譯/李京倫、核稿/樂慧生
川普敗選 害到英國脫歐談判
Few world leaders have felt the fallout of President-elect Joe Biden's victory more quickly than Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
拜登在美國總統大選中勝出後,少有世界級領袖如英國首相強生那般,立即感覺大事不妙。
Johnson is in the final phases of trying to negotiate a post-Brexit trade agreement with the European Union, a complex challenge that just became more urgent with the defeat of his ally and ideological mate, President Donald Trump.
強生正處在與歐盟談判英國脫歐後貿易協議的最後階段,這場談判原本就是個複雜的挑戰,如今因為他的盟友兼意識形態夥伴美國總統川普落選,變得更為緊迫。
A failed negotiation with Brussels could stir up tensions between Johnson and Biden even before they get to know each other, because it would almost certainly reverberate badly in Ireland. Biden, who speaks often and fondly of his Irish roots, has already warned Johnson not to do anything in his trade negotiations that would threaten peace in Northern Ireland.
如果英國與歐盟談判失敗,可能使強生與拜登還來不及認識彼此,關係便陷入緊張,因為談判失敗幾乎肯定會在愛爾蘭引起強烈反彈。拜登常語帶感情地談到祖先來自愛爾蘭,他已警告強生,別在協商中做出任何會危及北愛和平的事。
"The election completely changed the game," said Mujtaba Rahman, an analyst at the political risk consultancy, Eurasia Group.
政治風險顧問公司歐亞集團分析家拉曼說:「美國大選徹底改變了局面。」
Unlike Trump, Biden opposed Brexit. He is not likely to make a trade deal with London as high a priority as Trump might have. And he has ruled out such a deal altogether if Britain does anything to water down the protections of Northern Ireland that are enshrined in the Withdrawal Agreement.
拜登與川普不同,反對英國脫歐。川普可能把與英國達成貿易協議列為優先要務,拜登卻不太可能如此。而且拜登說過,英國若使堂堂載入英國脫歐協議的北愛爾蘭保護條款受到任何限縮,美英貿易協議就完全免談。
British newspapers have been full of stories in recent days raising alarm about the future of the "special relationship" between Britain and the United States, and musing about whether Johnson and Biden, who have yet to meet, are destined to be at odds.
英國報紙近日充斥著報導,就英美特殊關係的前景提出警告,並探討強生與素未謀面的拜登是否注定不合。
After Johnson congratulated Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris on their election, a former White House aide to Barack Obama, Tommy Vietor, said on Twitter, "This shapeshifting creep weighs in. We will never forget your racist comments about Obama and slavish devotion to Trump."
強生祝賀拜登及其副手賀錦麗勝選之後,曾任美國前總統歐巴馬白宮幕僚的維特發推文說:「這個見風轉舵的諂媚小人來了。我們絕不會忘記你針對歐巴馬發表的種族歧視言論,還有你對川普的卑躬屈膝。」
In 2016, when Johnson was mayor of London, he noted that Obama had replaced a bust of Winston Churchill in the Oval Office with one of Martin Luther King Jr. and attributed it to "the part-Kenyan president's ancestral dislike of the British Empire." He also once likened Hillary Clinton to Lady Macbeth.
強生2016年任倫敦市長時說過,歐巴馬把總統辦公室的邱吉爾半身像換成金恩博士的像,原因是「這位有部分肯亞血統的總統祖傳的不喜歡大英帝國」。強生還曾把希拉蕊.柯林頓比為馬克白夫人。
"The comments Boris Johnson has made about Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, who are regarded as family in Biden-land, have not been forgotten, and can't be brushed aside with a joke," said Peter Westmacott, a former British ambassador to Washington. "The same goes for his bromance with Donald Trump."
前英國駐美大使維斯特馬科特說:「拜登的圈子把歐巴馬和希拉蕊.柯林頓視同家人,他們不會忘記強生針對這兩人說過的話,也不會當成玩笑話看待而不予計較,對強生與川普親如兄弟的交情也是如此。」
說文解字看新聞【李京倫】
拜登在美國總統大選中勝出,限縮了英國與歐盟談判的空間,如果談判失敗,英國需要的英美貿易協議也免談。
fallout原意是核爆炸後產生的放射性落塵,引申為不良影響或惡果。water down原意是加水稀釋,引申為削弱或限縮其效力,另一引申義為藉由在市場上釋出更多股票,降低股票的價值。
change the game是「改變遊戲規則或局面」、「掀起革命」,甚至「翻盤」。at odds指不一致、矛盾,也指人們不合、不對盤。
馬克白夫人(Lady Macbeth) 是莎士比亞四大悲劇之一「馬克白」裡的角色,她成功慫恿丈夫馬克白暗殺蘇格蘭國王鄧肯(King Duncan) 並自立為王,已成為「殘酷而工於心計,尤其是掌控意志薄弱男性的女人」的典型代表。強生除發表對歐巴馬不敬的種族歧視(racist)言語,更將希拉蕊比作馬克白夫人,既刻薄且惡毒,民主黨人不可能輕輕放下,不算這筆帳(brush it aside)。