新新世界
新冠病毒危機暴露中共治理體系的失敗
JIALUN DENG武漢市市長指責上級。一位高級疾控官員指責層層的官僚作風。一名高級政府專家指責公眾，他說：人們根本不理解他告訴他們的話。
中國正努力應對一場神秘的冠狀病毒疫情，它已導致至少490人死亡，數千人患病，這個國家的14億人口想知道，到底是哪裡出了問題。高官們以一種平時看不到的直率相互指責。
許多官員推卸責任，一些網民開玩笑說，他們正在觀看一場「甩鍋」大戰。
中國人民難得有機會看到中國龐大而不透明的官僚體系是如何運作的 ~~或者更確切地說，是如何不起作用的。許多官員已成為政治官僚，擔心做出激怒上級的決定，並且在與公眾打交道時過於冷漠和傲慢，不願承認失誤並從中吸取教訓。
暢銷書作家許開禎說：「這次事件暴露出的最根本、最關鍵的問題是地方政府不作為，不敢作為。」許開禎以探討中國官場複雜性的小說聞名。
「在反腐的高壓態勢下，大多數人，包括政府高級官員有一種自保心態，」許開禎說。「都怕第一個站出來說話，都在等上級命令，一味地為上級負責。」
中國政府似乎已經意識到了這個問題。中共最高領導人在週一的一次會議上承認，這次疫情是「對我國治理體系和能力的一次大考」。
隨著中國基本上進入停擺期，越來越多的人質疑政府的決定。病毒在傳播時，武漢及全國各地的官員隱瞞了關鍵信息，淡化了病毒的威脅，並訓誡試圖發出警報的醫生。根據《紐約時報》對這次疾病傳播事件的還原顯示，中國政府沒有更早地發出警告，失去了阻止疫情暴發的時機。
疫情打破了中國政治精英純粹憑能力獲得任命和晉陞的神話。中國一直宣傳此系統為自己的獨特創新。發展中國家派出了數千名政府官員到中國學習其治理模式，這種政治體制提供安全和增長，換取對威權統治的服從。
現在，中國人正在質疑這一前提。他們將憤怒聚焦在中國最高領導人習近平身上，很多人指責他在中國政府內部營造了一種恐懼和順從的文化。
很少有人敢公開質疑習近平，以免激怒審查者或警察。但是在習近平近日從公眾場合消失後，一些社群媒體用戶開始委婉地問：「那個人在哪？」他們還在網上發布信息並分享前領導人在危機現場的照片。
批評人士悄悄地說，在習近平領導下，中共開始提拔忠誠的政治骨幹，而非技術官僚——在20世紀90年代和21世紀頭10年中國增長最快的時候，專家和熟練的管理人員是中國官僚機構的骨幹。
這些官員可能常常是腐敗的，但即使是中國最激烈的批評者，有時也承認他們做了實事。前鐵路部長劉志軍因受賄和濫用職權被判終身監禁。但他主導了中國高鐵系統的創建，這極大地改善了該國人民的生活。
中國的甩鍋行為在一定程度上源於技術官僚與市長、省長和省委書記等政治幹部之間的緊張關係。在中國省級和國級疾控中心，有許多技術官僚任職。疫情暴發和信息不透明表明，政治幹部正在勝出。實際上，即使技術官僚也正在成為政治幹部，因為他們之中沒有一個人有膽量將他們對病毒的了解告訴公眾。
中國官員將多達三分之一的時間花在政治學習上，很多都是習近平的講話。在績效評估中，政治忠誠較以前占更大的權重。現在，中國官場的經驗法則似乎是盡可能明確地表忠心，其他事情都含糊其辭，當出現問題時，不惜一切代價逃避責任。
中國人民可能正在為此付出代價。問題遍及整個系統。
武漢市市長周先旺說，他沒有早些透露疫情的規模和危險，是因為需要得到上級的授權。但他本可以在不透露太多信息的情況下做點什麼，包括告訴當地居民戴口罩、常洗手，並且叫停大型聚會，比如在這座人口1100萬的城市被封鎖前幾天還在舉辦的聚餐，有四萬多戶家庭參加。
當信息開始慢慢流出時，它語焉不詳，而且帶有誤導性。在12月31日至1月17日發布的一系列網路公告中，地方官員透露他們正在治療肺炎患者，但沒有透露發病的具體時間和數量。
擁有宣布疫情緊急狀態權力的國家衛生健康委員會直到1月19日才發布疫情通報。但通報基本上把責任推給了地方政府。通告的第一句話引用了一項要求委員會與地方官員就流行病預防進行合作的規定。
政府高級衛生顧問王廣發曾向公眾保證，這種疾病可防可控，結果自己卻染病。他在康復後接受採訪時表示，當時掌握的信息有限。他曾向公眾保證，這種疾病是可控的，然而他自己卻患病了。他還為自己的說法辯解，稱遭到了公眾的「誤解」，還說大多數暴發的傳染病，最終都得到了控制。
地方官員似乎並沒有優先考慮當地民眾的利益。在接受國家電視台採訪時，武漢市委書記馬國強承認，武漢市民「有一些焦慮，有一些緊張」，並表示他將動員所有黨組織來安撫他們。
「當然我想最重要的撫慰還是習近平總書記，」他還說。
小說家許開禎說，馬國強的言論表明官員們更關心取悅上司，而不是他們本應為之服務的民眾。
「這兩個位置互換，我們的官員就會是一種完全不同的執政風格，」許開禎說。
在努力控制疫情蔓延的時候，地方政府顯示出他們更善於裝得忙忙碌碌，而不是去尋找解決方案。許多政府想方設法追蹤甚至驅逐湖北省的居民，以阻止冠狀病毒的傳播。追蹤潛在的傳播者是明智的政策，但懲罰或迫害他們可能會迫使他們轉入地下，使抗擊疫情變得更加困難。
即使在疫情最嚴重的地區之外，地方官員的行為也表明，他們制定規則時並沒有考慮到人民的利益。一段影片在中國各地瘋傳，顯示一對夫婦被困在連接貴州省和重慶市的一座橋上。兩地政府停止中斷了交通，這對夫婦——妻子來自貴州，丈夫來自重慶——無處可去。
在社群媒體上，基層幹部抱怨說，他們從上級得到太多指示，只得把大部分時間花在填寫電子表格上，而不是真正完成工作。在一篇題為《口罩下的形式主義》的社群媒體帖子中，作者寫道，「（體制內）大多數人做事的出發點從來不是為了解決問題，他們做事情都是為了解決責任。」
疫情過後，為了挽回面子，挽回一些公信力，中國領導人將不得不懲罰一些官員，甚至是做出嚴厲的懲罰。但對於那些正遭受疫情和治理失敗痛苦的人來說，共產黨可能很難贏回他們的心。
「我知道用不了多久，這個國度便會太平盛世。我們會聽到齊聲的吶喊，會自豪於富裕和強大，」一位武漢居民在社群媒體網站微博上寫道。「但目睹過故事的我，拒絕在未來看見那些掌聲與表彰。」
袁莉為《紐約時報》撰寫「新新世界」專欄，專注中國及亞洲科技、商業和政治交叉議題。歡迎在Twitter上關注她 @liyuan6。
翻譯：紐約時報中文網
新新世界
新冠病毒危機暴露中國治理體系的失敗
Coronavirus Crisis Shows China's Governance Failure
JIALUN DENGSign up for NYT Chinese-language Morning Briefing.
Wuhan's mayor blamed higher-ups. A senior disease control official blamed layers of bureaucracy. A top government expert blamed the public: The people, he said, simply didn't understand what he told them.
武漢市市長指責上級。一位高級疾控官員指責層層的官僚作風。一名高級政府專家指責公眾，他說：人們根本不理解他告訴他們的話。
As China grapples with a mysterious coronavirus outbreak that has killed at least 490 people and sickened thousands, the country's 1.4 billion people are asking what went wrong. Senior officials are engaging in an unusually blunt display of finger pointing.
中國正努力應對一場神秘的冠狀病毒疫情，它已導致至少490人死亡，數千人患病，這個國家的14億人口想知道，到底是哪裡出了問題。高官們以一種平時看不到的直率相互指責。
So many officials have denied responsibility that some online users joke that they are watching a passing-the-buck competition. (It's "tossing the wok" in Chinese.)
許多官員推卸責任，一些網民開玩笑說，他們正在觀看一場「甩鍋」大戰。
The Chinese people are getting a rare glimpse of how China's giant, opaque bureaucratic system works — or, rather, how it fails to work. Too many of its officials have become political apparatchiks, fearful of making decisions that anger their superiors and too removed and haughty when dealing with the public to admit mistakes and learn from them.
中國人民難得有機會看到中國龐大而不透明的官僚體系是如何運作的~~ 或者更確切地說，是如何不起作用的。許多官員已成為政治官僚，擔心做出激怒上級的決定，並且在與公眾打交道時過於冷漠和傲慢，不願承認失誤並從中吸取教訓。
"The most important issue this outbreak exposed is the local government's lack of action and fear of action," said Xu Kaizhen, a best-selling author who is famous for his novels that explore the intricate workings of China's bureaucratic politics.
暢銷書作家許開禎說：「這次事件暴露出的最根本、最關鍵的問題是地方政府不作為，不敢作為。」許開禎以探討中國官場複雜性的小說聞名。
"Under the high-pressure environment of an anticorruption campaign, most people, including senior government officials, only care about self-preservation," Mr. Xu said. "They don't want to be the first to speak up. They wait for their superiors to make decisions and are only accountable to their superiors instead of the people."
「在反腐的高壓態勢下，大多數人，包括政府高級官員有一種自保心態，」許開禎說。「都怕第一個站出來說話，都在等上級命令，一味地為上級負責。」
The Chinese government appears to be aware of the problem. The Communist Party's top leadership acknowledged in a meeting on Monday that the epidemic was "a major test of China's system and capacity for governance."
中國政府似乎已經意識到了這個問題。中共最高領導人在週一的一次會議上承認，這次疫情是「對我國治理體系和能力的一次大考」。
Growing numbers of people are questioning the government's decisions as China enters a period of virtual shutdown. As the virus spread, officials in Wuhan and around the country withheld critical information, played down the threat and rebuked doctors who tried to raise the alarm. A reconstruction of the diseases's spread by The New York Times showed that by not issuing earlier warnings, the Chinese government potentially lost the window to keep the disease from becoming an epidemic.
隨著中國基本上進入停擺期，越來越多的人質疑政府的決定。病毒在傳播時，武漢及全國各地的官員隱瞞了關鍵信息，淡化了病毒的威脅，並訓誡試圖發出警報的醫生。根據《紐約時報》對這次疾病傳播事件的還原顯示，中國政府沒有更早地發出警告，失去了阻止疫情暴發的時機。
The outbreak has undermined the myth that the Chinese political elites win assignments and promotion purely on merit. China has sold this system as its own unique innovation. Developing countries have sent thousands of their government officials to China to learn its model of governance, a political system that offers security and growth in return for submission to authoritarian rule.
疫情打破了中國政治精英純粹憑能力獲得任命和晉陞的神話。中國一直宣傳此系統為自己的獨特創新。發展中國家派出了數千名政府官員到中國學習其治理模式，這種政治體制提供安全和增長，換取對威權統治的服從。
People in China are now questioning that premise. They are focusing much of their anger on Xi Jinping, China's top leader and the person many blame for creating a culture of fear and subservience within the Chinese government.
現在，中國人正在質疑這一前提。他們將憤怒聚焦在中國最高領導人習近平身上，很多人指責他在中國政府內部營造了一種恐懼和順從的文化。
Few people dare to question Mr. Xi openly, for fear of provoking censors or the police. But after Mr. Xi disappeared from public in recent days, some social media users began asking euphemistically, "Where is that person?" They are also posting online and sharing pictures of former leaders at the site of past crises.
很少有人敢公開質疑習近平，以免激怒審查者或警察。但是在習近平近日從公眾場合消失後，一些社群媒體用戶開始委婉地問：「那個人在哪？」他們還在網上發布信息並分享前領導人在危機現場的照片。
Critics say quietly that, under Mr. Xi, the party began promoting loyal political cadres over technocrats — the experts and skilled administrators who were the backbone of China's bureaucracy in 1990s and 2000s, when the country grew the fastest.
批評人士悄悄地說，在習近平領導下，中共開始提拔忠誠的政治骨幹，而非技術官僚——在20世紀90年代和21世紀頭10年中國增長最快的時候，專家和熟練的管理人員是中國官僚機構的骨幹。
Those officials could often be corrupt, but even the party's fiercest critics sometimes acknowledged that they got things done. Liu Zhijun, the former railway minister, is serving a lifetime sentence for taking bribes and abusing power. He also oversaw the creation of China's high-speed rail system, which vastly improved life in the country.
這些官員可能常常是腐敗的，但即使是中國最激烈的批評者，有時也承認他們做了實事。前鐵路部長劉志軍因受賄和濫用職權被判終身監禁。但他主導了中國高鐵系統的創建，這極大地改善了該國人民的生活。
The wok tossing in China stems in part from the tension between the technocrats, who hold a large number of positions with China's provincial and national disease control centers, and the political cadres — the mayors, governors and the provincial party secretaries. The outbreak and lack of disclosure suggest that the political cadres are winning. In fact, even the technocrats are becoming cadres because none of them had the courage to tell the public what they knew about the virus.
中國的甩鍋行為在一定程度上源於技術官僚與市長、省長和省委書記等政治幹部之間的緊張關係。在中國省級和國級疾控中心，有許多技術官僚任職。疫情暴發和信息不透明表明，政治幹部正在勝出。實際上，即使技術官僚也正在成為政治幹部，因為他們之中沒有一個人有膽量將他們對病毒的了解告訴公眾。
Chinese officials are spending as much as one-third of their time on political studying sessions, a lot of which are about Mr. Xi's speeches. Political loyalty weighs much more in performance evaluations than before. Now the rule of thumb in Chinese officialdom seems to be demonstrating loyalty as explicitly as possible, keeping everything else vague and evading responsibility at all costs when things go wrong.
中國官員將多達三分之一的時間花在政治學習上，很多都是習近平的講話。在績效評估中，政治忠誠較以前占更大的權重。現在，中國官場的經驗法則似乎是盡可能明確地表忠心，其他事情都含糊其辭，當出現問題時，不惜一切代價逃避責任。
The Chinese people may be paying the price. The failures span the system.
中國人民可能正在為此付出代價。問題遍及整個系統。
Zhou Xianwang, Wuhan's mayor, said he didn't disclose the scale and danger of the epidemic earlier because he needed the authorization from higher up. But he could have done something without sharing much information, including telling the residents to wear masks, wash hands frequently and stop big gatherings such as the potluck banquet attended by over 40,000 families just a few days before his city of 11 million was locked down.
武漢市市長周先旺說，他沒有早些透露疫情的規模和危險，是因為需要得到上級的授權。但他本可以在不透露太多信息的情況下做點什麼，包括告訴當地居民戴口罩、常洗手，並且叫停大型聚會，比如在這座人口1100萬的城市被封鎖前幾天還在舉辦的聚餐，有四萬多戶家庭參加。
When information began to dribble out, it was vague and misleading. In a series of online notices issued between Dec. 31 and Jan. 17, local officials disclosed they were treating pneumonia patients but didn't say when or how many.
當信息開始慢慢流出時，它語焉不詳，而且帶有誤導性。在12月31日至1月17日發布的一系列網路公告中，地方官員透露他們正在治療肺炎患者，但沒有透露發病的具體時間和數量。
The National Health Commission, the ministry with the authority to declare an epidemic emergency, didn't issue its own notice about the outbreak until Jan. 19. But the notice essentially kicked blame back to the local authorities. The first sentence cited a rule that required the commission to work with local officials on epidemic prevention.
擁有宣布疫情緊急狀態權力的國家衛生健康委員會直到1月19日才發布疫情通報。但通報基本上把責任推給了地方政府。通告的第一句話引用了一項要求委員會與地方官員就流行病預防進行合作的規定。
A top government health adviser, Wang Guangfa, who had reassured the public that the disease was controllable only to be sickened himself, said in an interview after he recovered that he had limited information at the time. He also defended his phrasing as a "misunderstanding" by the general public, saying most outbreaks of infectious diseases are controlled in the end.
政府高級衛生顧問王廣發曾向公眾保證，這種疾病可防可控，結果自己卻染病。他在康復後接受採訪時表示，當時掌握的信息有限。他曾向公眾保證，這種疾病是可控的，然而他自己卻患病了。他還為自己的說法辯解，稱遭到了公眾的「誤解」，還說大多數暴發的傳染病，最終都得到了控制。
Local officials don't seem to have local people at the top of their list of priorities. In an interview with state television, Ma Guoqiang, the Communist Party secretary of Wuhan, acknowledged that Wuhan residents "are a little anxious and a little nervous" and said he would mobilize all party cells to comfort them.
地方官員似乎並沒有優先考慮當地民眾的利益。在接受國家電視台採訪時，武漢市委書記馬國強承認，武漢市民「有一些焦慮，有一些緊張」，並表示他將動員所有黨組織來安撫他們。
"But the most important comfort," he added, "came from Party Secretary Xi Jinping."
「當然我想最重要的撫慰還是習近平總書記，」他還說。
Mr. Xu, the novelist, said Mr. Ma's remarks demonstrated how officials had more concern for pleasing their bosses than taking care of the people they allegedly served.
小說家許開禎說，馬國強的言論表明官員們更關心取悅上司，而不是他們本應為之服務的民眾。
"If they can rearrange the order in their hearts," Mr. Xu said, "we'll see a very different governance style."
「這兩個位置互換，我們的官員就會是一種完全不同的執政風格，」許開禎說。
As they try to contain the spread, local governments are showing that they are better at looking busy than they are at finding a solution. Many are now finding ways to track down and even expel residents from Hubei Province to keep the coronavirus from spreading. Tracking potential spreaders is sound policy, but punishing or persecuting them risks driving them underground, making it even harder to fight the outbreak.
在努力控制疫情蔓延的時候，地方政府顯示出他們更善於裝得忙忙碌碌，而不是去尋找解決方案。許多政府想方設法追蹤甚至驅逐湖北省的居民，以阻止冠狀病毒的傳播。追蹤潛在的傳播者是明智的政策，但懲罰或迫害他們可能會迫使他們轉入地下，使抗擊疫情變得更加困難。
Even outside the hardest hit areas, local officials are showing they don't make rules with the well-being of the people in mind. A video that went viral across China showed a couple stuck on a bridge connecting Guizhou Province to the city of Chongqing. The two governments had halted travel between them, and the couple — she from Guizhou, he from Chongqing — had no place to go.
即使在疫情最嚴重的地區之外，地方官員的行為也表明，他們制定規則時並沒有考慮到人民的利益。一段影片在中國各地瘋傳，顯示一對夫婦被困在連接貴州省和重慶市的一座橋上。兩地政府停止中斷了交通，這對夫婦——妻子來自貴州，丈夫來自重慶——無處可去。
On social media, low-level cadres are complaining that they are receiving so many instructions from the higher-ups that they spend most of their time filling out spreadsheets instead of getting real work done. In a social media post headlined "The Formalism Under the Mask," the author wrote, "Most people in the system don't do things to solve problems. They do things to solve responsibilities."
在社群媒體上，基層幹部抱怨說，他們從上級得到太多指示，只得把大部分時間花在填寫電子表格上，而不是真正完成工作。在一篇題為《口罩下的形式主義》的社群媒體帖子中，作者寫道，「（體制內）大多數人做事的出發點從來不是為了解決問題，他們做事情都是為了解決責任。」
After the epidemic, the Chinese leadership will have to punish a few officials, even severely, to save face and win back some credibility. But for people who are suffering from the epidemic and the failure of governance, the Communist Party may have a hard time winning them back.
疫情過後，為了挽回面子，挽回一些公信力，中國領導人將不得不懲罰一些官員，甚至是做出嚴厲的懲罰。但對於那些正遭受疫情和治理失敗痛苦的人來說，共產黨可能很難贏回他們的心。
"I know before long this country will go back to being a peaceful, prosperous society. We will hear many people screaming how proud they are of its prosperity and power," a Wuhan resident wrote on the social media site Weibo. "But after what I have witnessed, I refuse to watch the applause and commendation."
「我知道用不了多久，這個國度便會太平盛世。我們會聽到齊聲的吶喊，會自豪於富裕和強大，」一位武漢居民在社群媒體網站微博上寫道。「但目睹過故事的我，拒絕在未來看見那些掌聲與表彰。」
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