Recently I flew from Los Angeles to China to attend a corporate board-of-directors meeting in Shanghai, as well as customer and government visits there and in Beijing. After the trip was over, in thinking about the United States and China, it was not clear to me which is the developed, and which is the developing, country.

　　最近我从洛杉矶飞往中国，去上海参加一次公司董事会会议，并在京沪两地拜访了客户和政府部门。行程结束后，在思考美国与中国时，我不清楚哪一个是发达国家，哪一个是发展中国家。

　　Infrastructure: Let's face it, Los Angeles is decaying. Its airport is cramped and dirty, too small for the volume it tries to handle and in a state of disrepair. In contrast, the airports in Beijing and Shanghai are brand new, clean and incredibly spacious, with friendly, courteous staff galore. They are extremely well-designed to handle the large volume of air traffic needed to carry out global business these days.

　　基础设施：不要回避，洛杉矶正在衰落。它的机场促狭而肮脏，容纳不下要吞吐的客流量，并且破败不堪。相比之下，北京和上海的机场崭新、干净、十分宽敞，工作人员也友善而礼貌。这些机场的设计能非常好地应对保证全球商务顺畅进行的大流量空中交通。

　　In traveling the highways around Los Angeles to get to the airport, you are struck by the state of disrepair there, too. Of course, everyone knows California is bankrupt and that is probably the reason why. In contrast, the infrastructure in the major Chinese cities such as Shanghai and Beijing is absolute state-of-the-art and relatively new.

　　AFP/Getty Images中国高速铁路网目前的通车里程为8,000多公里，而刚刚完工的京沪高铁则是它皇冠上的珍珠。在取道洛彬矶周围公路前往机场的时候，那里的破败景象也让你震惊。当然谁都知道加利福尼亚州破产了，这可能就是原因所在。相比之下，上海和北京等中国大城市的基础设施绝对处于领先水平，并且相对较新。

　　The congestion in the two cities is similar. In China, consumers are buying 18 million cars per year compared to 11 million in the U.S. China is working hard building roads to keep up with the gigantic demand for the automobile.

　　两座城市的拥堵状况都差不多。在中国，消费者每年购买汽车1,800万辆，美国是1,100万辆。中国正在下大力修建道路以容纳巨大的汽车增长量。

　　The just-completed Beijing to Shanghai high-speed rail link, which takes less than five hours for the 800-mile trip, is the crown jewel of China's current 5,000 miles of rail, set to grow to 10,000 miles in 2020. Compare that to decaying Amtrak.

　　乘坐刚刚完工的京沪高铁，不到五个小时即走完1,300公里的行程。中国高速铁路网目前的通车里程为8,000多公里，2020年时预计将达到16，000公里，而京沪高铁则是它皇冠上的珍珠。不妨拿它跟日益衰落的美国铁路客运公司(Amtrak)比一比。

　　Government Leadership: Here the differences are staggering. In every meeting we attended, with four different customers of our company as well as representatives from four different arms of the Chinese government, our hosts began their presentation with a brief discussion of China's new five-year-plan. This is the 12th five-year plan and it was announced in March 2011. Each of these groups reminded us that the new five-year plan is primarily focused on three things: 1) improving innovation in the country; 2) making significant improvements in the environmental footprint of China; and 3) continuing to create jobs to employ large numbers of people moving from rural to urban areas. Can you imagine the U.S. Congress and president emerging with a unified five-year plan that they actually achieve (like China typically does)?

　　政府领导力：美中两国在这方面的差别大得惊人。在我们和本公司四家不同客户、以及中国政府四个不同部门的代表们举行会谈期间，东道主在介绍情况前总是先简短谈一下中国新制定的五年规划，也就是2011年3月份公布的十二五规划。每一批与我们座谈的人都提醒说，新的五年规划主要侧重于三个方面：1）提升中国的创新；2）让中国的环境状况得到明显改善；3）继续创造就业，吸纳从农村转移到城镇的大量人口。你能否想象美国国会和总统能拿出一个统一的五年规划，并（像中国在通常情况下那样）真正实现它？

　　The specificity of China's goals in each element of the five-year plan is impressive. For example, China plans to cut carbon emissions by 17% by 2016. In the same time frame, China's high-tech industries are to grow to 15% of the economy from 3% today.

　　中国为这个五年规划的每一个方面都设定了非常具体的目标，比如计划在2016年之前将碳排放量削减17%。同样在这个时间段内，中国高科技行业占中国整个经济的比重，要从当前的3%提高到15%。

　　Government Finances: This topic is, frankly, embarrassing. China manages its economy with incredible care and is sitting on trillions of dollars of reserves. In contrast, the U.S. government has managed its financials very poorly over the years and is flirting with a Greece-like catastrophe.

　　政府财政：坦白地讲，这个话题真不好意思讲起。中国管理其经济极其慎重，并拥有数万亿美元的外汇储备。相比之下，美国政府多年来财务管理不力，目前有陷入希腊式灾难的危险。

　　Human Rights/Free Speech: In this area, our American view is that China has a ton of work to do. Their view is that we are nuts for not blocking pornography and antigovernment points-of-view from our youth and citizens.

　　人权/言论自由：我们美国人认为，中国在这一领域还需付出大量努力。中国人认为，美国不对年青人和民众屏蔽色情和反政府言论是疯狂的。

　　Technology and Innovation: To give you a feel for China's determination to become globally competitive in technology innovation, let me cite some statistics from two facilities we visited. Over the last 10 years, the Institute of Biophysics, an arm of the Chinese Academy of Science, has received very significant investment by the Chinese government. Today it consists of more than 3,000 talented scientists focused on doing world-class research in areas such as protein science, and brain and cognitive sciences.

　　科技/创新：为了让大家了解中国要在技术创新方面成为全球佼佼者的决心，请允许笔者引用我访问过的两家中国机构的统计数据。在过去十年中，中国科学院生物物理研究所获得了中国政府的大量投资。该研究所目前拥有3,000多名有天分的科学家，他们在蛋白质科学、脑科学及认知科学等领域所从事的研究都是世界级的。

　　We also visited the new Shanghai Advanced Research Institute, another arm of the Chinese Academy of Science. This gigantic science and technology park is under construction and today consists of four buildings, but it will grow to over 60 buildings on a large piece of land equivalent to about a third of a square mile. It is being staffed by Ph.D.-caliber researchers. Their goal statement is fairly straightforward: "To be a pioneer in the development of new technologies relevant to business."

　　我们还访问了中科院新成立的上海高等研究院。这个巨大的科技园区正在建设中，它目前拥有四座大楼，今后将在面积相当于三分之一平方英里（约86公顷）的一大块土地上建成60多座大楼。上海高等研究院将全部由博士水平的研究人员组成。他们的目标陈述相当直白：成为商业相关领域的新技术研发先锋。

　　All of the various institutes being run by the Chinese Academy of Science are going to be significantly increased in size, and staffing will be aided by a new recruiting program called 'Ten Thousand Talents.' This is an effort by the Chinese government to reach out to Chinese individuals who have been trained, and currently reside, outside China. They are focusing on those who are world-class in their technical abilities, primarily at the Ph.D. level, at work in various universities and science institutes abroad. In each year of this new five-year plan, the goal is to recruit 2,000 of these individuals to return to China.

　　中科院下属各家研究机构都将大幅扩大规模，而人才队伍建设将得到一项名为“千人计划”的人才引进新计划的帮助。这项计划是中国政府吸引留学并定居海外的中国学者回国的一项努力。中国政府将引进海外人才的重点放在那些在海外各类大学和研究院工作、具有世界级水平科研能力的人身上，主要着眼于拥有博士学位的人才。这项新五年计划的目标是今后五年内每年吸引2,000名此类人才回国。

　　Reasons and Cure: Given all of the above, I think you can see why I pose the fundamental question: Which is the developing country and which is the developed country? The next questions are: Why is this occurring and what should the U.S. do?

　　原因与解决办法：鉴于以上情况，我认为读者可以理解我为何要提出以下这个带有根本性的问题：究竟哪个国家是发展中国家，哪个国家是发达国家。下一个问题是：为什么会出现这一情况，美国应该怎么做？

　　Let's face it─we are getting beaten because the U.S. government can't seem to make big improvements. Issues quickly get polarized, and then further polarized by the media, which needs extreme viewpoints to draw attention and increase audience size. The autocratic Chinese leadership gets things done fast (currently the autocrats seem to be highly effective).

　　让我们直面问题──我们正被击败是因为美国似乎不能做出重大改善。所有问题在美国很快就会被两极化，而媒体会扩大这种分歧，它们需要极端的观点来吸引关注并增加受众规模。行事专断的中国领导人却可以快速解决问题。（目前看来，独断专行似乎非常有效。）

　　What is the cure? Washington politicians and American voters need to snap to and realize they are getting beaten─and make big changes that put the U.S. back on track: Fix the budget and the burden of entitlements; implement an aggressive five-year debt-reduction plan, and start approving some winning plans. Wake up, America!

　　解决办法是什么？华盛顿的政客和美国选民需要认识到他们正在被击败，他们需要做出重大改变以使美国重新走上正轨：解决政府预算和公民应享权益方面的问题；推行一项强有力的五年债务削减计划，并批准一些可以使美国获胜的计划。醒来吧，美国！