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编者按：8月3日，上海外国语大学英国研究中心研究员高健在《环球时报》（英文版）发表题为“It is not in the Great Britains diplomatic interests to alienate China”的评论文章。该文中文版8月5日发表于“东方网 东方智库”，标题为“疏远中国，不符合英国的根本外交利益”。
以来，中英双边关系一直处于相对稳定的发展阶段。尽管过去四年英国一直纠缠于脱欧困局中，中英在经济贸易与文化教育领域的合作交流依旧稳步前进。然而，近期部分蓄意反华的英国政客叫嚣要“重置”中英双边关系，甚至不惜损害英国现实利益与商业信誉，这种自残式的政治言行将“后脱欧时期”的英国置于危险的境地。
近日，英国政府在涉华问题上的态度突变，有其内在发展逻辑与机理。不少观点认为，在华为参与英国5G通讯网络与中国香港问题上，英国政府突然采取极端对立立场，主要是迫于美国施以的压力。这一说法，在一定程度上，忽视了英国国内政治氛围的基本特点与制定政策的一般规律。
事实上，中英两国在香港问题上基本立场是根本对立的。毋庸讳言，英国主流政客始终走不出殖民时代的帝国梦境，认为英国完全有理由捍卫其在香港的“特殊利益”；为数不少的英国议员无法摆脱冷战思维，在意识形态上将中国视为一种“异己”的政治存在，在情感上也不能接受中国强势崛起的客观现实。这种复杂又微妙的态度一直影响着中英双边关系的发展。
因此，一方面，“黄金时代”的中英关系在经济合作与民间交流领域取得了突飞猛进的发展；另一方面，各种影响中英双边关系的噪音从来都没有停止。
就当前局势而言，英国处于其现代历史进程中最为困难的时期。脱欧已经成为既定事实，尽管这一近乎经济自杀的政治选择是否明智始终是一个需要深入讨论的问题。过去几年，由于盲目选择了脱欧，“任性”的英国政客已将英国置于极为尴尬的政治被动局面。一个极为尖锐的问题是，英国还能够承担失去中国这一不可替代的国际合作伙伴的历史代价吗？
图片说明：这是6月6日在英国伦敦拍摄的一家关闭的商店。（来源：新华社）
失去中英双边关系的有效支撑，英国构建其“全球英国”外交战略体系的构想，只能沦为一句空话。英国政府在应对未来世界发展的外交战略中提出，要积极回应“日益具有挑战性的全球政治环境”，以确保英国能够继续作为“全球外交领域的成功参与者”。这就意味着更为国际化的英国外交在更大范围内构建互利共赢的双边关系与多边关系，始终将基于规则的国际政治秩序与多边外交体系作为其外交政策的核心组成部分，突出强调“自由贸易”是英国外交的核心价值理念，坚定地做自由贸易体系的代言人与守卫者。
然而，英国近来对华政策与其“全球英国”的外交战略背道而驰，极大挤压了英国自身的外交战略空间，成为美国外交的附属，这样的政治决策还谈何“全球英国”呢？过度依靠旧时代的同盟关系，只会损害英国的根本利益。没有任何明显的证据表明，英美特殊关系对于英国的全球外交战略是一个加分选项，如果英国指望通过递交反华投名状，博得美国在双边《自由贸易协定》中的让步，那无异于痴人说梦，因为当今英美双边关系的本质是赤裸裸的利益关系。
尤其需要强调的是，英国对华为参与英国5G通讯网络的政策，极大损害了英国“自由贸易”立国的国际形象，过度消耗了英国的国际商业信誉。英国是“自由贸易”立国的典型国家，英国经济的活力很大程度上依赖自由贸易体系。因此，支持世界范围内的自由贸易是英国构建“全球英国”外交格局的核心要素，是实现“全球英国”外交战略的首要任务。英国在维护全球自由贸易体系这一问题上与美国的立场存在根本差异，其在即将到来的WTO改革新一轮谈判中将采取维护自由贸易原则的立场。
图片说明：7月14日，英国文化大臣奥利弗 道登宣布，英国已决定停止在5G建设中使用华为设备。（来源：新华社）
然而，英国政府在华为事件中朝令夕改，视如此严肃的重大国际商业合作如儿戏，这种短视的态度极大损害了国际投资者对英国市场的信心。以牺牲本国消费者的现实利益为代价，在没有任何证据的前提下以所谓的国家安全为由，阻断正常的商业合作，这是一个倡导全球自由贸易理念的国家做出的明智选择吗？
中英双边关系的发展空间与巨大需求，是触手可及的现实。仅就中英经贸领域的合作而言，就有极大的合作潜能。中英在实物贸易、服务贸易、产能合作、节能环保领域、电子商务领域等众多领域存在明显的互补优势。，中英经贸合作也取得丰硕成果，双边货物贸易额超过860亿美元，比前已翻了一番还多。
加强中英金融服务领域合作对双方具有重大战略意义。“沪伦通”启动开创了中国与境外资本市场互联互通先河。伦敦的人民币累计清算量突破40万亿元，成为全球第二大人民币离岸清算中心和第一大人民币离岸外汇交易中心。今年1月1日起，中国进一步推进金融领域开放，取消证券、期货、基金、寿险外资股比限制。英国在国际金融领域具有丰富的人才资源与一流的服务水准，双方基于既有合作成果进一步加强国际货币业务与金融投资业务的合作是完全可以期待的。
近日，中国外交部长王毅与英国外交大臣拉布通电话时明确指出，双方应该保持应有的成熟与理性，尊重彼此的核心利益与重要关切，维护两国关系的政治基础。英国政府素来以现实利益的最大化为立国根本，一个明智的对华政策应该是可以期待的。
It is not in the Great Britains diplomatic interests to alienate China
China-UK bilateral relations have been developing stably since . Although it has been stuck in the Brexit dilemma over the past four years, the UK has nevertheless achieved steady progress in its cooperation with China in the fields of trade, economy, and education. However, some British China hawks are now demanding a "reset" of the China-UK relations at the expense of Britains interests and business reputation. Such political claims will put the post-Brexit Britain in a very dangerous position.
The UKs recent change of attitude toward China has its own logic. Some perceive that the UKs firm opposition to Huaweis involvement in the British 5G network and the Hong Kong-related affair results from the US pressure. But they have neglected the basic characteristics of British domestic politics and its general rules of policy-making. China-UK bilateral relations have been developing stably since . Although it has been stuck in the Brexit dilemma over the past four years, the UK has nevertheless achieved steady progress in its cooperation with China in the fields of trade, economy, and education. However, some British China hawks are now demanding a "reset" of the China-UK relations at the expense of Britains interests and business reputation. Such political claims will put the post-Brexit Britain in a very dangerous position.
In fact, China and Britain hold fundamentally opposing views over Hong Kong. Mainstream British politicians still believe in the greatness of Great Britain from the colonial era and thus claim its "special interests" in Hong Kong. Many also still have a Cold War mentality and regard China as hosting an alien ideology. They are unwilling to accept the fact that China has thrived. Under the effects of such subtle attitudes, China-UK relations have both realized rapid developments and undergone constant trials.
Britain now is in the middle of its hardest period in modern history. Controversial as it is, Brexit has become a reality. This has put Britain in a terribly passive position. The question now is: Can the UK afford to lose China - an irreplaceable partner?
To answer this mildly: Nothing can replace such an important international partner.
Without positive bilateral relations with China, UKs strategic vision of "Global Britain" is nothing more than a vain slogan. The British government has put forward its diplomatic strategy: It needs to cope with the worlds increasingly challenging political environment and make sure the UK will continue its successful participation in the global diplomatic practices.
This implicates a more international British diplomacy and a larger scale of mutually beneficial bilateral and multilateral relations, plus a firm attitude on free trade. However, what Britain has done against China has run against its strategy of "Global Britain." It has dwarfed the UK to an affiliate of US diplomacy. Where is "Global Britain" under such circumstances?
Excessive reliance on its old allies will only harm UKs fundamental interests. There is no evidence to show that a special relationship between UK and US will contribute to the UKs global diplomatic strategy. The Anglo-American bilateral relationship is essentially driven by interests. Therefore, it is merely a romantic notion for UK to expect Americas concession in the free trade agreement by going against China.
It is worth pointing out that UKs policy against Huawei is tremendously harming its global image as a free trade country and further damaging its international business reputation. The vitality of the British economy depends largely on the free trade system. Hence, supporting worldwide free trade plays a core role in the UKs construction of "Global Britain."
Britain holds a fundamentally different vision from the US in terms of maintaining the global free trade system. It will uphold free trade principals in the upcoming WTO negotiations, for example.
However, its sudden change of policies on the Huawei issue has exposed its short-sighted attitudes. This has thus caused a loss of confidence with global investors in the British market. What kind of a free trade country would ever block regular commercial cooperation on the grounds of the so-called national security with no proof and harm the interests of its domestic consumers?
It is pure fact that there exists large room and huge demands in the China-UK relations. In a recent telephone conversation, Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi told British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab that both sides should remain rational and mature, respect each others core interests and major concerns, and maintain the political foundation of bilateral relations.
The British government has always put the maximization of practical interests as one of its founding principles. We therefore believe that a wise policy toward China can be expected.
来源 | 环球时报英文版 东方智库
头图 | 杨丽骏
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原标题：《上外学者高健在《环球时报》（英文版）发表评论文章：疏远中国，不符合英国的根本外交利益》
上外学者高健在《环球时报》（英文版）发表评论文章：疏远中国 不符合英国的根本外交利益
