Noah Smith 台湾是一个文明 Noah Smith Taiwan is a civilization

原始文章

Taiwan is a civilization - by Noah Smith - Noahpinion

根据我的经验，美国人往往比其他国家更了解某些国家。想想东亚的富裕国家。 美国人心目中的日本形象虽然在很多方面都不准确，但却是相当完整的。 美国人普遍知道动漫、电子游戏和日本漫画——越来越多的美国人喜欢这些东西——来自日本，他们的脑海裡常常浮现出密集、霓虹灯闪烁的日本城市和快速、高效的日本火车的形象。几十年来接触日本流行文化，再加上该国旅游业的繁荣，使美国人普遍认识到日本的存在。现在，韩国流行文化的繁荣同样让韩国成为美国人思考的地方。

In my experience, Americans tend to have more awareness of some countries than others. Consider the rich countries of East Asia. The American mental image of Japan, though inaccurate in many ways, is pretty well-formed. Americans generally know that anime and video games and manga — things an increasing number of Americans enjoy — come from Japan, and they often have a mental image of dense, neon-lit Japanese cities and fast, efficient Japanese trains. Decades of exposure to Japanese popular culture, combined with a tourism boom in that country, have made Americans generally cognizant of Japan’s existence. Now, the boom in Korean pop culture is similarly making Korea a place that Americans think about.

但我认为台湾还不在那个名单上。你不会真正听说过台湾流行音乐、电视或其他流行文化。 台湾食品确实存在，但除了珍珠奶茶，大多数美国人可能不会认出它。

But I don’t think Taiwan is on that list yet. You don’t really hear about Taiwanese pop music, TV, or other pop culture. Taiwanese food exists, but except possibly for bubble tea, most Americans probably wouldn’t recognize it.

Taiwan is a civilization

这似乎是应该改变的事情。最重要的是，因为台湾看起来真的很酷。但也因为它在地缘政治上很重要，因为它可能是大国战争最有可能的导火索。

This seems like something that ought to change. Most importantly, because Taiwan seems really cool. But also because it’s geopolitically important, because it’s probably the most likely flashpoint for great-power war.

台湾人一般不再认为自己是“中国人”（更新：这是一篇简短的历史博客文章，解释了一些原因）：

Taiwanese people generally don’t think of themselves as “Chinese” anymore (Update: Here is a brief blog post of history explaining some of the reasons for this):

Taiwan is a civilization

但中国政府强烈反对。近年来，中国增加了对台湾的好战和威胁言论。它的军队加强了对台湾领空的入侵，并对其两栖部队进行了现代化改造，以应对可能的入侵。作为回应，美国已採取行动与台湾建立更密切的关係，加强我们自己反对中国侵略的言论。美国并未宣誓保卫台湾（就像我们宣誓保卫日本一样），但作为拜登提名的国务卿，安东尼·布林肯 (Antony Blinken) 有力地表示，美国将帮助台湾保卫自己，并警告中国不要发动攻击。

But China’s government disagrees pretty vehemently. In recent years, China has increased its bellicose and threatening rhetoric toward Taiwan. Its military has stepped up incursions into Taiwan’s airspace, and has modernized its amphibious forces for a possible invasion. In response, the U.S. has moved to establish closer ties with Taiwan, ramped up our own rhetoric against Chinese aggression. The U.S. is not sworn to defend Taiwan (as we are sworn to defend Japan), but as Biden’s nominee for Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, has stated forcefully that the U.S. will help Taiwan defend itself, and has warned China against an attack.

这意味着，在未来十年的某个时候，美国发现自己捲入一场代表台湾的超级大国冲突的可能性非零。这是美国人更多了解台湾的一个很好的理由。

This means that there is a nonzero chance that the U.S. might find itself embroiled in a superpower conflict on Taiwan’s behalf sometime in the next decade. Which is a good reason for Americans to learn more about Taiwan.

但更好的理由是台湾是一个非常有趣和独特的地方。人们可以整天争论它是否真的是一个国家（它是），但更重要的是台湾是一个文明。

But an even better reason is just that Taiwan is a very interesting and unique place. People can argue all day about whether it’s really a country (it is), but what’s more important is that Taiwan is a civilization.

不管怎样，我自己对台湾完全是个新手；我从来没有去过那裡。自从我在去年开始更加关注台湾以来，这裡只是我了解到的一些关于台湾的快速信息。显然，这不是真正的台湾指南，只是冰山一角。但有些东西让美国人思考。

Anyway, I myself am a complete newbie to Taiwan; I’ve never even been there. So here are just a few quick things I have learned about Taiwan since I started paying more attention to it over the last year. Obviously this is no real guide to Taiwan, just the very tip of the iceberg. But something to get Americans thinking.

卓越的公共卫生 Superior public health

Taiwan is a civilization

除了与中国的紧张局势，今年还有另一条让我更加了解台湾的重大新闻：公共卫生。 台湾比几乎任何其他国家都更好地处理了 COVID-19 大流行，可能只有纽西兰可以与之匹敌。当美国人因为害怕致命病毒仍在人群中肆虐而缩在家裡时，台湾人到秋天就开始在餐馆吃饭并在俱乐部聚会。美国死于 COVID-19 的人数超过了整个第二次世界大战期间的死亡人数。台湾一共死了 7 人。

Besides tensions with China, there was another big news item that made me more aware of Taiwan this year: Public health. Taiwan handled the COVID-19 pandemic better than just about any other nation, probably rivaled only by New Zealand. While Americans huddled inside their homes for fear of the deadly virus still rampaging through the population, Taiwanese people were eating in restaurants and partying in clubs by the fall. The U.S. has suffered more deaths from COVID-19 than it did in all of World War 2. Taiwan has suffered a total 7.

台湾是怎麽做到的？如果这只是一个小岛的问题，爱尔兰就不会受到重创。 2002-2003 年 SARS 恐慌的痛苦经历，加上高度称职的官僚机构，让台湾能够迅速有效地做出反应。

How did Taiwan do it? If it was just a matter of being a small island, Ireland wouldn’t have been hit hard. The painful experience of the SARS scare in 2002-3, combined with a highly competent bureaucracy, allowed Taiwan to respond quickly and effectively.

首先，台湾领导人和人民都明白，短期的痛苦有助于防止长期的更大痛苦。立法机关通过了一项法律，赋予政府全面的新权力来抗击这一流行病。实施了严格的社会疏远措施，以及全面的旅行限制——美国在这两件事上明显没有做到。它使用数字工具来监控居家隔离人员，并实施全面、广泛的接触者追踪计划。当然，它会主动对人进行检测，而不是等到他们出现症状时。政府的高国家能力使其能够有效地执行家庭隔离。

First, Taiwan’s leaders and people both understood that short-term pain would help prevent greater pain in the long run. The legislature passed a law giving the government sweeping new powers to fight the pandemic. Strict social distancing measures were implemented, along with comprehensive travel restrictions — two things America notably failed to do. It used digital tools to monitor people under home quarantine and implement a program of thorough and extensive contact tracing. Of course it tested people proactively, not waiting until they had symptoms. And the government’s high state capacity allowed it to enforce home quarantine effectively.

当然，台湾人也帮忙。 台湾人没有为口罩是否有效争论几个月，而是直接戴上口罩以防万一。你不会看到尖叫的反蒙面者被粗暴地赶出台湾的商店。你也没有看到台湾人反抗社交距离。他们明白，今天的一点痛苦意味着未来的痛苦要少得多。 美国人拒绝延迟满足； 台湾人民短暂的牺牲，长远的收穫是巨大的利益。

Of course, Taiwan’s people helped too. Instead of squabbling for months over whether masks worked, Taiwanese people simply went ahead and wore them as a precaution. You don’t see screaming anti-maskers getting violently thrown out of stores in Taiwan. You also didn’t see Taiwanese people rebelling against social distancing. They understood that a bit of pain today meant far less pain down the road. Americans refused to delay gratification; Taiwanese people sacrificed for a short time and reaped enormous benefits over the long term.

我坚信，美国儘管在某些方面做得很好，但也有很多地方可以向其他文明学习。 台湾的公共卫生系统就是一个很好的例子。它也拥有世界上最好的整体医疗保健系统之一，如果不是最好的话。

I firmly believe that America, despite doing some things well, has much to learn from other civilizations. And Taiwan’s public health system is a great example. It also has one of the world’s best health care systems overall, if not the best.

但请注意，儘管台湾拥有令人惊叹的公共卫生保健系统和 COVID-19 的成功，但由于中国的政治压力，世界卫生组织不会允许它进入。

But note that despite Taiwan’s amazing public health care system and COVID-19 success, the World Health Organization won’t allow it in, due to Chinese political pressure.

伟大的都市主义 Great urbanism

正如您在上面的有趣影片中看到的（由台湾街舞艺术协会製作，一次拍摄！），台湾首都台北是一个非常密集的城市，但也是一个美丽的城市，有很多绿色植物和相当多的人传统风格的建筑也是如此。虽然我从未去过那裡，但您可以通过滚动浏览 @TaipeiUrbanism Twitter 帐户或观看 YouTube 影片来了解这座城市的感觉。实际上，这段音乐影片给人一种很好的风景感，包括一些公寓内部的镜头。一眼就能看出这座城市与日本城市相似，但树木和草地更多。

As you can see in the fun video above (made by the Taiwan Street Dance Art Association, and filmed in one take!), Taiwan’s capital Taipei is a very dense city, but also a beautiful one with lots of greenery and a fair number of traditional-style buildings as well. Though I’ve never been there, you can get a good idea for what the city feels like from scrolling through the @TaipeiUrbanism Twitter account or watching YouTube videos. Actually, this music video gives a great sense of the landscape, including some shots of apartment interiors. It’s immediately noticeable that the city resembles Japanese cities, but with more trees and grass.

城市规划师 Alfred Twu 的这篇文章是关于台北历史和规划的快速入门。与旧金山不同，但更像巴黎的是，台北有很多 5 到 7 层的住宅楼。它们通常看起来不像东京的那些（大多数建筑物每 30 到 40 年就被废弃和重建）那麽闪亮和新，但台湾的室内设计非常具有传奇色彩。丰富的绿色植物与稍微破旧的密集建筑相结合，使这座城市的大部分地区看起来都非常阳光朋克。

A great quick primer on Taipei’s history and planning is this thread by urbanist Alfred Twu. Unlike San Francisco, but more like Paris, Taipei has a lot of 5 to 7 story residential buildings. They generally don’t look as shiny and new as those of Tokyo (which scraps and rebuilds most buildings every 30-40 years), but Taiwanese interior design is pretty legendary. The abundance of greenery combined with the slightly dilapidated dense architecture gives much of the city a very solarpunk look.

为了促进土地的有效利用，台北採用了最能被描述为乔治主义的政策，不鼓励闲置土地，并让政府将建筑物出租给私营部门。事实上，乔治主义是台湾历史的一部分，农地改革政策在《亚洲如何运作》一书中有着名的记载。

In order to promote efficient land use, Taipei uses policies best described as Georgist, discouraging empty lots and having the government lease buildings to the private sector. In fact, Georgism is part of Taiwan’s history, with agricultural land reform policies famously documented in the book How Asia Works.

台北是一个非常适合步行的城市，公共交通便利，包括世界上最好的地铁系统之一。正如 Twu 所指出的，小街上有很多企业。西门町购物区让我想起了东京的涩谷——多层零售的密集霓虹灯迷宫（但同样，树木比日本多）。

Taipei is a very walkable city, with great public transit, including one of the world’s best subway systems. As Twu notes, there are lots of businesses on side streets. The Ximending shopping district reminds me a bit of Shibuya in Tokyo — a dense neon maze of multi-floor retail (but again, with more trees than Japan).

由于密集的城市规划和高质量的交通，中产阶级和工薪阶层能够居住在市中心。正如 Twu 所展示的，台北地铁沿线的收入差异远小于香港或旧金山湾区。不幸的是，住房成本是一个问题，就像当今大多数大城市一样。与东京不同，台北未能摆脱困境。但房屋拥有率非常高——84%，而纽约市为 33%。

As a result of dense urban planning and high-quality transit, middle-class and working-class people are able to live in the city center. As Twu shows, the income variation along Taipei’s metro lines is much less than in Hong Kong or the San Francisco Bay Area. Unfortunately, housing costs are a problem, as in most big cities nowadays; unlike Tokyo, Taipei hasn’t been able to build itself out of trouble. But homeownership rates are very high — 84%, compared to 33% in New York City.

台北并不大——市区只有260万人口，首都圈总共有700万人口。但它似乎应该在人们的旅游目的地名单上名列前茅，并且应该被纳入关于如何建设一个功能性、包容性、美丽城市的对话中。

Taipei is not large — just 2.6 million people in the city proper, and 7 million total in the metropolitan area. But it seems like it deserves to be higher on people’s list of tourist destinations, and deserves to be included in conversations about how to build a functional, inclusive, beautiful city.

更多信息，请查看 @TaipeiUrbanism。

For much more, just check out @TaipeiUrbanism.

一个进步、宽容、自由的社会 A progressive, tolerant, liberal society

台湾即使不是亚洲最进步的社会，也是最进步的社会之一。它是第一个将同性婚姻合法化的亚洲国家，拥有充满活力的同性恋文化。 台湾是世界上性别最平等的社会之一，在常用的 GII 等级上与挪威相当，高于法国。总统蔡英文是女性，女性佔立法机关的42%。 中国积极推动企业性别平等，2018 年男女薪酬差距为 14%，低于美国。

Taiwan has one of the most progressive societies, if not the most progressive, in Asia. It was the first Asian country to legalize gay marriage, and sports a vibrant gay culture. Taiwan ranks as one of the most gender-equal societies in the world, equivalent to Norway and higher than France on the commonly used GII scale. The President, Tsai Ing-Wen, is a woman, and women make up 42% of the legislature. The country has actively pushed for gender equality in business, and the gender pay gap, at 14% in 2018, is smaller than in the U.S.

台湾也积极尝试承认、颂扬和保护佔人口 2% 的原住民文化（他们的政党在立法机构中佔有 7% 的席位）。该岛也开始向移民开放。

Taiwan has also made vigorous attempts to recognize, celebrate, and preserve the culture of its indigenous people, who make up 2% of the population (and have a political party that holds 7% of the seats in the legislature). The island is also starting to open up to immigration.

由于这一切以及其他原因，台湾正在赢得一个宽容、进步的社会的声誉——这在大多数保守的东亚地区是罕见的。

As a result of all this and more, Taiwan is gaining a reputation as a tolerant, progressive society — a rarity in mostly conservative East Asia.

很难说这是为什麽，但据我的台湾朋友说，部分原因可能源于该岛的历史。儘管在其历史的大部分时间裡都是独立的，但它曾多次被殖民——1600 年代被荷兰殖民，1683 年被中国殖民，1895 年被日本殖民。这迫使它处理各种殖民者、移民和定居者之间的社会摩擦，也赋予了它对自决和摆脱外部势力的自由的渴望。

It’s difficult to say why this is true, but according to my Taiwanese friends, part of it might stem from the island’s history. Though independent for most of its history, it was colonized multiple times — by the Netherlands in the 1600s, China in 1683, and Japan in 1895. This forced it to deal with social frictions between the various waves of colonizers, immigrants, and settlers, and also gave it a yearning for self-determination and freedom from outside powers.

儘管台湾在 1949 年被战败的中国国民党入侵和定居后几十年一直实行独裁统治，但它在 1980 年代开始了民主改革。 1990年，学生运动抗议完全民主和直接选举，他们获胜了。今天，它是世界上最民主的地方之一，政体得分为 10 分（美国为 8 分），自由之家得分为 93 分（美国为 86 分）。

Though Taiwan was a dictatorship for decades after being invaded and settled by the defeated Nationalists of China in 1949, it began democratic reforms in the 1980s. In 1990, student movements protested for full democracy and direct elections, and they won. Today it’s one of the world’s most democratic places, with a Polity score of 10 (compared to the U.S.’ 8) and a Freedom House score of 93 (compared to the U.S.’ 86).

民主不仅仅是台湾的製度；这是一种意识形态。政府没有镇压抗议者，而是竭力倾听他们的担忧。在一个与社交媒体引发的动盪挑战作斗争的世界中，台湾正在试验新形式的激进数字民主。 台湾的一些立法现在通过一个名为 vTaiwan 的在线平台和一个名为 Polis 的讨论平台有效地众包，该平台明确旨在促进理解和（最终）达成共识，而不是灌篮和模因战争。

处于数字民主运动前沿的是唐凤（Audrey Tang），她是这个国家最英雄的人物之一。

Democracy isn’t just a system in Taiwan; it’s an ideology. Instead of cracking down on protesters, the government has made strenuous attempts to listen to their concerns. In a world struggling with the challenge of social media-driven unrest, Taiwan is experimenting with new forms of radical digital democracy. Some legislation in Taiwan is now effectively crowdsourced via an online platform called vTaiwan and a discussion platform called Polis that is explicitly designed to foment understanding and (eventually) consensus instead of dunks and meme wars.

At the forefront of the movement for digital democracy is Audrey Tang, one of the country’s most heroic figures.

Taiwan is a civilization

作为一名传奇黑客（恰好也是跨性别者，被称为“后性别”），唐凤曾是一名抗议者，但后来被邀请进入政府担任无职务部长，她在政府中致力于实施数字民主，并帮助与 COVID-19 响应。部分归功于唐凤的努力和台湾政府有远见的自由主义，台湾能够以一种仍然让民众感到被包容和被倾听的方式实施严格的疏远措施。（你真的应该阅读或收听这个 Podcast，其中 Tang 提供了我在这篇文章中讨论的台湾许多方面的想法，此外还有更多！）

A legendary hacker (who also happens to be transgender and identifies as “post-gender”), Tang was once a protester, but was later invited into the government as a minister without portfolio, where she has worked to implement digital democracy and also helped with the COVID-19 response. It was in part thanks to the efforts of Tang and the far-sighted liberalism of the Taiwanese government that Taiwan was able to impose strict distancing measures in a way that still made the populace feel included and heard. (You really should read or listen to this podcast, where Tang offers thoughts on many aspects of Taiwan that I discuss in this post, and more besides!)

台湾致力于民主和包容实际上已经成为与中国的意识形态斗争——以及香港抗议活动所体现的冲突的延伸。在最近的一次採访中，唐凤宣称：“镇压香港的前提是，如果你有太多的民主，我想它会伤害稳定、和谐、经济……我们有责任证明民主是有效的，而不仅仅是锁定、自上而下或拆除。”

Taiwan’s dedication to democracy and inclusion has effectively become an ideological battle with China — and an extension of the conflict embodied in the Hong Kong protests. In a recent interview, Tang declared: “The crackdown of Hong Kong is hinged on the premise that, if you have too much democracy, it will hurt, I guess, stability, harmony, economy…We have a responsibility to show that democracy works, and not just lockdown or top-down or takedown.”

甚至有迹象表明，台湾最终可能会将其参与式民主的意识形态输出到该地区的其他地区。 唐凤已经在日本受到很多关注，香港抗议者已经在日本的年轻人中引起了同情。如果东亚出现一种激进民主的意识形态，以对抗中国威权稳定的愿景，那麽台湾很可能处于它的中心。

There are even some signs that Taiwan may end up exporting its ideology of participatory democracy to other parts of the region. Already, Tang is getting a lot of attention in Japan, where the Hong Kong protesters have already attracted a sympathetic following among the youth. If there is an East Asian ideology of radical democracy emerging as a counter to China’s vision on authoritarian stability, Taiwan will likely be at the center of it.

传奇的夜生活 Legendary nightlife

这都是非常严肃的事情，但台湾也以好玩而闻名。 台湾最着名的两件事就是美食和泡在俱乐部（clubbing）。

This is all very serious stuff, but Taiwan is also famous for fun. And the two most famous fun things to do in Taiwan are food and clubbing.

台湾菜融合了中国菜和日本菜。麵条和火锅很突出。街头小吃也很受欢迎，尤其是在台湾着名的夜市，您可以在一个摊位到另一个摊位之间闲逛，吃着美味的东西。

Taiwanese food is a blend of Chinese and Japanese cuisine. Noodles and hot pot feature prominently. Street food is also popular, especially in Taiwan’s famous night markets, where you can just wander from stall to stall eating delicious stuff.

Taiwan is a civilization

这是 Anthony Bourdain 在台北的一集。

Here’s Anthony Bourdain’s episode in Taipei.

台湾夜生活的另一个传奇是泡吧。显然，我自己没有经历过这种情况，但我有很多朋友在大流行期间移居台湾，他们发回了大量照片和报告。不管怎样，这是一段影片，一个有点傻的欧洲男人带你快速而壮观地游览台北夜总会的场景。大型“大型俱乐部”似乎特别受欢迎。

The other legendary piece of Taiwanese nightlife is the clubbing scene. I haven’t experienced this myself, obviously, but I had a number of friends who moved to Taiwan during the pandemic who sent back copious photos and reports. Anyway, here is a video where a slightly goofy European man takes you on a quick and spectacular tour through the Taipei nightclub scene. The big “mega clubs” seem to be especially popular.

所以台湾是一个令人印象深刻的文明。为什麽没有更多的美国人意识到这一点？该岛人口稀少——只有 2400 万，不到韩国的一半——及其有争议的独立性可能是部分原因。另一个是，儘管拥有非常酷的城市化、美食、夜生活和自由社会，台湾却没有像韩国或日本那样世界一流的娱乐业。如果我在台湾政府，我会苦思冥想如何让台湾的娱乐产品登上全世界青少年的手机。

So Taiwan is a pretty impressive civilization. Why aren’t more Americans aware of it? The island’s small population — just 24 million people, less than half the size of South Korea — and its disputed independence are probably part of the reason. Another is that despite having very cool urbanism, food, nightlife, and a liberal society, Taiwan doesn’t have a world-beating entertainment industry like Korea or Japan. If I were in the Taiwanese government, I would be thinking hard about how to get Taiwanese entertainment products onto teenagers’ cell phones around the world.

政府可以做的另一件事是增加东亚以外地区的旅游业。

Another thing the government could do is to increase tourism from regions outside East Asia.

Taiwan is a civilization

美食、夜生活、美丽的风景、徒步旅行和丰富的历史文化应该足够吸引人了（我当然打算尽快去），但政府需要做广告。

The food, nightlife, beautiful scenery, hiking, and rich history and culture should be enough of a draw (I certainly plan to go as soon as I can), but the government needs to advertise.

无论如何，我对台湾在美国的影响力持乐观态度。大流行和台湾的出色表现有望成为一个转折点。我希望在未来的岁月裡，越来越多的美国人开始关注这个小而勇敢的岛屿文明，因为它真的很酷。

In any case, I’m optimistic about Taiwan’s mindshare in America. The pandemic, and Taiwan’s stellar performance, hopefully marked a turning point. It’s my hope that in the years to come, more and more Americans are going to start paying attention to this small but plucky island civilization, because it’s really pretty cool.

原始文章

卓越的公共卫生 Superior public health

伟大的都市主义 Great urbanism

一个进步、宽容、自由的社会 A progressive, tolerant, liberal society

传奇的夜生活 Legendary nightlife

Reference