, a seniorWorld Bank economist said successful 一带一路 projects could improveinfrastructure and commerce in countries that have had difficulty integratinginto the world economy.

世界银行为许多发展中国家的基础设施项目提供资金，世界银行的报告也认为，“一带一路”倡议带来了潜在的好处和风险。在今年春天的一篇博客文章中，一位资深世界银行经济学家说，一带一路中的成功项目可以改善那些在融入世界经济中有困难的国家的基础设施和商业。

But the economist, Michele Ruta, added thatfor some countries, “the financing required for BRI projects mayexpand debt to unsustainable levels.” Big infrastructureprojects can also carry “environmental, social, and corruption risks,” he said,especially “in countries involved in the BRI, which tend tohave relatively weak governance.”

但经济学家米歇尔补充说，对于一些国家来说，“一带一路项目所需的融资可能会将债务扩大到不可持续的水平”，“大型基础设施项目也可能带来“环境、社会和腐败风险”，他说，尤其是“在涉及一带一路的国家中，我倾向于认为这些国家的管理水平相对较低。”



Now, though, that is changing.

然而，现在情况发生了变化。

In May, Najib was voted out of office.Among other things, the corruption-plagued leader was accused of signing baddeals with China to bail out his graft-plagued state investment funds. Malaysiais struggling under $250 billion in debt. Mahathir said his decision to freezetwo big projects will help his country save money.

今年5月，纳吉布选举失败下台。这名贪污的领导人还被控与中国签署不平等协议，以纾解他饱受贪污的国家投资基金。马来西亚现在在2500亿美元的国家债务下进行挣扎。马哈蒂尔说，他冻结两个大项目的决定将有助于他的国家节约资金。

Last week, the Malaysian leader said he hadsome concerns with how the projects were carried out. Bidding was closed, andChinese projects often import Chinese laborers rather than hiring locals.

上周，马来西亚领导人表示，他对这些项目是如何实施的有一些担忧。招投标已经关闭了，中国项目使用中国劳动力，而不是雇佣当地人。

In an interview with the New York Times,Mahathir said he had evidence that the East Coast Rail Link could have beenbuilt by a local company for about half of the $13.4 billion sum hispredecessor agreed to pay state-owned China Communications Construction.(Malaysia’s finance minister predicted that the railway would end up costingnearly $20 billion.)

在接受纽约时报采访时，马哈蒂尔说，他有证据表明，东海岸铁路项目如果由当地公司建造的话，耗资将在134亿美元的一半左右，而他的前任（纳吉布）同意为中国公司建设付款。（马来西亚财政部长预测铁路将耗资近200亿美元。）

He also said that Malaysia had already paid$2 billion toward the $2.5 billion pipeline project, carried out by asubsidiary of the China National Petroleum Corporation, but nothing had yetbeen built.

他还说，马来西亚已经支付了20到25亿美元，给一条由中国石油天然气总公司的子公司建设的管道项目，但是项目现在还没有开工。

“We do not want a situation where there is a new version ofcolonialism happening because poor countries are unable to compete with richcountries,” Mahathir said at a Monday news conference in the Great Hall of thePeople in Beijing.

哈蒂尔星期一在北京人民大会堂举行的新闻发布会上说：“我们不希望出现一个新的殖民主义版本，因为贫穷的国家是无法与富裕的国家竞争的。”

China’s Belt and Road Initiative has madethe country popular throughout Africa and Asia. China has spent $500 billion tohelp redevelop key infrastructure, creating new shipping and rail lines thatwill speed trade. But lately, some of the country’s recipients have said theinvestment comes with too many strings, including closed bidding processes andunfavorable leases and deals that give China prime access to many of theseprojects once completed.

中国的“一带一路”倡议在整个非洲和亚洲地区都很受欢迎。中国花了近5000亿美元来帮助重建关键基础设施，建立新的航线和铁路线，这将加速贸易。但最近，一些国家表示，这项投资的水分太多，包括不透明的投标程序和不利的条约条款，这些协议使中国能一次完成许多项目。

Several countries have begun trying torenegotiate their deals with the Chinese government and key countries, saysAgatha Kratz, an associate director of the Rhodium Group who studies China’sinfrastructure investments.

研究中国基础设施投资的克拉茨说，一些国家已经开始试图与中国政府和其他主要国家重新谈判他们的交易。



“Countries participating in BRI could develop economic dependence onChinese capital, which China could leverage to achieve its interests,” thereport said.

报告称，“参与一带一路可能会使得这些国家对中国资本的经济依赖加深，而中国可以利用这些杠杆来实现自己的利益。”