This summer, protests in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China began as a response to the so-called judicial fugitive bill that Hong Kong’s legislative authorities were in the process of deliberating.
今年夏天，香港特别行政区的示威活动始于香港立法机构审议中的所谓的《逃犯条例》。
The proposals were designed to close a loophole in which criminals from other parts of China could evade justice by illegally sheltering in Hong Kong and abusing the “One Country, Two Systems” political model.
条例的内容条款旨在弥补一个司法漏洞：来自中国其他地方的罪犯可以在香港非法避难，从而逃避法律制裁，这破坏了“一国两制”的政治原则。
To give one perspective, such a bill would allow for the kind of inter-jurisdictional justice that occurs on a daily basis in the United States when a criminal flees from one U.S. state to another. Likewise, the EU’s controversial European Arrest Warrant (EAW) allows for the extradition of suspects between sovereign states without any significant judicial review available.
举一个例子：如果一个罪犯从美国境内逃亡国外，美国可以跨司法管辖区执法，这在美国每天都在发生。而《逃犯条例》所容许的不过是同样的事情。类似的是欧盟颇有争议的《欧洲逮捕令》，其允许在没有司法审查的情况下在主权国家之间引渡犯罪嫌疑人。
The Hong Kong bill was to be far more reduced in its scope in comparison to the realities in the United States and European Union. Transferring a criminal taking refuge in Hong Kong after committing a criminal act elsewhere in China would only have taken place if the offence in question was considered a crime in Hong Kong.
香港的这一条例相比美国和欧盟的类似条例来说适用范围要小得多。要引渡一个在中国其他地方作案而在香港藏身的罪犯，前提是案件在香港也被认定为犯罪。
Secondly, a thorough process of judicial review was to be available and the provisions were to be highly limited in their overall scope.
其次，要有完整的司法审查过程，相关条款在其适用范围上有很多限制。
In spite of the rather anodyne nature of the bill when compared with the realities in major Western countries, protesters successfully convinced the legislative authorities to suspend the bill.
尽管香港的这一条例相比主要西方国家的类似法律来说已经温和了许多，示威者仍然迫使立法机构暂停法案的通过。
Under normal circumstances, this would have been the end of the protests but self-evidently sinister elements sought not to achieve a goal but instead they sought to sow supreme chaos.
在通常情况下，示威活动就到此为止了。但用心险恶的破坏分子想要的不只是实现目标，而是播撒导致更严重混乱的种子。
Since the protesters ostensibly got what they wanted after the fugitive bill was shelved, the demonstrations have metamorphosed into overt provocations against ordinary people, against businesses and against lawful authorities.
在逃犯条例被搁置之后，表面上如愿以偿的示威者们将示威活动演变为对普通百姓、商业和合法政府机构的公然挑衅。
A video of young thugs assaulting a very elderly man at a train station like rabid gangsters is now emblematic of the brutal atmosphere caused by the provocateurs. Equally emblematic is the extreme vandalism of Hong Kong’s legislative chamber, the defacing of national symbols and the erection of a colonial flag on modern Chinese soil.
在一个视频中，一群年轻暴徒在火车站极其残忍地袭击一个老人，这凸显了暴乱分子所营造的残酷气氛。另一起典型事件是冲击香港立法会，侮辱国徽，并在中国土地上竖起过去殖民地时期的旗帜。
Many have called such acts treasonous. Certainly, if violent thugs broke into the U.S. Congress and erected a foreign flag before a defaced symbol of the U.S. government, most Americans would correctly label this as treason.
许多人将这种行为称为叛国，这是毫无疑问的。如果暴徒冲进美国国会，将外国旗帜树立在受到损毁的美国国徽前，大多数美国人也会称之为叛国。
At a human level, the events are sad and infuriating. At a legal level, it is curious as to why the police have used so little force against the provocateurs whilst in countries like France, protesters are dealt with in an extremely brutal fashion even if the protests remain non-destructive.
在人性层面，这些事件是令人悲伤而愤怒的。在法律层面上，警方对于这些暴乱分子只用了相对温和的方式应对值得思考。反观在法国这样的国家，即便是非破坏性的示威活动，示威者们也会遭到警方的极其残酷的镇压。
Violent protesters stain Chinese national emblem at the Liaison Office of the Central People’s Government in the HKSAR, July 21, 2019. /Reuters Photo
But the most important development in the medium and perhaps in the long term is that the provocations have changed the international image of Hong Kong.
从中长期来看，这些挑衅行为最关键的影响是其已经改变了香港的国际形象。
Hong Kong has traditionally been known as a prosperous, open, business and trade oriented and cosmopolitan Chinese region. Now, Hong Kong looks dangerous; it looks tense, chaotic and as such, the international business community will take notice.
作为中国的一个地区，香港一直以来以繁荣、开放、重视商业贸易的国际化大都市形象著称。但现在，香港看上去充满危险、紧张和混乱。国际商界也会注意到这种变化。
The authorities themselves must be aware of this, which is why a minimal amount of force has been used against the provocateurs when compared, for example, with the French response to the “yellow vest” protesters.
香港政府一定也注意到了这种变化，这也是为什么他们对挑衅者采取最小程度的武力应对。相比法国对“黄背心”示威者的回应来说，香港警方的回应要温和的多。
And yet the other side of this equation is that far from exercising reason and taking to their senses, the provocateurs continue their war against their own region. It is not the rest of China that is suffering this summer. China as a whole remains a totally peaceful and prosperous country.
然而，另一方面，挑衅者们不但不采取理性行为，反而继续对自己所在的地区发起战争。这个夏天，除香港外，中国的其他地方平安无事，从整体上来说，中国仍是和平和繁荣的国家。
But Hong Kong which has maintained unique characteristics under the “One Country, Two Systems” model has descended to a level of hitherto unknown chaos that could potentially affect the future of all Hong Kong people.
但在“一国两制”原则下保持着自身特色的香港已经深陷混乱，这种混乱很可能影响所有香港民众的未来。
The protests themselves are therefore totally self-destructive. Whilst the authorities have dropped proposals for the so-called fugitive bill and whilst normal democratic institutions continue to function according to the rule of law, the streets are rejecting law and order, the streets are rejecting the overwhelming will of ordinary people for peace and order and the streets are sending negative messages to the international business community as well as to tourists.
因此，这些示威活动本身是自我毁灭性的。尽管政府已经放弃通过所谓的《逃犯条例》，尽管正常的民主机构继续依法运转，香港的街头暴乱分子仍拒绝法律和秩序，拒绝广大老百姓对和平与秩序的渴望，向国际商业界和游客传递着负面信息。
When the history books record the story of Hong Kong’s 2019 summer of despair, they may not be kind to the young and violent elements who have transformed Hong Kong from a place of tranquility and robust commerce to one of violence, thuggery, banditry and gangsterism. This is a mark of shame that will forever taint those responsible for these self-harming crimes.
当历史书提到2019年香港这个绝望的夏天的时候，历史学家们不会美化这些年轻暴徒的行为。正是他们将香港从一个平静和富有活力的商业之都变成暴力、抢劫和强盗主义的代名词。对于那些犯有这种种自残式罪责的人来说，这将是他们永远的耻辱。
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