2011年7月9日 - 華爾街日報
最近我從洛杉磯飛往中國，去上海參加一次公司董事會會議，並在京滬兩地拜訪了客戶和政府部門。行程結束後，在思考美國與中國時，我不清楚哪一個是發達國家，哪一個是發展中國家。
基礎設施：不要回避，洛杉磯正在衰落。它的機場促狹而骯髒，容納不下要吞吐的客流量，並且破敗不堪。相比之下，北京和上海的機場嶄新、乾淨、十分寬敞，工作人員也友善而禮貌。這些機場的設計能非常好地應對保證全球商務順暢進行的大流量空中交通。
AFP/Getty Images中國高速鐵路網目前的通車里程為8,000多公里，而剛剛完工的京滬高鐵則是它皇冠上的珍珠。在取道洛彬磯周圍公路前往機場的時候，那裡的破敗景象也讓你震驚。當然誰都知道加利福尼亞州破產了，這可能就是原因所在。相比之下，上海和北京等中國大城市的基礎設施絕對處於領先水準，並且相對較新。
兩座城市的擁堵狀況都差不多。在中國，消費者每年購買汽車1,800萬輛，美國是1,100萬輛。中國正在下大力修建道路以容納巨大的汽車增長量。
乘坐剛剛完工的京滬高鐵，不到五個小時即走完1,300公里的行程。中國高速鐵路網目前的通車里程為8,000多公里，2020年時預計將達到16，000公里，而京滬高鐵則是它皇冠上的珍珠。不妨拿它跟日益衰落的美國鐵路客運公司(Amtrak)比一比。
政府領導力：美中兩國在這方面的差別大得驚人。在我們和本公司四家不同客戶、以及中國政府四個不同部門的代表們舉行會談期間，東道主在介紹情況前總是先簡短談一下中國新制定的五年規劃，也就是2011年3月份公佈的十二五規劃。每一批與我們座談的人都提醒說，新的五年規劃主要側重於三個方面：1）提升中國的創新；2）讓中國的環境狀況得到明顯改善；3）繼續創造就業，吸納從農村轉移到城鎮的大量人口。你能否想像美國國會和總統能拿出一個統一的五年規劃，並（像中國在通常情況下那樣）真正實現它？
中國為這個五年規劃的每一個方面都設定了非常具體的目標，比如計畫在2016年之前將碳排放量削減17%。同樣在這個時間段內，中國高科技行業占中國整個經濟的比重，要從當前的3%提高到15%。
政府財政：坦白地講，這個話題真不好意思講起。中國管理其經濟極其慎重，並擁有數萬億美元的外匯儲備。相比之下，美國政府多年來財務管理不力，目前有陷入希臘式災難的危險。
人權/言論自由：我們美國人認為，中國在這一領域還需付出大量努力。中國人認為，美國不對年青人和民眾遮罩色情和反政府言論是瘋狂的。
科技/創新：為了讓大家瞭解中國要在技術創新方面成為全球佼佼者的決心，請允許筆者引用我訪問過的兩家中國機構的統計資料。在過去十年中，中國科學院生物物理研究所獲得了中國政府的大量投資。該研究所目前擁有3,000多名有天分的科學家，他們在蛋白質科學、腦科學及認知科學等領域所從事的研究都是世界級的。
我們還訪問了中科院新成立的上海高等研究院。這個巨大的科技園區正在建設中，它目前擁有四座大樓，今後將在面積相當於三分之一平方英里（約86公頃）的一大塊土地上建成60多座大樓。上海高等研究院將全部由博士水準的研究人員組成。他們的目標陳述相當直白：成為商業相關領域的新技術研發先鋒。
中科院下屬各家研究機構都將大幅擴大規模，而人才隊伍建設將得到一項名為“千人計畫”的人才引進新計畫的幫助。這項計畫是中國政府吸引留學並定居海外的中國學者回國的一項努力。中國政府將引進海外人才的重點放在那些在海外各類大學和研究院工作、具有世界級水準科研能力的人身上，主要著眼于擁有博士學位的人才。這項新五年計劃的目標是今後五年內每年吸引2,000名此類人才回國。
原因與解決辦法：鑒於以上情況，我認為讀者可以理解我為何要提出以下這個帶有根本性的問題：究竟哪個國家是發展中國家，哪個國家是發達國家。下一個問題是：為什麼會出現這一情況，美國應該怎麼做？
讓我們直面問題──我們正被擊敗是因為美國似乎不能做出重大改善。所有問題在美國很快就會被兩極化，而媒體會擴大這種分歧，它們需要極端的觀點來吸引關注並增加受眾規模。行事專斷的中國領導人卻可以快速解決問題。（目前看來，獨斷專行似乎非常有效。）
解決辦法是什麼？華盛頓的政客和美國選民需要認識到他們正在被擊敗，他們需要做出重大改變以使美國重新走上正軌：解決政府預算和公民應享權益方面的問題；推行一項強有力的五年債務削減計畫，並批准一些可以使美國獲勝的計畫。醒來吧，美國！
原文
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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)?
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.
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.
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.
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.
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."
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.
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?
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).
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!
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