Tony Blair In Qinghua University

　　QUESTION:Seven days ago during your visit to the USA, newspaper cuttings commented that the UK had become the 51 st state 1 of the United States. I want your views about that comment.

　　PRIME MINISTER:On the 51 st state , well that is what is often said by people who oppose Britain's strong alliance with the United States of America . And actually it is not true to say that we don't have our disagreements with the United States, sometimes we do. The Kyoto Protocol on Climate Change2 was an example of that. But I am proud of our relationship with the United States and I am proud of the partnership that we have . But I don't think that we should see a strong relationship with the United States as the only strong relationship we can have. The problems that we face are problems to do with global terrorism and weapons of mass destruction in the hands of irresponsible people, I think they are climate change, I think it is economic globalisation, I think it is to do with how we extend development to the poorest parts of the world. But I think those challenges are best dealt with by nations working together. So we have a close relationship with the United States, but we are also part of the European Union. I would like a closer relationship between the UK and China, because I think how China develops in this international framework is going to be vitally important. I think 21 st century politics is about nations coming together on a common agenda. Now that means in my view, not that we come together simply on an agenda that America sets, but that we come together on an agenda that we set together. I think that the path for Britain is not to be worried about our alliance with the United States, I think it is good that we have got an alliance with the United States, but I think we should be using that influence to try and bring the United States and other countries together on a common agenda that we are all happy with, that your leadership here in China is happy with, the European Union, the Russians, countries like India that are developing too . We have all got to get in the same place on the same agenda, and that is what we are working towards, because I think that is the best thing for people . .. I really do.

　　QUESTION:You are around my father's age and like my father. Would you tell me here honestly, like talking to your own children, that you never lied on the Iraq war?

　　PRIME MINISTER:What would I say to my children? What I would say to them is this, that in the end as a political leader you have got to take the decisions that you think are right, and those decisions are sometimes very, very difficult. But I believe passionately in relation to Iraq, we could not allow Saddam Hussein to carry on developing weapons of mass destruction3 , and don't be in any doubt that he was doing it, because we had 23 different United Nations resolutions about the very issue of Saddam and weapons of mass destruction. So please don 't anyone here think this is something that suddenly was dreamed up by the Americans or the British , it was there , it was a serious issue . That is why the United Nations inspectors were in Iraq throughout the 1990s. They were then forced to leave at the end of 1998, it was why they went back in November after the United Nations resolution. So I don't have any doubt about the threat that he posed, and I don't have any doubt either about the danger of that threat in the hands of a man like Saddam. It is difficult for people here just to appreciate4 this, but out of a country of 23 million, 4 million of its people were in exile —4 million of them were in exile . Literally5 tens of thousands of children used to die of malnutrition every single year, of preventable diseases, because of the way he ran the country. And to allow someone like that to carry on being a security threat to the world I thought was the wrong thing, so I took the action that I did. Now there will be people here , and I totally understand it, who disagree with that decision, and the difficult thing about being a political leader is that in the end you have to take the decisions that you believe are right and stand by them. I took the decision I thought was right and I stick by it. And that is what I would say to my children or anybody else's children.

　　练习题：

　　Ⅰ. Matching:

　　1. prime minister A. homeless

　　2. alliance B. agreement

　　3. protocol C. decision

　　4. resolution D. premier

　　5. appreciate E. union

　　6. in exile F. understand

　　Ⅱ. Questions :

　　1. Who is the head of Iraq ?

　　2. How many resolutions UN passed to forbid Saddam Hussein to carry on developing weapons of mass destruction?

　　3. Why did newspaper cuttings comment that the UK had become the 51st state of the United States?

　　答案：

　　Ⅰ. 1. D 2. E 3 . B 4 . C 5. F 6 . A

　　Ⅱ. 1. Saddam Hussein

　　3. That is what is often said by people who oppose Britain's strong alliance with the United States of America.

　　译文：

　　学 生: 几天前, 在您到美国的访问时, 有报纸评论说英国是美国的第51 个州, 您是怎么看待这些评论的?

　　布莱尔: 人们经常会用第51 个州之说来反对英国跟美国的强大联盟。但是我们不能说英美之间就没有分歧, 有时候我们也会有不同意见,《关于全球气候变化的京都议定书》就是一个例子。但对于我们与美国的关系, 我感到非常自豪, 我对我们的伙伴关系感到非常自豪。但是我并不认为与美国的良好关系是我们所能具有的惟一的关系。现在我们面临的问题是国际恐怖主义, 是掌握在不负责任的人手中的大规模杀伤性武器, 是气候变化, 是经济全球化, 是发展贫穷国家的经济。我觉得应付这些挑战的方法, 是各国人民的合作。所以我们跟美国有很好的关系,同时我们也是欧盟的一部分。我也愿意与中国发展更紧密的关系, 因为我觉得中国在国际构架下如何发展事关重大。我觉得21 世纪的政治是各个国家为一个共同的议程走到一起。我的意思是, 我们不是按美国制定的议程, 而是按我们共同制定的议程走到一起。所以, 我觉得英国的任务不是去担心与美国的联盟, 我觉得我们应该跟美国保持良好的盟友关系, 应该把这种影响扩大开来, 推动美国和其他国家的关系, 制定出大家都能接受的共同议程。中国的领导能够接受,欧盟、俄罗斯以及像印度这样的发展中国家也能接受。大家都走到一起, 制定共同的议程, 这是我们努力的方向。因为我觉得这是最有利于人民的, 我坚信这一点。

　　学生: 您大概是我爸爸的年龄, 您像我父亲一样。您能不能像您对您的孩子那样老实地告诉我, 您在伊拉克战争当中没有撒谎?

　　布莱尔: 我会怎么回答我的孩子? 我想要说的是, 作为一个政治领导人, 你不得不做出你认为正确的决定。有时候要做出这些决定是很困难的, 但我坚信: 有关与伊拉克的关系上, 我们绝不允许萨达姆继续发展大规模杀伤性武器, 毫无疑问, 他的确在发展大规模杀伤性武器, 因为对此联合国有二十三个决议。在座的各位可别认为这是英国或者美国虚构的。事实就是如此, 这是很严肃的问题。这就是为什么联合国检查人员整个20 世纪90 年代都呆在伊拉克, 直到1998 年底被迫离开。但是在联合国做出决定之后, 他们又回到伊拉克。我毫不怀疑萨达姆所构成的威胁, 我也同样不怀疑一个像萨达姆这样的人手中握有这种武器会有危险。中国人可能很难意识到这意味着什么, 但是在伊拉克2300 万人口中, 有400 万流落他乡, 每年有数万的儿童死于营养不良和可防沿的疾病。所有这些都是因为他的统治所造成的。我认为任由像他这样的人继续威胁世界安全是错误的, 所以我采取了那样的行动。会有人不赞同我的决定, 我完全理解。作为一个政治领导人的困难在于你必须做出你认为正确的决定, 而且坚持你的立场。我做出了我认为正确的决定, 我坚持这个立场, 这就是我要对我自己的孩子以及别人的孩子要说的话。