【双语学习】暂停资助世卫组织，美国此举意味什么？

正当新冠肺炎疫情席卷全球，各国人民都在忙着抗疫之时，美国总统特朗普又出“新招”，宣布暂停资助世界卫生组织，由此引来多国不满。美国此举究竟意味着什么？

据报道，美国于4月14日停止了对世界卫生组织（World Health Organization）的资助，声称联合国机构“以中国为中心”没有履行其职责，因此受到各方批评。这一决定很显然是政治驱动的，因为它符合美国政府的需要，而不是美国人民的需要。截至目前，美国已累计确诊61万人，累计死亡人数超2.9万。很明显，美国的此举就是一个公关噱头，目的是为了将焦点转移到世卫组织和中国身上，因为美国不仅对该传染病的趋势做出错误判断，其有缺陷的应对措施也一直受到国际社会的指责，不得已要将国际的关注和视线转移出去。

世卫组织在协调和遏制新冠病毒在全球蔓延方面发挥了不可或缺的作用，这是大多数国家所承认的事实。去年12月31日，世卫组织获悉中国发现了一组神秘的肺炎病例，并向世界通报了最新情况，敦促各国做好准备，以防新冠病毒的传播。世卫组织建议的控制措施在帮助全世界预防死亡和感染都是十分有效的，同时，世卫组织还向最不发达国家提供了必要的资金和物资支持。公平而言，如果不是因为其发挥了作用，这场传染病无疑会更加严重。

不过，美国此举除了又让中国重新背上骂名之外，还可以达到在其国库中投入更多美元的目的，由此可以为本国的救援措施提供资金。与此同时，这也是美国政府不喜欢国际合作机构的又一个表现。美国此前已经退出了联合国教科文组织和联合国人权理事会，给世界贸易组织的工作添了不少麻烦。此次又暂停资助世卫组织，无不例外的表明自己想要变得更特别。

在新冠肺炎每天夺去数千人生命、传染许多人的严重时刻，美国政府制定的“美国优先”方针仍在实行中，特别是考虑到本国仍然拖欠着联合国的钱。美国应该接受，为世界机构（如世卫组织）提供资金代表着它的社会责任，哪怕没有如此义务，作为世界最大经济体它也应该如此。美国并不打算成为杠杆，它可以迫使这些组织成为它的仆人。

【消息来源】China Daily

【原文】

The United States has received criticism from all quarters after it halted its funding of the World Health Organization on Tuesday, claiming the UN body had failed in its duty by being "China-centric". The decision is of course politically driven, as it serves the needs of the US administration not those of the US people — more than 610,000 of whom had been infected and over 29,000 of whom had died as of Wednesday — being a public relations stunt aimed at diverting onto the WHO and China the heavy flak it has been receiving for its misjudgment of the pandemic situation and its belated and flawed response.

That the WHO has played an indispensable role in coordinating and promoting global efforts to contain the contagion of the novel coronavirus is recognized by most countries. Having been informed by China on Dec 31 that a cluster of mysterious pneumonia cases had been identified, the global health body kept the world abreast of developments and urged countries to prepare for the spread of what was soon identified as a novel coronavirus.

The pandemic-control measures it recommended have proved effective in helping to prevent deaths and infections worldwide, and it is providing essential funds and material support for the least developed countries. It is fair to say that were it not for the role it has played, the pandemic would have undoubtedly been more serious.

That the outbreak has escalated into a global pandemic is by no means attributable to the WHO, but the fact that some countries, the United States being a leading example, turned a deaf ear to its repeated warnings, when they had more favorable conditions to nip the public health threat in the bud. Sadly, people in those countries are paying heavy prices for their governments' complacency.

But as well as offering a chance to repeat its name-calling campaign against China, and put some dollars in its coffers to fund its own relief measures, the move is also another demonstration of the US administration's dislike of cooperative international bodies. It has withdrawn from the UNESCO and the UN Human Rights Council and put a spanner in the works of the World Trade Organization. Its latest move is just the most recent in a series aimed at making the US an exception to the norms of the international community.

The "America first" course charted by the administration at the height of a pandemic that is claiming thousands of lives a day and infecting ten times that many is egregious, yet within the bounds of expectations, especially given it is still in arrears in its funding of the United Nations. The US should accept that the funding it provides for world bodies, such as the WHO, represents its international duties, if not obligations, as the world's largest economy. They are not intended to be leverage so it can force these organizations to be its servants.