如何用英语讲明白改革开放？驻英大使刘晓明为你亲身示范……

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BBC《今日》主持人汉弗莱 斯（Humphrys） ：

20年来香港人权、普通法体制、独立司法权一直受到严重侵蚀，给人的印象是，中央政府很显然要收紧对香港的管控。

刘晓明：

20 years ago, did you have election in Hong Kong? Who elected the governor of Hong Kong? ...In the past 20 years there were 5 elections in Hong Kong.

20年前，香港有选举吗？港督是选出来的吗？但在过去20年，香港举行了五次特区行政长官选举。

I would say when you look at a society, whether it is free or not free, you should have a big picture. You can not only focus on some discontented people, focus on some complaints...

我觉得当你判断一个国家是“自由”还是“不自由”时，你应该看大局，不能只看到个别心怀不满的人对社会的抱怨。

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汉弗莱斯：

中国现在是第二大经济体，很可能很快发展成为第一大经济体，中国要怎样做才能成为“超级大国”？

刘晓明：

We are not interested in becoming a superpower... We are interested in improving the livelihood of the people, and addressing the disparity between regions.

我们对成为“超级大国”不感兴趣。我们感兴趣的是改善中国人民的生活，解决地区发展不平衡等问题。

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BBC“新闻之夜”主持人罗伯特·佩斯顿（Robert Peston）：

中国军费增速飞快，是否说明中国是一个危险且令人生畏的国家？

刘晓明：

I think the impression you had is not correct. In fact, the message is loud and clear, that is peace.

我认为你的印象是错误的。事实上，中国发出的信息响亮而明确，这就是和平。

罗伯特·佩斯顿：

但和平需要中国军费保持如此之快的速度增长吗？去年12%，今年10%。这是一笔巨大的开支。

刘晓明：

You have to remember China is a large country. China, in terms of territory, it's about 40 times the area of the UK. In terms of population, it's about 20 times. Yet in terms of per-capita military expenditure, China is only 1/22 the size of the United States, and 1/9 the size of Britain. And also in terms of proportion of expenditure with regard to GDP, the growth is decreasing. This year, in fact, is the lowest of the past 5 years. And you know China is a large country to defend. The Chinese military has a lot of commitments.

请不要忘记，中国是一个大国。中国的面积是英国的40倍，人口是英国的20倍。而中国的人均军费仅是美国的二十二分之一，是英国的九分之一。而且中国军费占GDP的比例逐年下降，今年是过去5年来最低的。正如你所知，中国有辽阔的国土需要保卫，此外，中国军队承担着多重任务。

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