China Turns to Back-Channel Diplomacy to Shore Up U.S. Ties


习拜会的几天前，北京方面在习近平首肯下派遣了一个由政策顾问和企业高管组成的代表团前往纽约，与由保险业高管格林伯格组织的美国同行团体会面。


保险业高管格林伯格（图片摄于2016年）本月主持了一场美中两国的企业高管和高级政策顾问会议。

中国正寻求通过美国企业界的一位老朋友，来加强与美国的沟通。目前习近平正试图稳定双边关系，同时为这两个大国之间更大程度的竞争做好准备。 6park.com
China is turning to an old friend in corporate America to bolster communications with the U.S., as President Xi Jinping tries to stabilize the bilateral relationship while gearing up for greater competition between the two powers. 6park.com
  
据知情人士透露，在上周习近平与拜登举行峰会的几天前，北京方面派遣了一个由高级政策顾问和企业高管组成的代表团前往纽约，与一个由保险业高管格林伯格(Maurice "Hank" Greenberg)组织的美国同行团体会面。格林伯格是在中国最成功的美国商人之一。 6park.com
A few days before Mr. Xi’s summit last week with President Biden, according to people with knowledge of the matter, Beijing dispatched a delegation of senior policy advisers and business executives to New York to meet with a U.S. counterpart group set up by insurance executive Maurice “Hank” Greenberg, one of the most successful American businessmen in China. 6park.com
  
华尔街高管长期以来一直在北京的权力走廊中占有特殊地位。北京将97岁的格林伯格视为中国领导人所说的 “中国人民的老朋友”。格林伯格是一位二战功勋老兵，也是共和党的主要捐助者，他是保险和投资公司C.V. Starr & Co.的首席执行官，也是保险巨头美国国际集团(American International Group Inc., AIG)的前首席执行官。 6park.com
Wall Street executives have long held a special place in Beijing’s corridors of power. Beijing has viewed Mr. Greenberg, 97 years old, as what Chinese leaders call an “old friend of China.” Mr. Greenberg, a decorated World War II veteran and a major Republican donor, is the chief executive of insurance and investment firm C.V. Starr & Co. and former CEO of insurance giant American International Group Inc. 6park.com
  
新冠疫情暴发近三年来，还没有像格林伯格招待的这样的高级别代表团来过美国。其间，中美关系已跌至双方认为的数十年来最低点，两国政府就新冠病毒起源、中国人权记录以及北京方面对台湾施加的军事和经济压力等诸多议题争论不休。 6park.com
Such a high-level group as the one Mr. Greenberg hosted hasn’t come to the U.S. since the Covid-19 pandemic started nearly three years ago. In that time, relations have plunged to what both sides see as the lowest point in decades, with Beijing and Washington sparring over issues ranging from the origins of the pandemic to China’s human-rights record and its military and economic pressure on Taiwan. 6park.com
  
这些知情人士说，习近平在今年10月的中共二十大会议结束后立即首肯了由中国外交部下属的一个智囊团组织的这次行程。二十大会议巩固了习近平的权力。这些知情人士说，上述美国团体还在会谈前通知了白宫的国家安全委员会(National Security Council, 简称NSC)和其他机构。NSC不予置评。 6park.com
Mr. Xi approved the trip, organized by a think tank affiliated with China’s Foreign Ministry, right after a Communist Party conclave in October that extended his hold on power, the people said. The U.S. group also notified the White House’s National Security Council and other agencies ahead of the meeting, the people said. The NSC declined to comment. 6park.com
  
中美双方都已表示愿意尝试至少使两国关系不进一步恶化。在上周于印尼会晤时，拜登和习近平承诺重启气候变化相关合作，并恢复其他高级别接触。 6park.com
Both Beijing and Washington have expressed a willingness to try to at least keep relations from deteriorating further. At their summit in Indonesia last week, Messrs. Biden and Xi pledged to restart cooperation on climate change and resume other high-level contacts. 


中国国家主席习近平和美国总统拜登上周在巴厘岛举行的二十国集团峰会期间会面。

然而，不信任感仍然很强，台海紧张局势和美国的技术管控是最新痛处，习近平和拜登政府都在制定政策以抗衡对方的力量和影响。 6park.com
Still, distrust is high, with tensions over Taiwan and U.S. controls on technology the latest sore spots, and both Mr. Xi and the Biden administration are putting in place policies to counter the other’s power and influence. 6park.com
  
亚洲协会政策研究院(Asia Society Policy Institute)副主席罗素(Daniel Russel)说，习近平正寻求某种程度的稳定，以便为与美国展开更大程度竞争做准备；鉴于双方在任何层级上都缺乏接触，任何直接对话都是有价值的。罗素曾是奥巴马(Barack Obama)政府从事与中国事务相关工作的官员。 6park.com
“Xi is seeking a certain degree of stability as part of his preparation for greater competition with the U.S.,” said Daniel Russel, a former Obama administration China official, now a vice president at the Asia Society Policy Institute, a think tank. “Given that there is a dearth of engagement between the two sides at any level, any direct dialogue is valuable.” 6park.com
  
随着国内政治格局尘埃落定，习近平开始将部分注意力转移到调整其他一些政策上，这些政策使中国几乎与西方世界隔绝，包括在国内采取的严格防疫措施，以及几乎暂停与美国之间官方层面的接触。 6park.com
With domestic politics now out of the way, Mr. Xi is shifting some of his attention to adjusting policies that have left China all but closed off from the Western world, including stringent Covid-control measures at home as well as a near-suspension of officially sanctioned contacts with the U.S. 6park.com
  
知情人士称，在双方都明确了政治日程的情况下，习近平首肯了该代表团，意在向华盛顿发出信号，表明他打算防止两国关系脱离正轨，并找到一种沟通的方式。 6park.com
By approving the delegation with the political calendar cleared on both sides, the people said, Mr. Xi meant to signal to Washington his intention to prevent the relations from going off the rails and to find a way to communicate. 6park.com
  
中国高级官员已开始认为传统的所谓“二轨”(Track II)对话大多是无效的。“二轨”对话指的是双方智库和行业团体之间的民间渠道外交。 6park.com
Senior Chinese officials have come to view the traditional so-called “Track II” dialogue, or the kind of backchannel diplomacy between think tanks and industry groups on both sides, as mostly ineffective. 6park.com
  
20世纪90年代末，格林伯格曾努力游说克林顿(Clinton)政府，帮助中国在2001年加入世界贸易组织(WTO)。2018年中国庆祝改革开放40周年之际，习近平授予格林伯格中国改革友谊奖章，他因此成为中国这一荣誉的10位外国获得者之一。改革开放使中国与世界其他国家的关系更加密切。 6park.com
In the late 1990s, Mr. Greenberg lobbied the Clinton administration hard to help get China into the World Trade Organization in 2001. In 2018, when China celebrated the 40th anniversary of the “reform-and-opening” policy, which brought China closer to the rest of the world, Mr. Xi awarded Mr. Greenberg the China Reform Friendship Medal, making him one of the 10 foreign recipients of the Chinese honor.


新冠疫情导致北京的一座办公楼关闭。新冠病毒起源问题一直是美中紧张关系的源头之一。

今年夏天，随着中美之间紧张关系持续升温，格林伯格公开表示支持与中国接触，而不是与中国脱钩。在《华尔街日报》(The Wall Street Journal) 7月份的一篇观点文章中，他宣布成立一个由美国高级商业和政策领袖组成的小组，以帮助“重建具有建设性的双边对话机制”。 6park.com
This past summer, as tensions between Washington and Beijing continued to rise, Mr. Greenberg spoke up in favor of engagement with, as opposed to decoupling from, China. In a July opinion piece in The Wall Street Journal, he announced the founding of a group composed of senior U.S. business and policy leaders to help “re-establish a constructive bilateral dialogue.” 6park.com
  
知情人士表示，中国驻美国大使、深受习近平信任的职业外交官秦刚让中国领导层注意到了这篇报道。习近平随后首肯外交部成立一个小组，该小组与格林伯格建立的由前高级官员和商界领袖组成的小组类似。 6park.com
Qin Gang, China’s ambassador to Washington and a career diplomat deeply trusted by Mr. Xi, brought the piece to the Chinese leadership’s attention, the people with knowledge of the matter said. Mr. Xi then greenlighted the Foreign Ministry to form a group that mirrored the one set up by Mr. Greenberg, which is made up of former senior officials and business leaders. 6park.com
  
中国外交部下属智库中国人民外交学会被指定为该小组的组织者。据上述知情人士称，这个小组的成员包括曾任中国驻美国大使崔天凯、前商务部长陈德铭和前国家发改委副部长宁吉喆。 6park.com
The Chinese People’s Institute of Foreign Affairs, the Foreign Ministry-affiliated think tank, was named as organizer of the group—whose members, according to the people, include Cui Tiankai, Beijing’s former top envoy to Washington, Chen Deming, ex-commerce minister, and Ning Jizhe, former vice minister at China’s top economic-planning agency. 6park.com
  
11月10日和11日，中国和美国的这两个小组在C.V. Starr位于公园大道的总部进行了讨论，双方各有13名成员参加。据知情人士称，美方成员中包括格林伯格、农业综合企业ContiGroup Cos.的首席执行官Paul Fribourg、前美国参议员Joe Lieberman和两位前美国驻中国大使——前蒙大拿州民主党参议员博卡斯(Max Baucus)和前艾奥瓦州共和党州长布兰斯塔德(Terry Branstad)。 6park.com
The Chinese and U.S. groups held discussions at C.V. Starr’s headquarters on Park Avenue on Nov. 10 and the next day, with 13 members from each side participating. Among the Americans, according to the people, are Mr. Greenberg, Paul Fribourg, CEO of agribusiness ContiGroup Cos., former U.S. Sen. Joe Lieberman and two former U.S. ambassadors to Beijing: Max Baucus, a former Democratic senator from Montana, and Terry Branstad, the former Republican governor of Iowa.  6park.com
  
在C.V. Starr的一间会议室里，与会者分坐在一张长桌的两边，桌上铺着乳白色桌布，中间摆着花束。会议室外面的墙上挂着格林伯格与几代中国领导人会面的照片。 6park.com
In a C.V. Starr conference room, outside of which is a wall lined with pictures of Mr. Greenberg meeting with generations of Chinese leaders, the participants were arrayed on two sides of a long table covered with an ivory tablecloth and bouquets of flowers running down the middle. 6park.com
  
参加讨论的退役海军上将迈克尔·马伦(Mike Mullen)表示，和美国代表团的其他成员一样，他对两国关系的下滑趋势感到担忧，中方也有这种忧虑。 6park.com
Retired Adm. Mike Mullen, who attended the discussions, said he, like other members in the U.S. group, is concerned about the “downward trajectory” of the relationship, and that apprehension was shared by the Chinese side.  6park.com
  
“我们正处在一个危险的时期，”马伦说，他称这是与会双方的共同感受。“作为当今的两个大国，我们需要设法扭转这一局面。” 6park.com
“We’re at a dangerous time,” Adm. Mullen said, describing what he said was a shared sentiment by both sides. “As the two great powers of the time, we need to try to turn this around.” 6park.com
  
据与会者称，在这次一天半的会议中，双方讨论了在台湾问题上的分歧，以及两国政府可能合作的领域。中国政府称台湾是中国领土的一部分。 6park.com
Over the day and a half of meetings, the two sides discussed disagreements over Taiwan, the democratically governed island Beijing claims is part of China, and areas where the governments might cooperate, according to participants. 6park.com
  
与会者称，美国代表团强调了台海和平的必要性，而中国代表则强调了台湾最终与大陆统一的重要性。 6park.com
While the U.S. group emphasized the need for peace across the Taiwan Strait, the Chinese delegates stressed the importance of Taiwan’s eventual unification with the mainland, participants said. 6park.com
  
据与会者称，上述中国小组暗示，中国政府可能愿意在俄罗斯入侵乌克兰以及朝鲜问题等地缘政治事项上与华盛顿方面合作。但中国代表团似乎将合作的前提条件设定为华盛顿方面在台湾等问题上尊重中国的核心利益，以及放松向中国公司出售高科技的限制。 6park.com
The Chinese group indicated it might be desirable for Beijing to work with Washington on geopolitical issues involving Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and North Korea, according to the participants. But the Chinese delegates seemed to condition the cooperation on Washington respecting China’s core interests such as Taiwan and easing restrictions on high-tech sales to Chinese companies. 6park.com
  
在上述讨论结束时，中国代表团提出明年在中国举行下一轮会议。该代表团由前外交部副部长、现中国人民外交学会会长王超带领。 6park.com
At the end of the discussions, the Chinese delegation, led by Wang Chao, a former vice foreign minister and now head of the Institute of Foreign Affairs, offered to hold the next round of meetings in China next year. 6park.com
  
格林伯格的高级助手表示，拜登政府已经听取了美中代表团在这项名为“Morefar Project”的安排下的交流情况。这一安排以格林伯格在纽约州北部的一处僻静庄园命名，该庄园通常被他用来招待政府和商界领袖。 6park.com
Senior aides to Mr. Greenberg said the Biden administration had been briefed on the exchanges between the American and Chinese groups under the initiative, dubbed the “Morefar Project,” named after a secluded estate upstate New York used by Mr. Greenberg to entertain government and business leaders. 6park.com