Barely seven months ago Donald Trump was in China on an all-singing state visit, during which two key priorities emerged. The first — his concern with North Korea’s nuclear threat and his keenness that Chinese president Xi Jinping should help defuse it — has all but evaporated after the US-North Korea peace summit a fortnight ago.
7个多月以前，美国总统唐纳德•特朗普(Donald Trump)对中国进行了一次气氛非常友好的国事访问，其中有两个关键性优先事项。第一个优先事项是特朗普担忧朝鲜核威胁并热切希望中国国家主席习近平帮助缓和这种威胁。在朝美峰会于两周前举行以后，这已经不再是一个问题。
The second — the US-China trade deficit — was outlined in emollient language last November. Yet, over recent weeks, the US president has rechannelled his protectionist aggression, announcing a total of $253bn of tariffs on Chinese goods, sparking retaliatory measures from Beijing. Two-way tariffs covering steel, aluminium and some agricultural goods have already been introduced.
第二个优先事项是美国对华贸易逆差，在去年11月的那次国事访问中，双方用平和的语言阐述了这个问题。然而，最近数周以来，美国总统重新发起保护主义攻势，宣布对总额2530亿美元的中国产品征收关税，此举促使北京方面实施报复性措施。涉及钢铁、铝和一些农产品的双向关税已经推出。
Sunday’s announcement by the People’s Bank of China that it would release more than $100bn of commercial bank reserves as an economic stimulus has been presented largely as a response to the trade spat. But it has a far broader back-story — and far more profound implications, both for China’s vast finance sector, and for Wall Street.
上周日中国央行宣布，将降低商业银行存款准备金率、释放逾1000亿美元资金，作为一种经济刺激。此举主要是为了应对中美贸易争端。但中国央行降准的背景绝不仅仅是中美贸易战，其对中国庞大的金融业，乃至华尔街的影响也要深远得多。