哭笑不得: 北京污染趕跑外國人大綱
Extreme air pollution is driving expatriates out of Beijing and making it much harder for companies to recruit international talent, according to anecdotal accounts from diplomats, senior executives and businesses that cater to the expat community.
從外交官、高管和為外籍居民服務的企業介紹的情況看，極其嚴重的空氣污染正促使外籍人士離開北京，同時顯著加大了企業延攬國際人才的難度。
No figures are available on how many people are planning to leave following three months of the worst air pollution on record in China’s capital. But companies that mainly serve foreign residents are bracing for an exodus around the middle of the year when the school term ends.
自中國首都經歷了有記錄以來空氣污染最嚴重的3個月之後，沒有數據説明究竟有多少人打算離開這裏。但是，主要為外籍居民服務的企業正準備迎接年中（當前學期結束後）大批人士離京的局面。
“We’re anticipating this summer will be a very big season [of relocations out of Beijing] for us,” said Chad Forrest, north China general manager for Santa Fe Relocations, a global moving service. “It seems a lot of people, particularly families with small children who have been here a few years, are reconsidering the cost-benefit equation and deciding to leave for health reasons.”
“我們預期，今年夏天我們將迎來（搬離北京的）繁忙季節。”全球搬家服務公司Santa Fe Relocations華北區總經理查得•福雷斯特(Chad Forrest)表示，“似乎有很多人——尤其是已在這裏住了幾年、有年幼子女的家庭——正在反思待在這裏的成本效益，並出於健康考慮決定離開。”
Doctors at private hospitals that mostly treat expat patients tell a similar story.
在主要治療外籍病人的民營醫院，醫生們講述了與此類似的故事。
“We don’t have good statistics yet but we are seeing many more patients telling us they are leaving because of air pollution,” said Dr Andy Wong of Beijing United Family hospital, the biggest private healthcare provider for foreign residents in China. “Recruitment is getting harder for all companies – how do you convince people to come and work in the most polluted city in the world?”
“我們還沒有很好的統計數據，但我們正看到有多得多的病人告訴我們，他們因受不了這裏的空氣污染而準備離開。”面向在華外籍居民的中國最大民營醫療服務提供商——北京和睦家醫院(Beijing United Family Hospital)的王惠民醫生(Dr Andy Wang)表示，“對各種企業來説，招聘的難度都在加大——你怎麼説服人們到世界上污染最嚴重的城市來工作？”
In January air quality readings published by the city government and the US embassy indicated levels of toxic smog on some days that were nearly 40 times higher than those considered healthy by the World Health Organisation.
1月份，北京市政府和美國駐華大使館發佈的空氣質量數據均顯示，在某些日子，有毒霧霾的濃度接近世界衞生組織(WHO)健康標準的40倍。
Although pollution levels have not yet returned to those seen during January’s “airpocalypse”, daily readings regularly hit levels considered hazardous and residents are advised to avoid going outdoors and to limit their activity even while inside.
雖然近期的污染程度沒有反彈至1月份那種“空氣末日”(airpocalypse)的水平，但日常讀數經常達到被視為有害的水平，市民得到的建議是儘量避免外出、而且即使在室內也要減少活動。
On Sunday afternoon, the air pollution index in Beijing published by the US embassy gave a reading between “very unhealthy” and “hazardous”.
剛剛過去的這個週日的下午，美國大使館發佈的北京空氣污染指數介於“很不健康”和“危險”之間。
Most environmental experts and Beijing residents assume the problem will only worsen as the government continues to encourage enormous expansion in industry, coal-fired power generation and car sales across the country.
多數環保專家和北京市民認為，隨着中國政府繼續鼓勵全國各地大力發展工業和燃煤發電、鼓勵汽車銷售，空氣污染問題只會變得更糟。
“Air pollution is becoming a bigger concern for our members and their families,” Adam Dunnett, secretary-general of the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China, told the Financial Times. “While members leave for all sorts of reasons, we inevitably hear nearly every time that one of the contributing reasons is the air pollution.”
“對我們的會員及其家人來説，空氣污染正成為一個更大的關注點。”中國歐盟商會(European Union Chamber of Commerce in China)祕書長唐亞東(Adam Dunnett)對英國《金融時報》表示，“儘管會員離開這裏的原因有很多，但我們幾乎每次都必然聽到，空氣污染是其中一個原因。”
Lars Rasmussen, a Nokia marketing executive, and his wife, Michelle Frazier, a kindergarten teacher, have decided to return with their two children to their native Denmark after three years in Beijing. They say one of the most important deciding factor was pollution.
諾基亞(Nokia)營銷高管拉爾斯•拉斯穆森(Lars Rasmussen)和他在幼兒園執教的太太米歇爾•弗雷澤(Michelle Frazier)在北京住了3年後，決定帶上兩個孩子返回老家丹麥。他們表示，最重要的決定因素之一就是污染。
“Our kids can’t play outside or they have to wear face masks when they go out. It’s like something out of a science fiction novel,” Ms Frazier said.
“我們的孩子不能在户外玩，他們出門就得戴口罩。這一幕彷彿出自一部科幻小説，”費雷澤表示。
Of the roughly 600,000 registered foreign residents in China, about 200,000 of them live in Beijing, which has a total population of about 20m.
在大約60萬登記在冊的在華外籍居民中，有20萬左右居住在總人口約2000萬的北京。
But the expat community is concentrated in high-earning professional jobs and contributes enormously to the city’s economy and the development of advanced industries.
但是，外籍人士集中於高薪的專業工作崗位，他們為北京經濟和先進產業的發展作出了巨大貢獻。
Christian Murck, president of the American Chamber of Commerce in China, said the unprecedented levels of pollution in January had been a “tipping point” for some families and he knew of “many people” who are planning to leave as a result.
中國美國商會(American Chamber of Commerce in China)會長孟克文(Christian Murck)表示，1月份史無前例的嚴重污染，對某些外籍家庭來説是一個“轉折點”，他知道有“很多人”正因此計劃離開這裏。
Executives at major companies and diplomats say recruiting new people to move to Beijing is one of the biggest concerns for businesses with China operations and many prospective candidates are now declining positions because of air pollution, especially if they have young children.
外交官和大企業高管表示，對於在華開展經營的企業來説，招聘新人到北京工作是最令人頭疼的事情之一，許多潛在候選人現在出於對空氣污染的擔憂而不願到北京工作，尤其是在他們有年幼子女的情況下。
Michael Namatinia, the regional president of an Israeli software company, said filling a senior management role in Beijing has been extremely difficult. “We tried to recruit someone to run our north Asia operations from Beijing but after finding a suitable candidate and negotiating for a month the person’s wife vetoed the move because of air pollution,” he said.
以色列一家軟件公司的地區總裁邁克爾•納馬提尼亞(Michael Namatinia)表示，極難找到合適人員到北京出任一個高級管理職位。他説：“我們試圖招人以北京為大本營來執掌我們的北亞業務，但在好不容易找到一個合適候選人並談判了一個月後，這人的太太因為擔心空氣污染而否決了這件事。”
