[国际新闻] 中国投资能救希腊一命吗?

BBC克里斯·莫里斯Chris Morris 2011年6月29日
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欧盟要求希腊紧缩增税，温家宝承诺继续购买欧元区国家的债券。私有化、来自亚洲的投资，也有可能帮助希腊走出危机。BBC记者莫里斯在希腊有“中国城”外号的码头倾听工人的疾苦和看法。csuchen.de& R3 U. R! p7 Y% R' k/ B/ X
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比雷埃夫斯港，是通往希腊岛屿的门户。游客们经由这里，开始阳光假日。, t: h# R) \- \! f& B3 f( [% `6 V
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但是，驱车经过雅典南部的工业区，最能抓人眼球的，并不是满载游客的渡轮，而是集装箱码头上一排排高高耸立的橙色大吊车。csuchen.de, U0 P4 d  a4 g- L$ j, Q

坐在离码头边不远的办公室内，工会领导人索蒂里斯·普里基奥亚尼斯告诉我说，“那是中国城”。csuchen.de& r$ N# B( q% g1 J; w
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去年，中国国营的船运公司“中国远洋运输集团总公司”（COSCO）接管了比雷埃夫斯港口的一大部分--希腊最大的集装箱码头。人在德国社区& ^$ `" E5 K; n4 W. u+ y) N, M8 m

变卖家底？

这也许是中国在欧洲最大的一笔投资。那么，这是希腊走出经济危机的出路之一吗？不是靠欧洲来的借贷，而是靠来自亚洲迅速崛起的经济大国的投资？

随着希腊政府推出大手笔的私有化计划，有财力的政府和公司肯定有机会投资。但是，包括索蒂里斯在内的希腊人担心，希腊可能是被迫“血本出售传家宝”。

索蒂里斯似笑非笑地说，“我们都开始学中文了。没办法，我们都得学中文，全欧洲都得学中文，包括你在内”。

中国人运营的港口不承认工会。对于生计围绕着修船码头转的机修工、扳金工来说，现在的日子非常艰难。& |. j8 @: a! t& w6 J" i/ k8 L
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希腊主权债务危机深重，威胁到整个欧元区的稳定。紧缩如利剑，已经深深地刺入希腊人的生活。而比雷埃夫斯港，位于紧缩的前线。
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工会成员当中，大约有20%家里的供电已经被切断，有些人家里还断了水。和自己的祖国一样，他们也挣扎着，付不起帐单。但是，欧洲没有承诺提供贷款，帮助他们渡过困境。人在德国社区' H  P. V" p: g4 T3 a: K
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工会说，2008年经济危机开始以前，修船码头大约雇佣6000名工人。现在，每天的活儿只够300人干。他们说，许多希腊船主把船运到中国去维修。

鼓励投资？
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索蒂里斯说，“算上加班费，我们一天也就挣90欧元”。他指着贴在墙上的一张手划的表格，接着说，“如果一个月内五天能有活干，工人会说，这个月收成很不错。”

他说，“过去一年，我们受到了沉重的打击，根本没有事儿干。别看到处都是水，实际上，这儿更像是沙漠”。人在德国社区0 p% o0 g2 n( S% P: E( N0 ~
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他的办公室是活动房屋，屋外，四条狗在阴凉处打盹儿。不远处，有一个纪念碑。纪念碑的碑身一名机修工人，他的胳膊伸出去，手里拿着一把扳手。csuchen.de# Q5 _7 t4 @. U5 Y, t, t" N

这是一个共产主义工会，纪念碑是为了那些在工业事故中丧生的同志们而修建的。4 g2 |0 c2 P8 ~; {0 D" T8 J

纪念碑上刻着的碑文说，献给那些“在利润的圣坛前被雇主谋杀”的人。但是，雇主当然不同意这样的说法。他们会说，如果工会不这样三天两头就罢工，说不定，还真能吸引来更多的投资。
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希腊政府也很热衷进一步鼓励中国和其他国家的投资兴趣。

政府的紧缩措施已经引发了一波接一波的抗议示威

铁路、港口、公共设施公司、旅馆、海滩以及包括废弃不用的候机大厅、生了锈的飞机在内的原雅典国际机场的遗址，所有这一切都有可能挂牌发售。人在德国社区" e4 {! m. ?: x- z; o

但是，有一点，政府和工会的看法相同。
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希腊总理帕潘德里欧的一个亲近顾问说，“我们希望避免血本卖掉希腊的主要资产。但是我担心，这很有可能会成为事实”。csuchen.de# T1 P4 ?4 A3 o: I: n8 J

如果私有化的收入没有达到预期的那么多，如果紧缩政策将希腊推入更深重的萧条，很难预见，希腊迫切需要的经济增长如何才能成为现实。人在德国社区8 l' j/ I6 k2 Q* A. T/ I
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焦虑与失意
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因此，从比雷埃夫斯港直到希腊议会，人们的心中充满了焦虑、失意。

一群希腊人几乎每天晚上都聚集在议会大厦外。其中一名中年妇女说，“我觉得，每个人都很紧张、不安”。

她拿出一枚口哨，放到唇边使劲吹了起来，一片嘈杂声变得更加刺耳。她说，“我不是经济学家，但是过日子也得算帐。我懂，现在这样的措施，起不到什么作用”。人在德国社区8 Q) M# a5 l' t9 R
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一个男人从身边走过，他一手拿着绞架，另一手拿着希腊国旗。大喊了一声，“盗贼！”，然后走开了。

突然间，我真想返回比雷埃夫斯港，登上一条渡轮，逃到荒僻的小岛上。但是，逃避，并不是希腊政府的可选之路。全世界的眼睛都紧紧地盯着希腊。

希腊议会将就新一轮的紧缩措施投票。

索蒂里斯站起身来，准备离开空空荡荡的工会办公室。他说，“那些个日子，大街上肯定会很热”。
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周二6月 28日，在希腊国会议员们考虑如何获得国际救助之时，雅典爆发了为期两天的反对政府紧缩计划的抗议，图为一名示威者在和警察的对抗中身上着火。新一轮投票定于周三举行。/ ]  D  B+ J( c

Could Chinese investment rescue ailing Greece?
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European Union leaders have told Greece more spending cuts and tax hikes are preconditions for a second massive bail-out - but privatisation, and investment from Asia's roaring economies, could also help to plug holes in the budget.: d" o/ H0 k) |& s4 J
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The port of Piraeus is best known as the tourist gateway to the Greek islands - route one to the sun.

But as you drive down through the industrial outskirts of southern Athens, it is not the passenger ferries that catch the eye.
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It is the line of orange cranes that loom above the container port.
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"That's Chinatown," says union leader Sotiris Poulikoyiannis, as we sit in his office close to the water's edge.

Last year China's state-owned shipping company Cosco took control of most of the port, Greece's largest container facility.& y+ j4 B. ], r
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It is also probably China's largest investment in Europe.csuchen.de' n1 R1 F' X& g! ^

So could this be one way out of Greece's economic crisis?
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Not loans from Europe, but investment from the rapidly growing economic giants of Asia.
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With the Greek government promising a multi-billion-pound privatisation programme, there are certainly opportunities for governments and companies with money to spend.( J, G  ?  k) P1 ~, C: f
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But people like Mr Poulikoyiannis worry that Greece may be forced to sell off the family silver at knockdown prices.

"We're all trying to learn Chinese now," he says with only half a smile.csuchen.de1 Q5 t+ A' t6 C( K( ]) I

"We all have to do it, all of Europe. You too."
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'Biting deep'
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There is no union recognition in the Chinese-run port, and for the mechanics and metal-workers whose lives have been built around the ship repair yards, times are hard.

As Greece struggles with the sovereign debt crisis which is threatening the stability of the entire Eurozone, austerity is biting deep.csuchen.de) }* |0 L9 i1 B. v
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And the shipyards of Piraeus are on the front line.
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About 20% of union members have had their electricity cut off at home. Some have had water supplies cut off as well. Rather like their country, they are struggling to pay the bills.3 F: F* n' f/ P5 Z7 O
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But there are no European loans on offer here to bail them out.
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The union says more than 6,000 people used to work in the repair yards before the economic crisis began in 2008. Now there is only enough work for about 300 people a day.3 `1 V- ]' @6 @& @

Many Greek owners, they say, are sending their ships off to be repaired in China.5 b, ~2 n; }: _8 C6 N3 Y

"We get 90 euros a day including overtime," Mr Poulikoyiannis says, pointing at a hand-written chart pinned to the wall.. S# B$ E; R& \) U
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"And if people get five days of work a month, they think that's a good month."
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"In the past year we've taken a very strong hit. There's no activity. Never mind all this water - it's like a desert."- `1 e. G* L& c. y. S
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Sell-off 'frustration'

Outside his prefabricated office, four dogs are asleep in the shade. Nearby there is a monument portraying a mechanic holding a spanner in his outstretched hand.
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This is a communist union and its monument is dedicated to comrades who have died in industrial accidents.0 s6 |! o( B6 D# f; W2 c# b/ ]; U
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"Murdered by employers," the inscription reads, "on the altar of profit."6 W6 @+ |( O! K; e) q( I# S* q
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The employers would, naturally, beg to differ.人在德国社区$ ^  y7 A+ M7 b7 d1 L, \9 p) D9 s
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If the unions did not go on strike so much, they say, maybe more investment would actually arrive.

The government, too, is keen to encourage further interest from China and elsewhere.( {" H3 S4 S$ I4 |, j# e: n8 ~
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Railways, ports, utility companies, hotels, beaches and the sprawling site of the old Athens international airport - complete with abandoned terminal buildings and rusting planes - are to be put up for sale.
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But the government and the unions agree on one issue.人在德国社区$ ~% Q- \2 \$ I- e5 W# x9 |

"What we want to avoid is selling off our primary assets for nothing," says one close advisor to the prime minister.1 u2 Q0 q; B; F
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"I'm afraid that that is what's about to happen."# d9 J5 I* G; B9 N  r7 m

And if that is what the inner circle thinks, who can blame the the rest of the country for wondering what comes next?) [8 K5 J1 H. W4 {7 I
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If the revenues from privatisation are not going to be quite as high as hoped, and if austerity pushes Greece deeper into recession, it is rather hard to see how the economic growth the country needs is ever going to materialise.
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So from Piraeus to parliament there is an overwhelming sense of frustration.
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"I just think everyone's feeling really stressed," said a middle-aged woman among the crowds which now gather outside parliament almost every evening.csuchen.de$ H8 @  `6 T& x
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She put a whistle to her mouth and blew it hard to add to the general cacophony.# |( Z& Q& Y8 z& u1 h/ V- z* i

"I'm not an economist," she said. "But I have to balance the books at home, and I can see this isn't working."
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A man walks past carrying a home-made gallows in one hand and a Greek flag in the other.

"Thieves," he shouts, and wanders off.
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It suddenly feels rather tempting to head back down to Piraeus to board one of those ferries, and disappear onto a distant island.

But getting away from it all is not an option for Greece at the moment.

The eyes of the world are upon it.* X% M% p0 q6 O
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Next week parliament will debate and vote on a further package of austerity measures, in which no-one really seems to believe.
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"Those are the days," says Mr Poulikoyiannis, as he gets up to leave his empty union office. "Those will be the hot days on the streets."