大国挑战，负重前行文章源自英文巴士-https://www.en84.com/8827.html
How Does China Take on a Virus?文章源自英文巴士-https://www.en84.com/8827.html
文章源自英文巴士-https://www.en84.com/8827.html
武汉已封城一月之久，以战病毒之役。如秋千受力而摆，疫情让世界失衡。中国正奋发图存。文章源自英文巴士-https://www.en84.com/8827.html
文章源自英文巴士-https://www.en84.com/8827.html
It has been a month since Wuhan was locked down because of the coronavirus. Like a big push on a swing, the epidemic tips the balance in the world, and China is making efforts to keep standing.文章源自英文巴士-https://www.en84.com/8827.html
文章源自英文巴士-https://www.en84.com/8827.html
中国庞大的国土成为战疫的第一挑战。中国乃泱泱大国，而此次疫情直击其腹地要害。疫情爆发于1600万人口的中部大都市武汉。屋漏偏逢连夜雨，武汉周围城市众多，人口皆以百万计。武汉乃交通枢纽，疫情大有扩散至周边城市之势。疆土广阔反倒成为战疫的重大阻碍。文章源自英文巴士-https://www.en84.com/8827.html
文章源自英文巴士-https://www.en84.com/8827.html
The challenge lies in the country’s size. China is a big country with a large span, and the virus hit the center, literally. The epicenter is a metropolis of 16 million people in the middle of the country. To make matters worse, it is surrounded by many cities, also with millions of inhabitants. Wuhan is a transport hub, and the virus is threatening to infect the whole surrounding area. The size of the country is a significant obstacle.文章源自英文巴士-https://www.en84.com/8827.html
但凡事有弊也有利。由于中国疆土广阔，不同地区得以相互接济。武汉告急之时，四面八方来援。此时此刻，全国十分之一的重症监护医生正奋战于武汉。4万余名医务人员应急响应，火速奔赴抗疫前线。中国火力全开，应对疫情。
But that’s only half the story. Because of its continental size, all the parts feed off each other. When Wuhan fell, the other provinces came to its aid. As we speak, one tenth of the intensive-care doctors of the entire country is in Wuhan. A total of 40,000 medical staff moved to the center in a wartime fashion. China plans to take the virus full on.
体制之机。战疫的另一关键在于信息传递。中国自有其独特的双向信息流动，自上而下和自下而上。
Structure matters. Another weight on scale is messaging. China has two-way traffic of communication: top-down and bottom-up.
中国需要改善信息自下而上的传导。武汉的八名医生于新型病毒爆发之初便发出警示，然而他们的声音却没有被重视, 国家监委调查组仍在调查事件真相。但是有一点是肯定的：汇报层级过多，手续繁杂，缺乏信息上报动力。
China needs to do better bottom-up. When doctors in Wuhan sounded alarms of the new virus, the message got lost. An investigation is still ongoing on why. But one reason is obvious: there are too many layers, too much red tape and too little incentives to send the messages up.
另一方面，中国自上而下的信息传导十分强大。当领导层着手解决问题时，他们的意志和方法确保了使命必达，上一呼，下有应。中国发起全民抗疫。中国需要这样的举措来应对传染性极强的疫情，十天之内两家医院拔地而起，一周之内数千病房投入使用，全国人民纷纷投身抗疫行动。自上而下的信息传导快速而清晰。高效的行动无可非议，尤其在疫情蔓延的当下。
But China is strong when it comes to top-down messages. When the leadership is on top of the problem, it has the willpower and wherewithal to make the call. And the grassroots answer. China launched a people’s war. And that was exactly what was needed to deal with a travelling threat like an epidemic. China built two hospitals in ten days, thousands of wards in a week, and shook the population into action. Top-down is fast and sharp. Nobody should argue against efficiency, especially when what is at stake is a plague spreading.
但是保持平衡实非易事。每个决定的背后都有取舍，它会影响百姓生计，甚至攸关生死。我们需要减缓疫情传播速度。中国许多地区都在执行严格的检疫隔离。建立广泛的检疫隔离网络，减少违规行为固然是个好办法 问题是我们仍然不知道确切的疫情扩散范围。在不侵犯人们的权利和尊严的情况下有效隔离感染者困难重重。
But keeping the balance is hard. Every decision is a tradeoff when it affects the lives of thousands and the livelihoods of millions. We need to slow the spread. Draconian quarantines are being enforced in many parts of the country. Maintain [Maintaining] a large network of isolation and a low rate of rogue behavior is the answer; the question is: we still don’t know the exact extent of the infection. Isolating the infected while not infringing on people’s rights and decency is not an easy task.
经济发展依赖于人与人的交往，但疫情防控要求人与人保持距离。我们需要保持一定距离，但我们也需要携手合作。那么，我们如何在挽救生命和挽救经济之间取得平衡？每个决策都艰难无比。
Our economy relies on human transaction, but epidemic control depends on social distancing. We need to keep a distance, and yet we need to work together. So how do we balance saving lives and saving economy? This is an issue that requires hard decision making.
但是，最艰难的决定是何时为疫情画上句号。我们对这个病毒对手还知之甚少，工具箱中的手段寥寥无几，没有特效药，也没有疫苗。眼前仍然无法回答公众的问题：疫情何时结束？
But the hardest is when to draw the line. With so little information on an adversary like the virus and so few weapons at our disposal, without treatment or vaccines, we are not able to answer the public’s question: when does it end?
在第二次世界大战结束前夕，温斯顿·丘吉尔如此描述战争：不惜一切代价，去赢得胜利；无论多么恐怖，还是要赢得胜利；无论道路多么遥远艰难也要赢得胜利；因为没有胜利，就是死路一条。
Before the end of the Second World War, Winston Churchill described the war like this: victory at all costs, victory in spite of all terror, victory, however long and hard the road may be; for without victory, there is no survival.
现在，我们正在与疫情抗争。胜利依然可望却尚不及。幸运的是，我们身后有一个伟大的祖国，全世界都在声援我们，更有一个有担当重成效的体制。未来会有更艰难的决定。希望我们能做出最佳的选择，让自己无怨无悔。
Now, we are at war with a virus. And victory is still ahead of us. Luckily, we still have a big country to fall back on, a world that lifts us, and a system that delivers results. There will be more hard decisions to be made. In the end, we hope those will be the best choices, and we must be proud of them.
