For many people in the Australian island state of Tasmania, the bond formed between Chinese President Xi Jinping and locals, especially students, in 2014 and even before has been an example of a wonderful meeting of hearts and minds.

对于澳大利亚塔斯马尼亚州的许多人来说，中国国家主席习近平在2014年甚至更早以前和当地人——尤其是学生们——建立的感情纽带堪称“心相通”的典范。

 

Andy Muller, the principal of a primary school that Xi visited in 2014, said that it was an incredible moment in the students' lives.

习近平在2014年访问过的一所学校的校长安迪·穆勒表示，那是学生们人生中的一个永生难忘的时刻。

 

Xi's trip to Tasmania was one of the highlights of his state visit to Australia between Nov 17 and 19 that year, after he attended a Group of 20 summit there.

2014年11月15日—19日，习近平主席应邀出席二十国集团(G20)领导人布里斯班峰会并对澳大利亚进行国事访问。访澳期间，习近平赴塔斯马尼亚州进行了参观访问。

 

Until then, Tasmania had sister-state ties with Fujian province, where Xi was once governor. In 2001, Xi awarded honorary Fujian citizenship¹ posthumously² to Jim Bacon, who had served as Tasmania's premier³ from 1998 to 2004 and who had been a regular visitor to Fujian since his early university days.

2001年，习近平担任福建省省长期间，曾接待过时任塔斯马尼亚州州长的吉姆·培根访问。两人一道签署了福建省和塔斯马尼亚州建立友好省州关系20周年联合声明，习近平还授予培根福建省荣誉公民称号。培根于1998年至2004年间担任塔斯马尼亚州长，他从刚上大学起就多次来访福建。

 

Before 2014, Tasmania had made several agreements with China on initiatives ranging from wind farms to agriculture.

到2014年，塔斯马尼亚已与中国签订了从风电农场到农业等多个领域的系列协议。

 

On the day that Xi and his wife, Peng Liyuan, arrived in Hobart, the Tasmanian capital, a local newspaper carried an effusive⁴ front-page editorial, which ran under the headline "Welcome, Mr President" and ended: "We look forward to continuing a long and prosperous friendship. Enjoy."

习近平主席和夫人彭丽媛到达塔斯马尼亚首府霍巴特的那天，当地一家报纸在头版刊登了一篇热情洋溢的社论，标题是“欢迎您，主席先生”，结尾写道：“我们期待友谊地久天长。希望您能享受在这里的时光。”

 

However, the most memorable⁵ part of the visit to Tasmania was a meeting with the students of Scotch⁶ Oakburn College in the city of Launceston, who had traveled to Hobart for the occasion.

习近平在访问塔斯马尼亚州期间，看望了来自朗塞斯顿市斯科奇—欧克伯恩学校的学生们。这些孩子们为了此次会面专程来到霍巴特市。

 

In May that year, a Chinese class at the school, whose students range in age from 3 to 12, had sent a letter, written in Chinese, to Xi and his wife via the Chinese embassy in Canberra, telling them about Tasmania's attractions.

2014年5月，该校16名小学生曾给习近平和彭丽媛写信，用稚嫩的汉字表达了邀请他们访问塔斯马尼亚州的愿望。

 

Xi and his wife greeted these students warmly, with Xi telling them: "We should sow the seeds of the China-Australia friendship and make them take root, germinate⁷ and flourish."And he encouraged young Australians to continue to write to him.

会见当天，习近平和彭丽媛微笑着同孩子们打招呼。“我们要播撒中澳友谊的种子，让它们生根发芽、枝繁叶茂。”习近平鼓励这些澳洲孩子继续给他写信。

 

"As part of a standard Chinese-language lesson in early 2014, a Year 5 class was tasked with writing, in Chinese, about their favorite places in Tasmania," said Muller, the principal.

斯科奇—欧克伯恩学校校长穆勒说：“2014年初，当时五年级的学生在上中文写作课，老师要求孩子们每人写封信，写上自己最喜欢的塔斯马尼亚的3个景点。”

 

"The students wanted the letters to go somewhere, and so the teacher suggested they address them to President Xi and send them to the Chinese embassy in Canberra, assuming that would be the end of the matter.

“学生们想把信寄出去，于是老师建议他们可以写给习主席，信写完后就寄给了中国大使馆。老师以为这个事情就这样结束了。”

 

"The Chinese ambassador to Australia passed them on to the president's office and a response came, inviting⁸ them to meet him in November in Hobart, at Government House," Muller said. "It was an event they will never forget."

穆勒说：“没想到习近平和夫人不仅读了孩子们的信，而且还回了信。这件事让孩子们终生难忘。”

 

Today, it is compulsory⁹ for all students at the school, of which Muller is still principal, to learn about the Chinese language and culture.

如今，穆勒仍然是这所学校的校长，中文和中国文化是该校所有学生的必修课。

 

"Meeting President Xi provided excitement among the students and another tangible¹⁰ link to the language and why it's important to learn about other cultures and languages," Muller said. "It resulted in many of the students taking a greater interest in the world beyond Australia, and especially China, and a broader outlook on life in general."

穆勒说：“习主席的会见让学生们很激动，语言和现实世界的连接也让学生们明白学习其他文化和语言的重要。这次会见大大拓展了学生们的国际视野。许多学生都对澳大利亚以外的世界尤其是中国产生了更大的兴趣，整体的人生观也更开阔了。”

 

When Xi was in Australia, apart from visiting Hobart, Sydney and Brisbane－where the G20 summit was held－he also visited the capital, Canberra, where he addressed a joint¹¹ sitting of both houses of the Australian Parliament.

习近平主席2014年访澳期间，除了到访霍巴特、悉尼和布里斯班外，还访问了澳大利亚首都堪培拉，并在澳大利亚联邦议会发表了演讲。

 

Xi concluded his speech by saying, "Let us join hands and work shoulder to shoulder to create a brighter future for the China-Australia comprehensive strategic partnership¹² and to enhance peace, stability and prosperity in the Asia-Pacific."

习近平主席在此次演讲结尾呼吁：“让我们手拉手、肩并肩，共同开创中澳全面战略伙伴关系更加美好的未来，共同谱写亚太地区和平、稳定、繁荣的新篇章！”

 

His speech was warmly received across the political spectrum¹³ in Australia, with then prime minister Tony Abbott pledging that "Australia is willing to join hands with China to jointly¹⁴ create a bright future of peaceful prosperity".

习近平的演讲在澳大利亚政界受到了热烈欢迎，时任澳大利总理托尼·阿博特承诺“澳大利亚愿意和中国携手共建和平繁荣的光明未来”。

 

Among those who observed the proceedings¹⁵ that day was Colin Mackerras, emeritus¹⁶ professor at Griffith University and one of Australia's leading Sinologists, whose contribution to the bilateral¹⁷ friendship Xi cited in his speech.

格里菲斯大学名誉教授、澳大利亚著名汉学家马克林也亲眼见证了这一演讲，习近平主席在他的演讲中还赞扬了马克林对两国友谊做出的贡献。

 

"It was a great honor and pleasure for me to be present during President Xi Jinping's speech," Mackerras said. "He did me the honor of mentioning me by name, calling me a bridge of friendship between the Chinese and Australian peoples. This has always been an aspiration¹⁸ of mine, and I was delighted that he believed I had realized it. Later I had the great pleasure of meeting him, though only briefly¹⁹. He was, and remains²⁰, a great inspiration to me."

马克林说：“我非常荣幸能够在现场聆听习近平主席的演讲。习主席提到了我的名字，把我称作中澳人民友谊的桥梁，这对我来说是莫大的荣誉。成为两国友谊的桥梁一直是我的愿望所在，我很高兴习主席认可了这一点。后来我还有幸和习主席会面，尽管很短暂。他过去和现在都一直给我带来极大的鼓舞。”

 

In Sydney, Xi chatted with more locals. Jiang Changgeng, a Chinese-Australian photographer, felt honored to be asked to photograph Xi at an event on Nov 19, the last stop of Xi's stay in Australia that year.

在悉尼，习近平和更多当地人进行了交谈。澳大利亚华裔摄影师姜长庚曾受邀为习近平在2014年澳大利亚之行的最后一站拍照，他感到非常荣幸。

 

To secure a good location for taking photographs, he arrived at the site three hours before the event, carrying three cameras.

为了找到好的拍摄位置，他提前三个小时到达了拍照地点，还带了三台摄像机。

 

"I (felt) so excited to be able to witness the visit by President Xi, and words cannot describe my feelings," he said. "It was a sacred job that I could not fail."

他说：“能够亲眼见证习主席来访，我感到非常激动，这种心情是语言无法表达的。这是一份神圣的工作，我必须认真对待。”

 

He felt he was able to contribute to China-Australia relations by capturing and documenting many of the memorable moments of the official exchanges between the two countries, he said.

他说，他觉得自己能够通过捕捉和记录两国官方交流的诸多难忘瞬间来为两国邦交尽一份力。

 

Mackerras, the Sinologist, said, "I think China is indeed adhering to the path of common development, but I don't think other major countries are making things easier."

马克林表示：“我认为中国确实一直坚持走共同发展道路，但我不认为其他大国也在往同一个方向努力。”

 

A lot has happened in the China-Australia relationship since then. For one thing, the international environment has changed greatly since Xi's visit in 2014, Mackerras said.

马克林说，自那以后，中澳关系变了很多。其中一个原因可能是，国际环境在2014年之后发生了很大改变。

 

"The United States and many other Western countries have moved to regard China as a kind of enemy, their purose being to maintain their own supremacy²¹ in the world.

“美国和其它一些西方国家转而将中国视为敌人，他们的目的无非是维持自己在世界上的霸权。”

 

"Australia has been quite deliberate about this, framing China as an enemy and a threat. It is neither of those things, and I regard it as a disgrace that virtually nobody in the political sphere challenges this narrative²²."

“澳大利亚一些政客处心积虑地将中国构陷为敌人和威胁，其实中国既不是敌人也不是威胁。我认为（澳）政界几乎无人挑战这一说法很可耻。”

 

Mackerras said that while Xi has consistently talked about the shared future of humanity, trying to frame countries as equals and trying to get people to cooperate, some current officials "have resisted that at all times, preferring to compete, not to cooperate".

马克林说，尽管习近平主席始终倡导构建人类命运共同体，坚持各国平等相待、团结合作，但是现在澳大利亚一些政府官员“始终都在抗拒，更愿意竞争而不是合作”。

 

He added that what especially saddens him is the fact that some Australian politicians no longer regard China as a friend.

他补充道，让他尤其感到悲伤的是一些澳大利亚政界人士不再将中国视为朋友的事实。

 

Referring to the possibility of things changing under the new Labor²³ government, Mackerras said, "I'm not sure, but there's at least a chance of improvement."

在谈及澳新工党政府可能带来的改变时，马克林说：“我不确定，但至少有改善的机会。”

 

He said he believes that China still hopes to have Australia as an important partner, and that Xiao Qian, who has been China's ambassador to Australia since January, "is doing a very good job".

他说，他认为中国仍然希望能和澳大利亚成为重要的合作伙伴，中国驻澳大利亚大使肖千自今年1月上任以来“一直做得非常好”。

 

"I look back on 2014 as a golden year, and things are much worse now," Mackerras said. "Labor will be better in its style and, I hope, in the content of its policy toward China.

马克林说：“我认为2014年是一个黄金之年，而现在情况已经大不如前。工党的行事风格会好一些，我希望工党政府对中国的政策能有所改善。”

 

"So I'm not holding my breath for a reset²⁴, but there's a good chance... and I'm optimistic."

“我并不指望一切能重新开始，但是仍有很多机会……我对此持乐观态度。”

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