2019年经济学人 世界应如何看待中国成科技大国?(3)

 

This gives Chinese scientists an incentive¹ to observe international rules—because that is what will win its researchers access to the best conferences, laboratories and journals, and because unethical science diminishes China’s soft power. Mr He’s gene-editing may well be remembered not just for his ethical² breach³, but also for the furious condemnation⁴ he received from his Chinese colleagues and the threat of punishment from the authorities. The satellite destruction in 2007 caused outrage⁵ in China. It has not been repeated.

这让中国科学家有了遵守国际规则的动力。有两个原因，第一，研究人员因此可以参加顶级会议、加入顶尖图书馆、在核心期刊上发表文章，第二，不道德的科学会削弱中国的软实力。贺建奎的基因编辑会被铭记，不仅仅是因为他违背了道德，还因为他受到同行的强烈谴责和政府的管制。2007年的卫星毁灭事件在中国引起公愤。目前还没有类似的事情发生。

The tantalising question is how this bears on Mr Democracy. Nothing says the best scientists have to believe in political freedom. And yet critical thinking, scepticism, empiricism and frequent contact with foreign colleagues threaten authoritarians⁶. Soviet⁷ Russia sought to resolve that contradiction by giving its scientists privileges, but isolating⁸ many of them in closed cities.

发人深思的问题在于这和“德先生”有关。最优秀的科学家必须信奉政治自由这种说法毫无根据。然而，批判性思维、怀疑主义、经验主义以及与外国同行的频繁接触，对威权主义者构成了威胁。苏联曾试图通过给予科学家特权来解决这种矛盾，但却将很多科学家隔离在封闭的城市。

China will not be able to corral its rapidly growing scientific elite⁹ in that way. Although many researchers will be satisfied with just their academic freedom, only a small number need seek broader self-expression to cause problems for the Communist Party. Think of Andrei Sakharov, who developed the Russian hydrogen bomb, and later became a chief Soviet dissident. When the official version of reality was tired and stilted¹⁰, both stood out as seekers of the truth. That gave them immense moral authority.

通过这样的方式，中国无法聚集快速增长的科学精英。尽管许多研究人员只满足于学术自由，但是只要有小部分人追求更广泛的自我表达，就会给政府带来麻烦。想想安德烈?萨哈罗夫吧，他研发了俄罗斯的氢弹，后成为苏联的主要异见人士。当官方对事实的描述烦人呆板时，这样的人就会作为真理的追寻者脱颖而出。这给了他们巨大的道德权威。

Some in the West may feel threatened by China’s advances in science, and therefore aim to keep its researchers at arm’s length. That would be wise for weapons science and commercial research, where elaborate mechanisms¹¹ to preserve secrecy¹² already exist and could be strengthened. But to extend an arm’s-length approach to ordinary research would be self-defeating. Collaboration¹³ is the best way of ensuring that Chinese science is responsible and transparent¹⁴.

西方某些人士可能会感觉收到了中国科学进步的威胁，所以要和中国研究人员保持一定的距离。这在武器科学和商业研究方面是明智之举，因为在这些方面复杂的保密机制已经存在且可以继续加强。但是，将保持距离的方法延伸到普通的研究将会弄巧成拙。合作是确保中国科学负责任和透明的最佳方式。

Hard as it is to imagine, Mr Xi could end up facing a much tougher choice: to be content with lagging behind, or to give his scientists the freedom they need and risk the consequences. In that sense, he is running the biggest experiment of all.

虽然很难想象，但习可能最终面临一个更加艰难的选择：要么满足于落后，要么给科学家自由，并冒着承担后果的风险。从这个意义上说，他正在进行最大的实验。

1 incentive   

n.刺激；动力；鼓励；诱因；动机

参考例句：

• Money is still a major incentive in most occupations.在许多职业中，钱仍是主要的鼓励因素。
• He hasn't much incentive to work hard.他没有努力工作的动机。

2 ethical   

adj.伦理的，道德的，合乎道德的

参考例句：

• It is necessary to get the youth to have a high ethical concept.必须使青年具有高度的道德观念。
• It was a debate which aroused fervent ethical arguments.那是一场引发强烈的伦理道德争论的辩论。

3 breach   

n.违反，不履行；破裂；vt.冲破，攻破

参考例句：

• We won't have any breach of discipline.我们不允许任何破坏纪律的现象。
• He was sued for breach of contract.他因不履行合同而被起诉。

4 condemnation   

n.谴责; 定罪

参考例句：

• There was widespread condemnation of the invasion. 那次侵略遭到了人们普遍的谴责。
• The jury's condemnation was a shock to the suspect. 陪审团宣告有罪使嫌疑犯大为震惊。

5 outrage   

n.暴行，侮辱，愤怒；vt.凌辱，激怒

参考例句：

• When he heard the news he reacted with a sense of outrage.他得悉此事时义愤填膺。
• We should never forget the outrage committed by the Japanese invaders.我们永远都不应该忘记日本侵略者犯下的暴行。

6 authoritarians   

权力主义者，专制者，独裁者( authoritarian的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• It requires no complicated theories of a preference for authoritarians or personal seduction. 并不需要所谓偏爱独裁者或似魅力等复杂理论。
• The authors advocated immediate intervention by industry chiefs to stop authoritarians from rising up the ranks. 研究报告的撰写者们呼吁行业领导立即采取措施阻止有此种苗头的单位领导获得晋升机会。

7 Soviet   

adj.苏联的，苏维埃的；n.苏维埃

参考例句：

• Zhukov was a marshal of the former Soviet Union.朱可夫是前苏联的一位元帅。
• Germany began to attack the Soviet Union in 1941.德国在1941年开始进攻苏联。

8 isolating   

adj.孤立的，绝缘的v.使隔离( isolate的现在分词 )；将…剔出（以便看清和单独处理）；使（某物质、细胞等）分离；使离析

参考例句：

• Colour filters are not very effective in isolating narrow spectral bands. 一些滤色片不能很有效地分离狭窄的光谱带。 来自辞典例句
• This became known as the streak method for isolating bacteria. 这个方法以后就称为分离细菌的划线法。 来自辞典例句

9 elite   

n.精英阶层；实力集团；adj.杰出的，卓越的

参考例句：

• The power elite inside the government is controlling foreign policy.政府内部的一群握有实权的精英控制着对外政策。
• We have a political elite in this country.我们国家有一群政治精英。

10 stilted   

adj.虚饰的；夸张的

参考例句：

• All too soon the stilted conversation ran out.很快这种做作的交谈就结束了。
• His delivery was stilted and occasionally stumbling.他的发言很生硬，有时还打结巴。

11 mechanisms   

n.机械( mechanism的名词复数 )；机械装置；[生物学] 机制；机械作用

参考例句：

• The research will provide direct insight into molecular mechanisms. 这项研究将使人能够直接地了解分子的机理。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He explained how the two mechanisms worked. 他解释这两台机械装置是如何工作的。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 secrecy   

n.秘密，保密，隐蔽

参考例句：

• All the researchers on the project are sworn to secrecy.该项目的所有研究人员都按要求起誓保守秘密。
• Complete secrecy surrounded the meeting.会议在绝对机密的环境中进行。

13 collaboration   

n.合作，协作；勾结

参考例句：

• The two companies are working in close collaboration each other.这两家公司密切合作。
• He was shot for collaboration with the enemy.他因通敌而被枪毙了。

14 transparent   

adj.明显的，无疑的；透明的

参考例句：

• The water is so transparent that we can see the fishes swimming.水清澈透明，可以看到鱼儿游来游去。
• The window glass is transparent.窗玻璃是透明的。