由中國國際友人研究會、北京市人民對外友好協會、北京大學中國埃德加·斯諾研究中心、美國埃德加·斯諾紀念基金會共同主辦的“第十九屆斯諾研討會”於9月15日在京成功舉辦。會上，中美嘉賓們的發言高潮迭起、精彩紛呈，我們將陸續推送，以饗讀者。今天推送的第一篇來自美國共產黨員、中國日報“新時代斯諾工作室”成員伊谷然的《緬懷先輩，開拓未來》。

緬懷先輩，開拓未來

（伊谷然發言中文譯文）

首先感謝主辦方的盛情邀請，很榮幸今天能有機會在此與大家交流。

我想談談我們這些外國人在中國的初衷，或者說我們應該懷着怎樣的初衷。這是一個根本性的問題，如果我們期望有成效地展開工作，就需要先回答這個問題。這也是中國日報“新時代斯諾工作室”的主要志趣所在。作爲工作室的成員，我很自豪。當然，我不敢代表整個工作室發言，但是，請容我就此談一些個人看法。

爲此，我想先回望那段歷史歲月：一羣外國人長途跋涉來到中國，目睹中國共產黨在艱難的內戰時期在根據地所取得的巨大成就。這些人當中，最爲著名的便是埃德加·斯諾和海倫·福斯特·斯諾夫婦。

他們當時爲此冒着極大的個人風險。因爲那是革命的時代、戰爭的時代，國共雙方孰勝孰負，尚未可知。如果革命事業失敗，中國之行會爲他們在自己的國家招致嚴重的後果，即使在革命勝利之後，一些人仍然付出了代價。

他們來時便知道可能有去無回。隨着戰事加劇，跟隨紅軍的記者或觀察員面臨的危險也越來越大。像諾爾曼·白求恩大夫這樣衝在前線的人士承擔了更大的壓力。在真正生與死的考驗中，他們堅定地站在同志身邊，有些人甚至付出了生命的代價。我們今天緬懷和珍惜他們的犧牲，就如同我們緬懷和珍惜所有爲追求更美好世界而犧牲的仁人志士一樣。正如毛澤東所說：“爲人民利益而死的，他的死是比泰山還重。”我們站在他們的肩膀上……也沐浴在他們的光輝裏。

當然，中國已經今非昔比。在過去100年裏，中國共產黨執政了72年，將中國建設成一個繁榮、穩定的國家。人均預期壽命增加了一倍多。文盲數量大幅減少，如今僅佔全國人口很小的一部分。嬰兒死亡率直線下降。人民收入不斷增長，生活質量明顯改善。

最重要的是，國家現代化發展的繁榮爲全體人民所共享。這是生爲中國人最好的時代，他們理所當然對國家和未來懷着堅定的信心。

在距今並不遙遠的近代，外國侵略者侵佔中國領土並試圖奴役其人民，今天的中國已經完全改變了這種狀態。在那個時代，殖民者依仗強大的工業力量和堅船利炮，從各個主權國家那裏獲得種種特權。

20世紀民族解放鬥爭運動轟轟烈烈，傳統的殖民關係開始難以爲繼，而中國無論憑藉其國家規模，還是以建立社會主義國家這一事實，當之無愧地成爲其中最矚目的國家之一。然而，一種新殖民主義體系開始形成，其特點就是西方國家憑藉金融工具及其巨大影響力，促使全球財富從南方國家流向北方國家。

雖然這種關係的某些特徵在新形勢下發生了變化，但它帝國主義的本質仍然沒有改變。軍事實力仍然是一個國家實力的“硬基礎”，但在新興的衝突中，出現了一些新型武器，特別是信息武器。爲了對抗那些工業充分發展，足以在公平競爭環境中與其同場競技的國家，新殖民主義體系下的大國必須利用其在媒體業和出版業的先天優勢，來傳播並證明其主導全球格局的合法性。

中國也未能倖免。西方的媒體和政府，尤其是美國，步調一致地試圖削弱中國，破壞中國的發展。他們期望把中國從一個擁有自己經濟體系和發展道路的獨立國家，變成一個完全依附於西方國家的製造基地，一個勞動力長期工資過低且勞動者過度工作的“世界工廠”。這幾乎是不言而喻的事實。因此，他們心照不宣地形成一個陣營，壓制任何與他們着力闡述的敘述相悖的信息或想法。這種有效的信息封鎖如同往日的海上封鎖，是大國按照他們的意願塑造世界的工具。

這不是中國人民想要的，也不是中國共產黨想要的。社會主義國家在諸多方面有別於資本主義國家，其中最重要的區別是它的經濟沿着理性的路線發展，而不是放任資本主義生產的“無政府狀態”。爲此，中國歡迎外國投資，但絕不歡迎外國人的剝削。國家陷入中等收入陷阱，不符合人民的利益，而跨國企業對最先進技術或部分勞動力的長期壟斷，也不符合人民的利益。實現共同富裕一開始就是中國共產黨的追求，今天，它致力於創新和統籌發展，繼續追求這一目標。

儘管與飽受戰爭蹂躪的年代相比，今天的中國更加強大，但是，我們這些外國觀察者的任務仍然緊迫。可以說，“突破封鎖”就是我們的工作。原因很簡單：如果讓這些新殖民主義者得逞所願，中國取得的所有進步都將瞬間倒退。蘇聯解體後，那裏的人民曾經歷了一段悲慘歲月：預期壽命驟降，數百萬人墮入貧困。如果社會主義中國落入21世紀“八國聯軍”的圈套，他面臨的慘狀將是前者的十倍不止。預防這樣的大災難至關重要。

斯諾夫婦、安娜·路易斯·斯特朗、伊斯雷爾·愛潑斯坦、白求恩醫生、艾格尼絲·史沫特萊、馬海德醫生、路易·艾黎及其他許多外國友人當年來到中國，爲中國做出貢獻，是因爲他們理解中國共產黨的願景，尊重中國共產黨的明確目標。他們並非都是共產主義者，但他們都渴望世界工人階級能過上更美好、更公平、更有尊嚴的生活。

我們必須尊重這一理想，將它銘刻心中。我們必須與那些企圖剝削中國人民或掠奪中國資源的外國人劃清界限。我們的使命不只是自私地追求個人財富。

那麼，簡而言之，我們在這裏需要做什麼呢？答案就是，盡我們所能，助力中國發展，講述真實的中國故事，爲捍衛革命成果盡一臂之力。我們謹以這種方式紀念先輩，繼續走在他們多年前披荊斬棘爲我們開闢的解放之路上。

我們必然爲此事業鞠躬盡瘁。

Honoring Those Who Came Before,Forging a New Path for the Future

Ian Goodrum

First let me thank the organizers of this event for inviting me here. It’s an honor and a privilege to talk to you today.

I would like to discuss our aim as foreigners in China. Or rather, I would like to talk about what our aim should be. This is a foundational question, one which needs an answer if our work is to be effective. It is also the primary interest of China Daily’s Edgar Snow Newsroom, a project of which I am proud to be a member. While I cannot speak for the entire program here today, I can, with your indulgence, give my personal thoughts on the matter.

To do that, I’d like to go back. To a time when a group of foreigners, most notably Edgar and Helen Foster Snow, made the long journey to China to see what the Communist Party of China had accomplished in its base areas during the arduous period of civil war.

Those that traveled to China then did so at great personal risk. This was a time of revolution, of war, and victory was not assured. If the cause was lost, the consequences for such a trip would be dire in their home countries — a cost some still paid even after the revolution was won.

They came knowing they might never return. As the fighting intensified, so did the danger to those accompanying the Red Army as journalists or observers. Those who joined the front lines like Dr. Norman Bethune took on an even greater burden. They stood by their comrades in true life-and-death struggles, and some paid the ultimate cost. We honor and treasure their sacrifices today, as we do all martyrs who perished in pursuit of a better world. As Mao Zedong said, “To die for the people is weightier than Mt. Tai.” We stand on their shoulders…and in their shadows.

But the China of today is, of course, a very different place. In its 100 years, 72 of them with state power, the Communist Party has built a country that is thriving and secure. Life expectancies have more than doubled. Illiteracy has been whittled to a tiny percentage of the population. Infant mortality rates have plummeted. Incomes are growing, and quality of life is improving at a stunning pace.

Most importantly, the prosperity that has defined the country’s modern development has been shared, held in common and enjoyed by all. There has never been a better time to be Chinese, and the people of China rightfully possess an abiding confidence in themselves and their future.

This is a complete reversal of the circumstances China faced in the not-so-distant past, when foreign aggressors occupied its territory and attempted to force it into submission. In that time, colonizers could rely on their industrial might to leverage concessions from sovereign peoples at the barrel of a gun.

During the national liberation struggles of the 20thcentury — China among the most notable, both for its scale and its establishment of a socialist state — the traditional colonial form of relations could not continue. Instead, a neocolonial system of financial instruments and influence peddling characterized the extraction of value from Global South to North.

While features of this relationship have changed in new contexts, the nature of these relationships and of imperialism itself has remained the same. Military strength is still the "hard" foundation of a country's power, but there are new weapons being brought to bear in new conflicts — especially informational ones. To combat countries that have advanced their industries enough to compete on an even playing field, the neocolonial behemoths must use inborn advantages in media and publishing to disseminate narratives justifying their place at the top of the global hierarchy.

China is no exception. The media and governments of the West, particularly the United States, act in lockstep to undermine China and subvert its development. It is their desire, and this is hardly a secret, to see it turned from an independent country with its own economic system and path to a wholly subservient manufacturing base; the "world's factory" with a chronically underpaid and overworked labor force. To that end, they have fabricated an unspoken boycott on any information or ideas that run contrary to whichever narrative they wish to keep in focus. This effective embargo, like the naval blockades of yesteryear, is a tool used by the dominant powers to shape the world as they see fit.

That is not what the Chinese people want, nor what the CPC wants. Socialism distinguishes itself from capitalism in many ways, but one of the most important is the building of an economy along rational lines rather than the “anarchy” of capitalist production. To that end, foreign investment is welcome, but never foreign exploitation. It is not in the people’s interest for the country to stagnate in a middle-income trap, nor for multinational monopolies to keep a permanent stranglehold on the most advanced technologies or segments of the labor force. Building common prosperity for all has been the Party's pursuit from the beginning, and it continues that quest today through innovation and a commitment to balanced development.

So although the China of today is in a far stronger position than it was in its war-torn past, our task as foreign observers is no less urgent. It is our job to “run the blockade”, so to speak. The reason is simple: If those neocolonial usurpers got their way, all of China’s progress would be rolled back in an instant. The calamitous period witnessed after the end of the Soviet Union — which saw life expectancies nosedive and millions fall into penury —would be ten times more devastating if socialist China falls to the machinations of the 21stcentury’s own Eight-Nation Alliance. Preventing such a catastrophe is of paramount importance.

When the Snows, Anna Louise Strong, Israel Epstein, Dr. Bethune, Agnes Smedley, Dr. George Hatem, Rewi Alley and so many others came to China, they did so because they understood the CPC's vision and respected the Party’s clarity of purpose. Not all were communists, but they shared a desire to see a better, fairer, more dignified life for the workers of the world.

We must respect that ideal, and keep it etched on our hearts. We must distinguish ourselves from foreigners who come to China with underhanded intentions to exploit its people or its resources. Our mission must be more than the selfish pursuit of personal enrichment.

So, simply put, what are we here to do? We are here to help China's development however we can, tell the stories that need to be told and play our role in defending the gains of the revolution. This is how we can honor those who came before, and travel the long road to liberation on a path they carved out for us so many years ago.

Anything less is unacceptable.

作者：陳 醫

編輯：劉鑫慧