Last Sunday, tens of thousands of people took to the streets in Hong Kong to protest.

上周日，數萬個香港人上街抗議。

The police reactions to these protests were, surprisingly, intense -

警察對這次抗議的處理行動，出人意料的激烈，

resulting in, get this! far more people joining the protest!

造成了，看看這個 ! 更多人加入抗爭行動。

This somewhat surprising result is only one of the things that can be explained through

如果要解釋這有點令人意外的結果，必須透過進一步了解香港，

a better understanding of what Hong Kong is, what those people are protesting about,

並且理解香港人在抗議什麼事，

and what is motivating China.

以及什麼刺激了中國。

A brief history! -

歷史簡介!

1847: Hong Kong, a sparsely populated island off the southern coast of China,

1847年:香港是人口稀少的小島，位於中國南部海岸不遠處

is ceded to the United Kingdom after the Opium War.

在鴉片戰爭後割讓給英國

1898: China and Hong Kong agree to a 99 year lease of Hong Kong to the British Empire

1898年:中國和香港同意了99年的租期，租借給大英帝國

to be a British Colony.

成為英國殖民地

99 years! That's, that's plenty of time to figure out - NOPE.

99年! 非常充足的時間可以弄清楚- 並沒有

In the 90's, with the switch impending, the appointed - NOT elected - Governor of Hong Kong

90年代，即將交接之際，任命而非民選的香港政府

started to talk about how it would be really great if Hong Kong were a democracy.

開始討論如果香港是民主政體該有多棒

This is kinda hilarious after 150 years of colonial rule.

在150年的殖民統治之後這看似荒謬

China finds this, not just hilarious, but also really annoying because

中國認為這不止荒謬，甚至令人厭惡，因為

China would like to have Hong Kong's extraordinarily economically important cake and also eat it!

中國想要併吞香港這個有經濟價值的重要樞紐

1997: after 150 years of British rule, Hong Kong becomes part of China. Kind of.

1997年 : 在150的英國統治後，香港變成中國的一部分。大概可以這麼說。

After 150 years, Hong Kong has its own dialect, and judiciary, and taxes, and postal service, and money, and culture!

150以來，香港有自己的方言、司法制度、稅制、郵政系統、貨幣，還有文化!

People from Hong Kong are ethnically Chinese, and they feel connected to the Chinese people,

香港人是華人，而且他們覺得與中國人關係緊密

but they don't consider themselves Chinese.

但他們並不覺得自己是中國人

To get an idea of how weird this is, if you wanted to go from China, to China,

你想想這有多詭異，如果你想要從中國，到中國的另一地

but you happened to be crossing the Hong Kong border,

但你剛好要經過香港邊境

you have to get your passport stamped and go through immigration.

你的護照要蓋章，還要出入境

To get a better idea of how weird this is, during the 2008 Beijing Olympics,

這更不合常理了，2008北京奧運時

both China and Hong Kong had separate teams... Same country!

中國和香港各自有不同的隊伍...同一個國家!

At the root of it, this is all because what Hong Kong is now is really great for China.

從根源來說，這是因為香港的現況非常有利於中國

Not only would it be extremely difficult to have Hong Kong run by the same system as China,

不只因為讓香港和中國採行相同的制度很困難

which would be COMPLETELY different from the entire culture of Hong Kong,

兩地文化更是全然不同

it would also be bad for China! China wants Hong Kong to be the thing that it is.

而且對中國也不利 ! 中國希望香港維持原貌

It's a capitalist powerhouse that was created as a bridge between China and the capitalist world.

香港是資本主義重地，用來做為中國和世界資本主義的橋梁

Hong Kong houses the third largest stock exchange in the world;

香港擁有世界第三大的證券交易所

the Hong Kong dollar is the eighth most traded currency in the world!

港元在全球外匯市場貨幣交易量排行第八！

For all that to keep working,

因此一切仍照舊運作

Hong Kong kinda has to be a thing that China finds really uncomfortable

香港有樣東西會使中國芒刺在背 :

- Free.

-自由

They call it, "one country, two systems."

他們稱之為"一國兩制"

Alright, this might be a little bit of a difficult thing to understand. In America,

好吧，這件事有點難懂。在美國，

we make fun of a politician on TV. That's not just okay, it's also, like, if that politician can handle it,

我們在電視上嘲弄政治人物，不僅沒什麼大不了，還像是...如果這個政治人物能應付自如

it's kind of a good thing for them - it makes them seem more powerful.

反而對他們有幫助 - 會讓他們聲勢更旺

In China, where everything is very tightly controlled,

在中國，所有事情都受到嚴格控制

that kind of criticism would make a politician seem extremely weak.

那樣的批評會讓政治人物看起來超級差勁

So you have to imagine China as being run by a culture that does not accept any kind

所以你必須想像，中國是在這種文化之下運作，不能接受任何形式的

of derision or appearance of weakness.

嘲弄，或者顯露出無能

They're crazy with the control.

他們瘋狂的控制一切

China's national day was this week and they let loose ten thousand doves in Tiananmen Square

這禮拜中國的國慶日他們在天安門廣場放了一萬隻鴿子

they cavity searched EVERY dove to make sure there were no explosives inside of them.

他們檢查每隻鴿子的身體，確保他們體內沒有爆裂物

That... is what you think it is.

那...就是你想的那樣

China's government attitude is a mixture of immense pride in what they have done and vulnerability

中國政府的態度綜合以下二者，緬懷過去的榮光以及不堪一擊的脆弱

- just fear of it falling apart. And that might be somewhat warranted,

害怕分崩離析。而這擔心某種程度上是有根據的

because there are lots of China that don't want to be areas of China!

因為中國有許多地區想要獨立 !

And with a weakening economy and the number of protests in China growing,

隨著經濟衰弱，以及抗議民眾增長

politicians are worried about losing stability - and they REALLY like stability.

當局擔心政治不安定，而他們非常喜歡穩定

Now add, to all of this, that the current president of China, Xi Jingping,

此外，中國目前的領導人，習近平

just did a massive crackdown on corruption.

大規模掃蕩貪腐

This made him a lot of enemies of the Chinese officials who were benefiting from corruption.

他因而樹敵眾多，中國政府因貪腐得利的官員和他對立

You have a situation where the leadership in Beijing really wants to appear strong and

可想見在這種情形之下，北京的領導人渴望表現出強悍，

in control and not at all weak, and is thus not in any way interested to

一切在掌握中，絲毫不怯弱，因此無論如何

conceding to the protests in Hong Kong, or even allowing them to continue!

不能向香港抗議群眾妥協，甚至不能容忍他們繼續下去!

The protest, itself, does probably hurt Beijing - though maybe not as much as they imagine

或許這場抗議真的傷害了北京，但他們可能想得太嚴重

because people in Hong Kong and people in China don't actually get along that well anymore

因為香港人和中國人原本就合不來

for reasons that, surprisingly, involve shopping excursions.

原因是，令人意外地，和購物旅遊團有關

Now I've gotten a long way into this and I haven't even talked about the reason why people started protesting last Sunday.

我花了很長時間談這件事，但還沒談到主因，為什麼民眾上周日開始抗議

And that's kind of because, with all this background,

而那大概就是因為，這一切的歷史背景

it starts to feel... inevitable. Like it's just a thing that was gonna happen.

開始變得...不可避免了。就像是一件必定會發生的事。

But here's the specifics - since the hand-off of Hong Kong to China, it has been run,

更具體來說-自從香港回歸給中國後，一直以來的運作方式

not by a Governor or a mayor, but a Chief Executive if it wasn't capitalist enough for you.

不是政府或市長主導，而是特區首長，你看看這樣不叫資本主義什麼才是資本主義

The Chief Executive is elected by a kind of, like, weird electoral college

特區首長交由一個....有點怪異的選舉團選出來的，

composed mostly of, like, business tycoons

大多是由，像商業大亨之類的所組成

that represent different constituencies, mostly corporate constituencies.

他們代表不同的選民，大多是企業組織的選民。

Now, Hong Kong's constitution, which isn't really a constitution,

現在，稱不上是憲法的香港憲法(稱為香港基本法，在香港移交前制定)指出

eventually calls for the election of the chief executive by the people,

最後仍需要由人民普選出行政特首

and not by a group of twelve hundred people who have the exact same interests as Beijing.

而不是由這1200人與北京有共同利益的代表團來選

But, Beijing interprets that law a little bit differently, saying that, yes, the citizens of Hong Kong

但是，北京對於此法的解讀有點不同，他們表示，是的，香港人民

can elect their Chief Executive, but they have to choose from a pool of candidates that Beijing pre-selects for them.

可以自己選行政首長，但是，必須從北京先預選過的一群候選人當中選出

And that, of course, is not a democracy.

而這樣，當然不是民主制度

Now maybe even more importantly, since the 1989 massacre at Tiananmen Square,

現在，可能更重要的是，1989天安門事件的屠殺後，

the people of Hong Kong have had a proud and strong history of demonstration and protest.

香港人有令人驕傲和輝煌的示威和抗議歷史

And the intense response from the Hong Kong police was maybe even more scary to the people of Hong Kong

而香港警察激烈的回應，也許還更嚇人，對香港人來說

than was the prospect of not being able to elect their own leaders -

比起他們未來不能夠選自己的領導人

because the people of Hong Kong have never been able to elect their own leaders

因為香港人從來就無法票選自己的領導人

but they HAVE been able to freely protest.

但他們一直以來都能自由的抗議

Some people hope that, as Hong Kong was a testing ground for China's unique form of capitalism,

有些人這麼期望，因為香港是一個試驗場，試驗中國特有形式的資本主義

it might also become a testing ground for actual Chinese democracy.

它或許也能成為中國真正的民主之試驗場

But the cultural gap between the structure and control of China and the freedom of Hong Kong

但這個文化鴻溝介於中國的結構體制、控制以及香港的自由之間

may be too big to bridge.

可能大到難以跨越

But while the protests are bad for the image of Chinese leaders, quashing them would be

當這場抗議傷害中國領導人的形象，鎮壓民眾將

bad for the continued economic prosperity of Hong Kong.

不利於香港經濟的持續繁榮

And the protesters know that they shouldn't mess too much with Beijing,

而抗議民眾知道不要和北京撕破臉

that's why they're directing most of their ire at the Chief Executive.

這也是為什麼他們直接把大部分的憤怒情緒指向特首

China's state media, meanwhile, does report on the protests in Hong Kong,

中國官方媒體，同時，也報導了香港抗議活動，

just like they reported on the protests of the Arab Spring. But, as they did with the Arab Spring,

就像他們也報導了阿拉伯之春的抗議活動，但是，如同他們處理阿拉伯之春的新聞一樣

they focus on the chaos and inconvenience that these protests bring.

報導焦點集中在這些抗議活動帶來的混亂和不便，

And, really, what China needs is to stick together and be stable. Yay, stability!

還有，中國要的是團結穩定。是的， 穩定!

And with the protesters in Hong Kong protesting in very calm and stable ways,

香港的抗議者以冷靜平和的方式進行抗爭，

there seems to be a certain amount of agreement that stability is good.

那裡的情況看來，相當程度上同意和平穩定的理念是好的

There aren't very many voices calling for Hong Kong to secede from China, though China may be afraid that,

沒有強烈呼籲香港退出中國，雖然中國可能害怕這種情況

with continued cultural changes, that may eventually be the case.

隨著持續不斷的文化轉變，情況可能變成那樣

But mostly, Hong Kong just wants to be Hong Kong - and exceptional, unique place where lots of amazing things happen.

但基本上，香港只想要當香港，出色而獨特的，令人驚奇不斷的地方

Just, ideally, a Hong Kong with a little bit more control over its own destiny

只是，最理想的情況是，香港能多掌握一點自己的命運

for really, the first time in its entire existence.

真的，香港史上第一次

But in the country where they check the butts' of pigeons for explosives,

但在這種檢查鴿子屁股找爆裂物的國家裡

having an entire entire seven million person part of the country not controlled by the central government,

有著整整七百萬人口不受中央政府控制

is maybe not just scary, it might just be a completely foreign concept.

可能不只恐怖而已，根本完全是個天外飛來的概念

But just as China found ways to allow actual capitalism to occur within its borders,

但就像中國找到一種方式讓資本主義得以在其境內發生

maybe there's a way for actual democracy to occur within its borders.

也許有方法能讓中國產生真正的民主

That would be pretty amazing, and that would be a pretty fantastic outcome to this very, very weird story.

那將會是很棒而驚喜的結果，對這個非常非常怪異故事而言

I guess we'll see.

我想我們會等到這天

John, I'll see you on Tuesday.

John,星期二見