Former Singapore Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew said the U.S. needs to put its fiscal house in order to recover its competitiveness and suggested U.S. President Barack Obama would improve both his re-election chances and U.S. standing in Asia if he finds a way to work with Republicans and "tackles this problem."

　　新加坡前總理李光耀(Lee Kuan Yew)說(shuō)，美國(guó)要恢復(fù)競(jìng)爭(zhēng)力，就得解決好自己的財(cái)政問(wèn)題。他還暗示，美國(guó)總統(tǒng)奧巴馬(Barack Obama)如果能想出與共和黨合作的辦法并“處理好這個(gè)問(wèn)題”，不僅會(huì)增加自己獲得連任的機(jī)會(huì)，還會(huì)提升美國(guó)在亞洲的地位。

　　The 87-year-old founder of modern Singapore also said in a rare interview with The Wall Street Journal that he thought opposition leaders would pick up some seats in a planned election there early next month in a vote that analysts believe could be one of the most competitive in Singapore's history.

　　Reuters新加坡前總理李光耀(Lee Kuan Yew)現(xiàn)代新加坡國(guó)父、現(xiàn)年87歲的李光耀難得地接受了《華爾街日?qǐng)?bào)》的采訪。采訪期間他還說(shuō)，在新加坡按計(jì)劃于下月上旬舉行的選舉中，他認(rèn)為反對(duì)黨領(lǐng)袖將會(huì)獲得一定的席位。分析人士相信，這次選舉將成為新加坡歷史上競(jìng)爭(zhēng)最激烈的選舉之一。

　　Singapore, one of the most important financial centers in Asia, has been an important ally of the U.S. -- although the wealthy city-state has also taken pains to stay on good terms with other Asian powers such as China, especially as trade with those countries has grown. Still, Mr. Lee said it was in the world's interests for the U.S. to remain a pre-eminent power and fully recover from its recent economic troubles, so that it can help preserve the balance of power world-wide.

　　新加坡是亞洲最重要的金融中心之一，一直是美國(guó)的一個(gè)重要盟友，但這個(gè)富足的城市國(guó)家也曾花了不少功夫才得以同中國(guó)等亞洲大國(guó)和睦相處，特別是在它同這些國(guó)家的貿(mào)易不斷增長(zhǎng)的時(shí)候。李光耀說(shuō)，美國(guó)保持突出的大國(guó)地位、完全擺脫近期經(jīng)濟(jì)困局符合世界的利益，因?yàn)槟菢铀涂梢詭椭S持整個(gè)世界的勢(shì)力均衡。

　　Casually dressed but formal in manner, Mr. Lee was clearly concerned about the prospect of a diminished U.S. global role, politically and financially, arguing that its international influence had been a cornerstone of Asia's rapid economic rise. His answers, delivered with a robustness that was in contrast to a somewhat frail physique, revealed a close interest in the ebb and flow of policy debates in Washington.

　　李光耀一身休閑打扮，但舉手投足之間顯得莊重文雅。他顯然對(duì)美國(guó)全球地位下降、特別是政治和金融地位下降的可能性感到擔(dān)心，因?yàn)樗J(rèn)為美國(guó)的國(guó)際影響力是亞洲經(jīng)濟(jì)得以迅速崛起的一個(gè)基石。雖然體形顯得有些虛弱，但李光耀回答問(wèn)題時(shí)透著一股活力，他的回答揭示出他對(duì)華盛頓政策辯論的消長(zhǎng)所保持的濃厚興趣。

　　"The world has developed because of the stability America established," he said. "If that stability is rocked, we are going to have a different situation," he said.

　　他說(shuō)，世界得到發(fā)展的原因在于美國(guó)建立的穩(wěn)定性，如果這種穩(wěn)定性受到動(dòng)搖，我們將處于一種不同的形勢(shì)。

　　Mr. Lee said he thinks a "challenge may come gradually from China," but he doubts China and the U.S. will come into serious conflict anytime soon. China needs American markets, American investments and American technology, and won't want to "upset the apple cart," he said. "While there will be keen competition, I do not see conflict."

　　李光耀說(shuō)，他認(rèn)為“中國(guó)可能會(huì)逐漸形成挑戰(zhàn)”，但他不相信中美之間會(huì)在短時(shí)間內(nèi)形成嚴(yán)重沖突。他說(shuō)，中國(guó)需要美國(guó)的市場(chǎng)、美國(guó)的投資和美國(guó)的技術(shù)，不會(huì)希望打亂既定計(jì)劃；雖然會(huì)有激烈的競(jìng)爭(zhēng)，但我認(rèn)為不會(huì)有沖突。

　　The world faces other risks, though, including a Japan weakened by natural disasters and a turbulent Middle East, where the U.S. may be the only military that has the power to play a decisive role in settling conflicts in places such as Libya. "France has taken the lead but they do not have the equipment to settle the issue militarily," he said.

　　然而世界還面臨著其他風(fēng)險(xiǎn)，如自然災(zāi)害削弱了日本，以及中東形勢(shì)動(dòng)蕩不安。在中東地區(qū)，美軍可能是唯一有實(shí)力在解決利比亞等地沖突的過(guò)程中發(fā)揮決定性作用的軍隊(duì)。他說(shuō)，法國(guó)已經(jīng)打了頭陣，但他們不具備通過(guò)軍事方式解決問(wèn)題所需要的裝備。

　　Despite Singapore's outsize success and reputation for transparency and efficiency, Mr. Lee has drawn criticism from human-rights groups and civil-society organizations over the years for cultivating a top-down management style that critics say limits the freedom of the press and suppresses dissent. Freedom House, a Washington-based advocacy group, last year ranked Singapore 151st in the world in press freedom, behind Liberia and Iraq.

　　盡管新加坡取得了巨大的成功、贏得了透明高效的聲譽(yù)，多年來(lái)，李光耀卻因培養(yǎng)一種自上而下的管理風(fēng)格而受到人權(quán)組織和公民社會(huì)組織的批評(píng)，批評(píng)人士說(shuō)這樣的管理風(fēng)格限制了新聞自由、壓制了不同意見(jiàn)。去年，華盛頓維權(quán)組織自由之家(Freedom House)在全球新聞自由度排行中，將新加坡排在了第151位，在利比里亞和伊拉克之后。

　　Mr. Lee has dismissed the critics by pointing to Singapore's rise as an economic power in an unstable region and by saying that Western-style democracy isn't appropriate for all countries. He has said freedom of the press sometimes must be subordinated to the needs of nation-building.

　　李光耀反駁了批評(píng)意見(jiàn)，他指出新加坡在一個(gè)不穩(wěn)定的地區(qū)崛起成為經(jīng)濟(jì)強(qiáng)國(guó)，西方式的民主并非適用于所有的國(guó)家。他經(jīng)常說(shuō)，新聞自由有時(shí)必須服從國(guó)家建設(shè)的需要。

　　In his interview, Mr. Lee said the growth of China and India would help bolster Singapore, as it lifts economies across the region. "We are at the crossroads between the two giants. You've got to pass Singapore to go from the Indian Ocean into the Pacific," he said.

　　李光耀在采訪中說(shuō)，中國(guó)和印度的經(jīng)濟(jì)增長(zhǎng)提振了該地區(qū)的各個(gè)經(jīng)濟(jì)體，也有望推動(dòng)新加坡的發(fā)展。他說(shuō)，我們處在這兩個(gè)大國(guó)之間的十字路口上，你必須通過(guò)新加坡才能從印度洋進(jìn)入太平洋。

　　As for the U.S., Mr. Lee said he was confident it would remain strong in the long run, but it faces serious problems, including "budget deficits, debts, [and] high unemployment figures' that have 'lingered on over several administrations."

　　關(guān)于美國(guó)，李光耀說(shuō)，他堅(jiān)信長(zhǎng)遠(yuǎn)來(lái)看，美國(guó)將依然強(qiáng)大，不過(guò)會(huì)面臨嚴(yán)重問(wèn)題，包括預(yù)算赤字、債務(wù)、高失業(yè)率，這些問(wèn)題已經(jīng)持續(xù)了數(shù)屆政府。

　　"My impression is that presidents do not get re-elected if they give a hard dose of medicine to their people," he said. "So, there is a tendency to procrastinate, to postpone unpopular policies in order to win elections. So the problems have been carried forward."

　　他說(shuō)，我覺(jué)得如果總統(tǒng)給選民一劑苦藥，他就無(wú)法獲得連任。所以，總統(tǒng)往往會(huì)拖延，推遲不受歡迎的政策，以便贏得選舉。這樣，問(wèn)題就一屆一屆的傳下去了。

　　U.S. President Obama "knows he has got this responsibility but he has got to tussle with the Republicans," he added. "I believe if he tackles this problem, it will improve his chances of re-election. There must be enough reasonable and thinking Americans who know that this is the only way forward to recover their competitiveness."

　　他還說(shuō)，美國(guó)總統(tǒng)奧巴馬知道自己有這樣的責(zé)任，但他必須與共和黨糾纏。我認(rèn)為如果他解決了這個(gè)問(wèn)題，他連任的機(jī)會(huì)將增大。肯定有很多講道理、有頭腦的美國(guó)人知道這是恢復(fù)他們競(jìng)爭(zhēng)力的唯一途徑。

　　Mr. Lee played down the risk of major conflicts between the U.S. and China. "I do not have a crystal ball but I would say for 10, 20, 30 years, it is not in the interests of China to have other than stable relations with America, growing exports to America, imports of American technology, investments from America and sending students to America to learn." He said, it helps that the U.S. is sending more students to China, which should help improve America's understanding of the country.

　　李光耀認(rèn)為美國(guó)和中國(guó)不會(huì)有發(fā)生重大沖突的風(fēng)險(xiǎn)。他說(shuō)，我沒(méi)有水晶球，不過(guò)我要說(shuō)10年、20年、30年內(nèi)，中國(guó)將保持與美國(guó)的穩(wěn)定關(guān)系、增加對(duì)美出口、進(jìn)口美國(guó)技術(shù)、吸引美國(guó)投資、派學(xué)生赴美學(xué)習(xí)，這才是中國(guó)的利益所在。他說(shuō)，美國(guó)開(kāi)始向中國(guó)派出更多的學(xué)生，這將有利于增強(qiáng)美國(guó)對(duì)中國(guó)的了解，是有幫助的。

　　"Why should [Westerners] fear China?" he asked. Despite China's and India's impressive growth, "I believe the Americans will always have the advantage because of their all-embracive society, and the English language that makes it easy to attract foreign talent."

　　他問(wèn)道，西方人為什么要害怕中國(guó)？盡管中國(guó)和印度經(jīng)濟(jì)飛速發(fā)展，我認(rèn)為，鑒于美國(guó)的多文化社會(huì)和英語(yǔ)這些容易吸引外國(guó)人才的特點(diǎn)，美國(guó)人將一直有優(yōu)勢(shì)。