《环邮》社论：中国令人震惊的外币政策

 

目前发生的一切或许会让人感到担忧。比如在加拿大，源源不断越洋而来的中国资本可能会（或不会）购置温哥华和多伦多的大量房地产，从而导致年轻人只能望房兴叹，无力在当地购房居住。

Everything that happens can be experienced as alarming. In Canada, for example, the pouring of money across the Pacific from China may (or may not) be a takeover of great swaths of real estate in Vancouver and Toronto, leaving young people unable to find a reasonably affordable place to buy and live in.

这种可能性令联邦政府、卑诗省府和温哥华市府深感担忧，并促使他们采取措施以抑制海外买家的热情。目前这些措施已经开始奏效，温哥华去年的房屋销售量与前一年相比已大幅下降。

The federal government, the B.C. government and the City of Vancouver have been so alarmed by this possibility that they put in place various measures to cool the ardour of overseas home-buyers. And they have worked. Sales dropped dramatically in Vancouver last year, compared with the year before.

此外，出人意料的是，中国政府进一步严格限制其公民换汇额度的新闻亦引发了担忧。分析人士预测购买加拿大房产的中国买家数量将会因此下降。既然这将有助于缓解温哥华和多伦多房市的过热压力，中国出台外汇新政难道不是一件好事么？

It was odd, then, that the news that China is cracking down on the amount of money its citizens can convert into foreign currencies was also met with alarm. Analysts predict that the number of Chinese people buying Canadian real estate will drop as a consequence. Wouldn’t that be a good thing, since it will take the pressure off the overheated Vancouver and Toronto markets?

 

实际上由此带来的结果有利也有弊。中国政府实施的外汇新政很可能有助于加拿大立法者解决一直让他们焦虑不安的问题。但是，这也是中国政府加紧对国民的管制的努力措施之一。

Yes and no. The new Chinese policy may well help fix a problem that Canadian legislators have been anxious about. But it is also part of a broader attempt by Beijing to control its citizens.

大量外流的中国资本并不仅仅只是涌入大温地区的住宅房地产市场。去年，中国公司仅在美国的投资就高达$456亿美元。

The surge of money out of China has not been just about residential real estate in the Lower Mainland. Last year, Chinese business corporations invested US$45.6-billion in the United States alone.

 

中国政府必需将更多资金留在国内，因为中国的外汇储备持续减少，当局不希望肥水流到外人田。

The government of China needs to keep a lot more money at home. Its reserves are diminishing, and it wants more of the country’s wealth spent on its own soil.

 

此外，施压逼迫中国公民回国的阴险之举似乎也是为了实现同样目标。中国国家总理李克强在去年9月访问加拿大期间曾谈到中加引渡条约，但这并不是什么好主意。更重要的是，中国侨民在被敦促回国时，往往会被直言不讳地被告知，他们返乡行动会令那些被当局找上麻烦亲戚们松一口气。

But the sinister phenomenon of pressuring Chinese citizens to return to China appears to be part of the same trend. Around the time of Premier Li Keqiang’s visit to Canada in September, there was talk of a China-Canada extradition treaty – not a good idea. What’s more, Chinese expatriates are being encouraged, not so subtly, to return to China, so that their relatives who may be in trouble with the authorities might be treated better.

 

随着诸多迹象表明中国大陆再次成为聚焦点，同时香港压力渐增，中国政府显然打算进一步加紧对国民和地域的管制，并将固步自封，这的确令人担忧。

With all these signs of a re-emphasis on mainland China, and pressures on Hong Kong, too, it is clear that Beijing intends to reassert its control over its people and the region, and turn inward. And that is indeed alarming.