白宮前年開通請願網站,中國網民爆發"上訪潮"
When the White House created a petitioning website in 2011, it probably did not count on Barack Obama being asked to invade China, rule on the flavour of tofu and investigate a two-decade-old Chinese poisoning case.
白宮在2011年開通一個請願網站時，很可能想不到會有人請求巴拉克·奧巴馬(Barack Obama)入侵中國、就豆腐腦應該是甜還是鹹做出裁定、或者調查20年前中國的一宗投毒案。But that is exactly what has happened over the past week as Chinese people, motivated variously by a sense of justice, powerlessness or just plain humour, have flooded the White House “We the People” website.
但這恰恰是過去一週內發生的情形，中國人在各種動機（包括正義感、無助感，或只是想幽默一下）的驅使下，蜂擁訪問白宮“我們人民”(We the People)網站。The catalyst for the surge in Chinese petitions was a sad one. Since late April, Chinese internet users had been calling for authorities to reopen an investigation into the 1995 poisoning of Zhu Ling, a student at the prestigious Tsignhua University. She was left disabled and the perpetrator was never found.
促使中國人在美國白宮請願網站發起請願的事件之一，是一起悲劇。自4月下旬以來，中國網民一直在呼籲當局對1995年的一宗投毒案重啓調查，該案受害人朱令當時是知名學府清華大學的學生。中毒使她身陷殘疾，而當局卻從未找出誰是肇事者。
But the appeals went no-where and Zhu’s name was soon blocked on Chinese social media, perhaps be-cause the unsolved crime reflected badly on the government and perhaps be-cause a suspect, Zhu’s former roommate, was supposedly the granddaughter of a former high-ranking official.
但是，這些呼籲並沒有引起什麼反響，反倒是朱令這個名字很快就在中國的社交媒體上被屏蔽，這也許是因爲未能破案給政府帶來不良形象，也許是因爲犯罪嫌疑人（朱令的前室友）據信是一名前高官的孫女。Whatever the exact cause of the censorship, attention quickly shifted to the White House website. There, the case could be raised without impediment. What’s more, Zhu’s former roommate, previously questioned but released by Chinese police, had moved to the US, so it made sense to Chinese internet users to ask US authorities to look into her story.
無論這一網絡審查的具體原因是什麼，反正人們的注意力很快就轉向上述白宮網站。在那裏，人們可以不受阻礙地談論此案。更重要的是，朱令的那名曾被中國警方訊問、但隨後獲釋的前室友，早已移民美國，因此中國網民有理由促請美國有關部門調查她的過往經歷。On the White House website, a petition must collect 100,000 signatures within one month for the administration to review the request and issue a response. The Zhu petition – which calls for the investigation and deportation of the alleged suspect – had collected more than 135,000 signatures as of Wednesday, just five days after it was launched.
在上述白宮網站上，一項請願只要在一個月內收集到10萬個簽名表示支持，奧巴馬政府就會審議相關請求，並作出迴應。有關朱令的請願（具體內容是呼籲調查並遣返那名涉嫌投毒的嫌疑人）截至週三已收集逾13.5萬個簽名——要知道，這是這項請願發起短短五天之後的數字。Given legal and diplomatic realities, the Zhu petition is unlikely to amount to much. But it did at least have one immediate impact. As word spread on Chinese social media of the White House petitioning website, advocates for other causes in China came out in droves. At last count, five China-related petitions have been started over the past three days. Two urge US military intervention: one to liberate the Chinese people and the other to liberate the people of Hong Kong.
考慮到法律和外交現實，有關朱令的請願不太可能產生什麼實質結果。但它至少很快產生了一個影響。隨着有關白宮請願網站的信息在中國社交媒體上傳開，中國其他種種訴求的倡導者趨之若鶩。據記者最新統計，過去三天裏發起了五項涉及中國的請願。其中兩項請願敦促美國發動軍事幹預：一項是解放中國人民，另一項是解放香港人民。Another two raise environmental concerns. The first asks Mr Obama to tell China to halt the construction of chemical plant in the southwestern city of Kunming. The second calls for an assessment of the safety of a petrochemical plant in Sichuan province.
另外兩項請願提出環境方面的關切：一項請求奧巴馬要求中國在昆明停建化工廠，另一項呼籲評估四川省一家石化廠的安全性。The other petition is lighter hearted. “We politely request that the US government establish that the official flavour of tofu curd should be sweet, by adding syrup, granulated sugar, brown sugar or other sweeteners.” Many consumers of tofu curd, a goopy breakfast concoction, like it salty; others prefer it sweet.
還有一項請願是輕鬆性質的。“我們請求美國政府將豆腐腦的官方味道定爲甜味，即加入糖漿或砂糖、紅糖等甜味食品調味。”豆腐腦是一種黏糊糊的早餐食品，許多消費者喜歡鹹的；但也有一些人喜歡甜的。The sudden popularity of the White House petitions website in China users owes something to China’s traditions. In imperial times, people took their grievances directly to officials to ask for their help, believing that high-ranking civil servants were fair and just. That practice has carried on to the modern day with the government establishing the State Bureau for Letters and Visits to receive petitions from ordinary citizens.
白宮請願網站在中國網民中突然走紅，在一定程度上也可歸因於中國的某些傳統。封建年代，民衆直接向官員陳冤、請求幫助，他們相信高層公職人員是公平公正的。這種做法延續至今，中國政府設有國家信訪局，由其負責接收民間的請願。On Sina Weibo, the popular microblogging service, an account was created for “Obama, director of the Letters and Visits Office”. A crudely digitally manipulated picture spreading around Weibo and Twitter transforms the White House into the Letters and Visits Office, depicting Mr Obama reviewing petitions.
在人氣頗高的微博服務——新浪微博(Sina Weibo)上，有人開設了“信訪辦公室主任奧巴馬”的賬戶。新浪微博和Twitter上都流傳着一張經過粗糙數字篡改的圖片，圖中的白宮變成了信訪辦公室，奧巴馬則在審閱請願書。The joke is tinged with criticism of domestic politics: if only Chinese could get such attentiveness from their officials. Every provincial capital in China has a petition office, often receiving millions of requests a year. Those who feel justice has not been served locally take their requests to the national petition office in Beijing. When the national parliament sits in March, the Letters and Visits office is inundated with petitioners from around the country.
這個玩笑帶有對中國國內政治的批評意味：假如中國人能從本國官員那裏得到這樣的關懷……中國的每一個省會城市都設有信訪局，它們每年往往接到數以百萬計的請求。那些覺得在當地得不到公正的人，還會把自己的請求帶到北京的國家信訪局。每年3月全國人大舉行年會時，國家信訪局都會面對大量來自全國各地的上訪者。Concerned that criticism would make them look bad, some provinces expend vast amounts of energy on preventing their residents from reaching the Beijing office, detaining them in illegal jails or barring them from travelling to the capital in the first place.
擔憂批評聲音使自己臉上無光的一些省份，會花大氣力阻止當地居民到北京上訪，把他們非法關押起來，或者乾脆一開始就不讓他們前往首都。“The contrast with the White House’s approach is jarring,” writes David Wertime, co-editor of Tea Leaf Nation, a digital magazine about China. “It’s a valuable reminder of American soft power in the digital age.”
“這與白宮的做法形成鮮明反差。”《茶葉之國》(Tea Leaf Nation)聯席主編大衛·沃泰姆(David Wertime)表示，“這件事很有價值，它提醒世人注意到美國在數字時代擁有的軟實力。”《茶葉之國》是一份關於中國的數字雜誌。
