在西方人眼中，中國可能一直是一個謎。西方輿論界對中國的認知，差不多每十年就有一個變化。最近一個時期，西方輿論界對中國的認知中，負面因素明顯上升，甚至把「修昔底德陷阱」「債權帝國主義」等新舊詞彙都用到了中國身上。一方面看不透，一方面羅織罪名。在海外問答網站Quora上，美國網友提問道：中國究竟想要什麼？他們的志向是什麼？我們看看下面的回答。
What China does not want is to become a land that provides low-quality products and cheap labor forever. A time machine for western tourists to review the history of the East can enable them to experience the primitive and exotic atmosphere of Asia, or wear a Confucian robe and call themselves "orientalists".
中國不希望的是永遠成為一個提供低質產品和廉價勞動力的土地，一個西方遊客回顧東方歷史的時光機器，能夠讓他們體驗亞洲的原始和異國情調，或者穿上儒家長袍，自稱「東方主義者」。
China also does not want to become a third-rate power pushed around by the original affiliated countries. A large number of educated young people pour into the West, where they are assimilated, and then become a sad government composed of bandits and westernized elites, betraying their own people and serving the American people, which is deeply hated by the Chinese people.
中國也不希望成為一個被原來的附屬國推來推去的三流大國，大批受過教育的年輕人湧入西方，並在那裡被同化，然後成為一個由強盜和西方化精英組成的傀儡國家，出賣自己的人民，為美國主人服務，這都是中國人民所深惡痛絕的。
That is China that Westerners were accustomed to dealing with before 1949. They love that kind of China and hope it can come back.
那是西方人在1949年以前習慣於與之打交道的中國，他們熱愛那樣的中國，並希望它能回來。
Now, China wants to develop into the richest and most powerful economy in the world, rather than steal everything from other countries like Westerners. He hoped that the people would have a good life and that they would be educated, productive, patriotic and united. It hopes to govern itself in its own way, rather than let foreign forces interfere in its internal affairs. The leading technology and national strength in history make the West feel superior and think that it is the defender of world order and values, but they are more historical bandits and today's bandits.
現在，中國想要發展成為全球最富有、最強大的經濟體，而不是像西方人那樣從其他國家那裡搶走一切。他希望人民過上好日子，希望人民受到教育、富有生產力、愛國和團結。它希望以自己的方式治理自己，而不是讓外國勢力插手其內部事務，歷史上的領先的科技和國力讓西方充滿優越感，認為自己是世界秩序和價值觀的捍衛者，但他們更多地是歷史的強盜和如今的悍匪。
China needs technology and infrastructure. It hopes to stand on the basis of complete equality with the white world and eventually surpass the modernization that the West can achieve. It hopes that its people will go to the West, return after learning, and jointly build the country. It hopes to establish a global leading company to manufacture the most complex and ambitious products monopolized by the West. It wants to do everything that only the West can do - it wants to export passenger planes and cutting-edge drugs, send humans into space, and create its own global reserve currency and international relations.
中國需要技術和基礎設施。它希望與白人世界站在完全平等的基礎上，最終超越西方所能達到的現代化。它希望它的人民去西方，學成歸來，然後共同建設國家。它希望建立全球領先的公司，製造西方壟斷的最複雜、最雄心勃勃的產品。它想做只有西方才能做的一切——它想出口客機和尖端藥物，把人類送上太空，並創造自己的全球儲備貨幣和國際關係。
It wants to surpass the West. It wants to prove that it can better cope with the challenges of our era than western countries - from global warming to poverty eradication, and then to combating epidemics. It hopes to establish strong relations with all developing countries and to establish and provide a fairer and more prosperous alternative to the white world hegemony and the "free international order" of the United States
它想超越西方。它想證明，它能夠比西方國家更好地應對我們這個時代的挑戰——從全球變暖到消除貧困，再到抗擊流行病。它希望與所有發展中國家建立牢固的關係，並希望建立和提供一個更公平、更繁榮的替代方案，以取代白人世界霸權和美國的「自由國際秩序」。
China hopes to restore its historical status and its due status among all countries. It has never been the Chinese way to achieve this through invasion, colonization and regime change. As an Egyptian, I think I can represent all Arabs, Africans, Asians, Latin Americans, and even Indians who have realized and awakened. When I say that the world hegemony of Europe and the United States is the worst and most inhuman thing that has happened to our people and collective destiny, I think most people will not be shocked.
中國希望恢復其歷史地位，並在各國中恢復其應有的地位。通過入侵、殖民地和政權更迭來實現這一點從來不是中國人的方式。作為一名埃及人，我認為我可以代表所有意識到並覺醒的阿拉伯人、非洲人、亞洲人、拉丁美洲人，甚至印度人，當我說歐洲和美國的世界霸權是發生在我們人民和集體命運上的最糟糕、最不人道的事情時，我想大多數人不會感到震驚。
Can we not personify the country?
我們可以不要將國家擬人化嗎？
The country doesn't want anything because they are not human. China is the home of 1.4 billion people. I think they all want something slightly different. This kind of reductive thinking about the national motivation is the reason why the country fell into misunderstanding and war.
國家不想要任何東西，因為他們不是人。中國是14億人口的家園，我想他們都想要的東西會稍微有些不同。這種對國家動機的還原性思考正是促使國家陷入誤解和戰爭的原因。
This is what they want:
這就是他們想要的：
1. The economy continues to develop along a more balanced route, so the new "common prosperity" initiative;
1.經濟繼續沿著更加平衡的路線發展，因此新的「共同富裕」倡議；
2. Expand its influence in foreign economy and diplomacy, especially in Southeast Asia and Central Asia, so as to expand the "the Belt and Road";
2.擴大對外經濟和外交影響力，特別是在東南亞和中亞，從而擴大「一帶一路」；
3. Realize the great cause of reunification of the motherland;
3.實現祖國的統一大業；
It's true. If Americans only allow China to coexist with them as a peer, China may not even seek the end of American hegemony. However, the United States does not allow the existence of a major power of the same size, which is why we have experienced the first cold war and now seek to open the second cold war.
真的是這樣。如果美國人只允許中國作為一個同儕與之共存，中國甚至不一定會尋求美國霸權的終結。但美國不允許存在對等大國，這就是為什麼我們經歷了第一次冷戰，現在又謀求開啟第二次冷戰。
Every rational and unbiased person will and should be satisfied with "what China wants". China is the third largest land area and the most populous country in the world. Its natural status is a superpower with great influence in Eurasia, and this desire is not wrong.
每一個理性、不帶偏見的人都會也應該對「中國想要的」感到滿意。中國是世界上陸地面積第三大、人口最多的國家。其自然地位是在歐亞大陸具有巨大影響力的超級大國，這種渴望沒有錯。
For a country, the scale of China's desire to influence the Eurasian continent is not unreasonable, especially considering that its population accounts for 1/3 of the Eurasian continent.
對於一個國家來說，中國渴望在歐亞大陸地區影響力的規模絕非不合理，尤其是考慮到其人口占歐亞大陸的1/3。
Let China's per capita GDP reach half of that of the United States, so that most Chinese people can afford the high standard of living prevailing in developed countries.
讓中國的人均GDP達到美國的一半，讓大多數中國人能夠負擔得起發達國家普遍的高生活水平。
The Chinese are not second-class citizens in the world. They should enjoy the rights that most western citizens can enjoy.
中國人不是世界上的二等公民，他們應該享有西方大多數公民所能享有的權利。
There is no simple way to achieve this goal among 1.4 billion people.
在14億人口中實現這一目標沒有簡單的方法。
Although many tasks must be completed domestically, the first problem is that the cake is not big enough. The Chinese government and people have been committed to making the cake bigger. More and more Chinese people have benefited from economic development and more people have been lifted out of poverty. This is why many Chinese people strongly support the Chinese government.
儘管許多工作必須在國內完成，但首要問題是：蛋糕不夠大。中國政府和人民一直在致力於讓蛋糕做得更大，越來越多的中國人從經濟發展中受益，越來越多人擺脫貧困。這就是為什麼許多中國人對中國政府表示強烈支持的原因。
Isn't that obvious?
這不是很明顯嗎？
Walk along Chinatown in any city in the western United States. Some people - many of them are new immigrants from foreign countries, and they work at the minimum wage of 70 hours a week. The intermediary companies are very hot here. People only want more wages, and they want to have flexible working hours, save money and send their children to higher education. Then they finally find a good job from nine to five, and then move out of Chinatown forever. Maybe there is a house and a dog in a stable place, Go on living happily.
沿著美國西部任何城市的唐人街漫步。有些人-很多是剛從外國移民過來，他們每周做70小時的最低工資工作，這裡中介公司開得火熱，人們只想要更多的工資，希望有靈活的工作時間，存錢並送孩子去接受高等教育，然後最終找到了一份朝九晚五的好工作，接著永遠搬離唐人街，也許在某個穩定的地方，有一套房子和一隻狗，愜意的生活下去。
This is what China wants, simple and clear. People in developed countries take things for granted, and even feel that they have the right to live such a life. But under such circumstances, it is difficult for more than one billion people to live this kind of life..
中國想要的就是這個，簡單明了。發達國家的人們認為理所當然的事情，甚至覺得自己有權力過這樣的生活。但在這種情況下，讓十多億人過上這種生活是很難的。。
Now, it needs a lot of things to achieve. In addition to establishing local brands and inward consumer markets, it also needs unconditional stability in East Asia. If we have learned anything from the cold war, that is, whoever (including the United States and China) is under constant military threat will inevitably spend a lot of resources on national defense, otherwise these resources can be better used for domestic investment, let alone no one is willing to do business in the war zone. Obviously, when this happens, no matter who is sitting in the driver's seat, they don't want to give up their seats to others to enjoy the journey.
現在，這需要很多事情才能實現。除了建立本土品牌和面向內的消費市場，它還需要東亞地區無條件的穩定。如果我們從冷戰中學到了什麼，那就是，無論是誰（包括美國和中國），只要受到持續的軍事威脅，就必然會在國防上耗費大量資源，否則這些資源就可以更好地用於國內投資，更不用說沒有人願意在戰區做生意了。很明顯，當這種情況發生時，無論誰坐在駕駛座上，都不想把座位讓給其他人來享受這段旅程。
For this reason, most of what China has done is meaningful. Of course, it is very ambitious to promise one fifth of the people on the earth a life in the developed world, which will cause great damage to the existing way of life, and whether it is feasible is unknown. But there's nothing wrong with dreaming and working for it, isn't it?
為此，中國所做的大多數事情都是有意義的。當然，向地球上五分之一的人承諾一個發達世界的生活是非常雄心勃勃的，這將對現有的生活方式造成極大的破壞，而且這是否可行還不得而知。但有夢想並為之努力沒有錯，不是嗎？
China hopes for stability and economic progress.
中國希望穩定和經濟進步。
Someone overbearingly wrote: "Don't talk about it! China just wants to take over the world!" Amy Chua said in her book "The Day of Empire: How the superpowers rise into a global romance - and why they decline" that things are not so simple. She believed that China does not want "world domination", and also knew that China will not win enough loyalty of the world population to maintain it.
有人霸道地寫道：「不要討論了！中國只是想接管世界！」蔡美兒在她的《帝國之日：超級大國如何崛起為全球羅曼史——以及它們為何衰落》一書中說事情沒有這麼簡單，她認為中國並不想要「世界主導權」。
However, unreasonable accusations against China are everywhere in the United States. In April, Senator Mitt Romney (Republican of Utah) warned his audience that China has a "grand strategy of economic, military and geopolitical domination" and that the "West" must "respond". Romney's defamation of China's economic practices is a predatory act, and other professionals friendly to the Trump government have also repeated this accusation. Some of us often heard such comments during the first cold war, such as "never trust the Chinese". "Some people think:" Before you no longer have the United States, wake up to the United States, we will be forced to learn to speak Chinese!
而美國國內對中國的無理指控比比皆是。4月，參議員米特·羅姆尼（猶他州共和黨人）警告他的聽眾，中國有一個「經濟、軍事和地緣政治統治的宏偉戰略」，「西方」必須「做出回應」。羅姆尼污衊中國的經濟做法是一種掠奪性行為，其他與川普政府友好的專業人士也重複了這一指控。我們中的一些人在第一次冷戰中經常聽到這樣的評論，比如「永遠不要相信中國人」。「有人認為：「在你不再有美國之前，醒醒美國吧，我們都要被迫學習說中文了！
China has been described as becoming defensive and more targeted in statements aimed at international public opinion.
中國被描述為在針對國際輿論的聲明中變得防禦性和更具針對性。
Western scholars say that the first cold war has almost turned into a hot war, and today no one wants a war - there will be no winner in this war. (By the way, it was World War I and World War II that made the United States rise to become the only superpower. The United States benefited economically during World War II and was regarded as a liberator in World War II. If the United States declines in the future and China becomes the hegemon, China will face challenges. He should bear in mind the importance of friendship and modesty when pursuing its interests.
西方學者說，第一次冷戰幾乎變成了一場熱戰，而今天沒有人想要戰爭——這場戰爭不會有贏家。（順便說一句，正是第一次世界大戰和第二次世界大戰使美國得以崛起成為唯一的超級大國，美國在二戰期間從經濟上受益，並在二戰中被視為解放者。如果未來美國衰落，讓中國成為霸主，中國將面臨挑戰，他要在追求其利益時銘記友誼和謙虛的重要性。
Bravo Richard Haass (Chairman of the Non-Party Foreign Relations Committee since 2003) said at the PBS (Amanpour&Company) on May 20 that he believed that China had no ambition to try to dominate the world at all, although the loss of the dominant position of the United States might be replaced by a major power that dominates the world.
Bravo Richard Haass（自2003年起擔任無黨派外交關係委員會主席）5月20日，在PBS（Amanpour&Company）上，他表示，他認為中國根本沒有試圖統治世界的野心，儘管美國失去主導地位可能會被一個獨霸世界的大國所取代。
In view of the above views, I believe that the core of each country's mission is to ensure that people live well and have healthy economic and social infrastructure to support the sustainability of people's well-being.
針對以上觀點，我認為，每個國家的使命的核心是確保人民生活良好，擁有健康的經濟和社會基礎設施，以支持人民福祉的可持續性。
But things are not so simple. As countries become closer in their economic development, the actions of any country will have a ripple effect on the rest of the world. In other words, it is impossible to imagine the future of a country without considering its position in the global space. Moreover, because the world is not under unified management, it is easy for one country's actions to step on the feet of other countries.
但事情並不是那麼簡單。隨著各國在經濟發展中變得更加緊密，任何國家的行動都會對世界其他地區產生連鎖反應。換言之，如果不考慮一個國家在全球空間中的地位，就不可能想像一個國家的未來。而且，由於世界不是統一管理的，一個國家的行動很容易會踩到其他國家的腳。
So, must a big country "rule the world"? I think this simplistic statement is really stupid. Large retailers want all their suppliers to meet their business standards to improve management efficiency. Does this mean that it wants to dominate the value chain of this industry? This is unlikely to happen. I think the difference lies in how one country can achieve a balance between maximizing efficiency and respecting the independence of other countries.
那麼，一個大國一定要「統治世界」嗎？我認為這種過於簡單化的說法真的很愚蠢。大型零售商希望其所有供應商都符合其業務標準，以提高管理效率。這是否意味著它想要統治這個行業的價值鏈？這不大可能發生，我想，不同之處在於一個國家如何在最大限度地提高效率和尊重其他國家的獨立之間取得平衡。
With the expansion of China's scale and the enhancement of its economic strength, its influence will inevitably interfere with the long-term strategies of other countries. But this happens naturally and is not the evil ambition of anyone.
隨著中國規模的擴大和經濟實力的增強，其影響力不可避免地會干擾其他國家的長期戰略。但這是自然而然發生的，不是有些人眼中所謂的邪惡野心。