评论：为什么没有中国美国无法重建? [美国媒体]

President Donald Trump has pledged to create new, good-paying jobs for millionsof American blue-collar workers, principally through a still largely undefinedplan to inject $1 trillion in both public and private funding into America’sinfrastructure. He has promised a program of “national rebuilding” to becarried out “with American hands and American labor.”

美国总统唐纳德•特朗普曾承诺为数百万美国蓝领工人创造出新的薪资良好的就业岗位，主要通过一项仍不明确的计划，向美国基础设施注入1万亿美元，其中既包括公共资金也包括私人资金。他也曾承诺用“美国人自己的双手和劳动力”完成一项名为“国家重建”的计划。

It’s a great idea, but there’s a major problem. There is not enough readyAmerican capital to hire all the American hands and American labor that wouldbe required to realize this vision. That capital may have to come fromsomewhere unexpected: the Chinese private sector.

就其本身而言，这是个好的想法，但现实存在一个很大的问题。美国没有足够的现成的资本来雇佣实现这一愿景所需的美国劳动力。这个资本可能来自于某个意想不到的地方:中国的私营企业。

Even with a major infusion of capital from the U.S. private sector—and evenassuming our dysfunctional permitting system is greatly streamlined—Americawill not be able to marshal sufficient resources over the next several years toput a perceptible dent in the estimated $4.5 trillion in needed investment forour infrastructure.

即使有美国私有企业的大量注资——即使我们有所欠缺的准入机制能够得到大大改进——美国也无法在未来几年内集结足够的资源，减少我们基础设施建设中所需的预计为4.5万亿美元的投资。

That’s where China comes in.

这就是中国的切入点。

Some may justifiably wonder whether Chineseinvestment is feasible on security, economic, and political grounds.

有些人有理由怀疑，中国的投资在安全、经济和政治层面上是否可行。

The security bar is easily cleared. TheCommittee on Foreign Investment in the United States, the principal governmentinteragency body charged with vetting foreign investments into the U.S.,governs only those investments in which the foreign investor seeks an ownershipstake (and, specifically, a majority ownership stake) of the entity inquestion. Structuring private Chinese investment in U.S. infrastructure asloans nullifies this set of concerns.

安全障碍很容易清除。美国海外投资委员会是主要的一个跨部门的政府机构，负责审查外国来美的投资。有些外国投资者在美寻求的是已经出现问题的企业实体的控股权（具体来说，是绝大多数股权），而美国海外投资委员会负责管理的只是这些投资。把中国对美国基础设施建设的私人投资当做贷款便可消除这一担忧。

But is there is a business case for Chinese private investors to finance ourinfrastructure projects? Yes. While it is true that infrastructure projectstend to generate returns in the low single digits, there are reasons that suchprojects and returns are attractive to potential Chinese investors. Theinfrastructure market offers both diversification and stability relative to theexisting portfolios of these potential investors. Moreover, Chinese investorsview this kind of investment as having a double bottom line: It can help createa more politically sustainable economic partnership between China and the U.S.,and it can transform China from being perceived in the U.S. as a job killer toa job creator.

但是否有过中国个人投资者为我们的基础设施项目提供融资的商业案例呢？答案是肯定的。尽管基础设施项目往往只有较低个位数的回报，但有理由相信，此类项目和回报吸引着潜在的中国投资者。基础设施市场使这些潜在投资者的现有投资组合更加多样化，更具稳定性。此外，中国投资者认为这种投资具有双重底线：一来，它可以帮助中国与美国建立一个更具政治可持续性的经济伙伴关系，二来，它可以将美国人视作就业杀手的中国转变为就业岗位的创造者。

In terms of the politics, the obvious criticism of this type of initiativewould be that it would sell out America to China. The only problem with thatcriticism is that under the vision laid out here, nothing is being sold.Rather, Chinese private loans, along with other financing, would put Americanhands and American labor back to work rebuilding our roads, railways, andports. Political leaders—at all levels and on both sides of the partisanaisle—would come away from this type of arrangement winners.

就政治层面而言，对这类举措的批评是，这样将会把美国出卖给中国。这种批评存在的唯一一个问题是，在上面列出的愿景之中，我们并没有卖掉任何东西。相反，中国的私人贷款和其他融资将使美国本土的劳动力重新回到工作岗位，投入到我们的公路、铁路和港口的重建工作中。政治领袖——无论是来自哪个层次，还是不同党派的双方——都不会是这类协议的赢家。

Texas provides arguably the most obvious and urgent opportunity for mutuallybeneficial U.S.-China infrastructure investment collaboration. The devastationthat Hurricane Harvey brought to Houston and surrounding communities wasstaggering and could take decades to recover from fully. Bringing Chineseprivate capital to bear on this economically vital region’s recovery wouldgenerate several positive consequences.

可以看到，德克萨斯给互惠互利的中美基础设施投资合作提供了最快速的机会。飓风哈维给休斯顿和周边社区带来的破坏是惊人的，可能需要几十年才能完全恢复。让中国私人资本承担这一经济上至关重要的地区的复苏，将产生一些积极的结果。

First, it would help the people of the affected region more expeditiously getback on their feet economically and otherwise. This matters to China in a verydirect way because Texas is one of the largest state traders with China, andHouston is the state’s (and the Gulf Coast’s) largest port. Second, it wouldput the greater Houston area even more squarely on the map of potential Chineseinvestors and Chinese leadership, potentially generating additional businessdeals that could generate significant employment for Texans across the region.And third, such an overture could help move U.S.-China relations in a directionthat is beneficial for both countries.

首先，它将帮助受影响地区的人民更迅速地从经济上以及其他方面重新自力更生。这对中国有一个非常直接的影响，因为德州是与中国交易的最大的国有贸易商之一，而休斯顿是该州(和墨西哥湾沿岸的)最大港口。其次，这将直接促使更多的休斯顿地区出现在中国潜在投资者和中国领导层的规划中，由此可能会产生更多的商业交易，从而为整个地区的德克萨斯人创造大量就业机会。第三，这样的提议可能有助于促进美中关系朝着一个有利于双方的方向发展。

Welcoming major Chinese investment in U.S. infrastructure would go a long waytoward advancing a top presidential policy priority. It could put millions ofAmerican blue-collar workers back to work in solid jobs and deepen and stabilizeU.S.-China relations in ways that are consistent with our law and policy. Thejobs need to be American; the capital that creates them does not.

欢迎中国对美国基础设施的投资，将对推进美国总统的首要政策大有裨益。这可能会让数百万美国蓝领工人重返工作岗位，使中美关系在符合我们的律法和政策的条件下得到更深入和稳定的发展。工作需要是美国的，而创造它们的资本却不一定非是美国的。

David J. Firestein is the founding executive director of the China PublicPolicy Center in the LBJ School of Public Affairs at The University of Texas atAustin.

戴维·J·费尔斯坦是得克萨斯大学奥斯汀分校的约翰逊公共事务学院中国公共政策中心的创始执行主任。