雲南地震引發志願者角色討論

Five days after an earthquake killed hundreds in southwestern China, a debate is swirling around the mob of volunteers who flooded into the disaster zone, demonstrating how the world's most-populous country continues to grapple with the role charitable groups should play in society.

雲南發生地震後數日，人們圍繞大量志願者涌向地震災區展開了一場討論，表明中國繼續被慈善組織應該在社會中扮演什麼角色這一問題所困擾。

After the 6.1-magnitude tremor struck the county of Ludian, in northern Yunnan province, on Sunday, thousands of volunteers rushed into affected areas, clogging roads and making it harder for authorities to send in supplies and remove the wounded. That sparked public criticism and led authorities to ramp up restrictions on private cars entering the area.

中國雲南魯甸縣8月3日發生了6.1級地震，已導致數百人喪生，上千名志願者聞訊趕來，導致公路擁堵，使得官方在派發救援物資以及運送傷員方面面臨更大的困難。公衆對此提出批評，並且有關部門對私家車進入災區增加了限制。

Yet some better-organized private groups have played an important part in handling unpleasant tasks such as digging survivors and the dead out of the rubble, residents and officials say. That has convinced some officials that civil-society groups and private volunteers--sometimes seen as threatening to the Communist Party, particularly when concentrating on national issues--should be encouraged to play a bigger role in relief efforts.

然而，當地居民和官員們表示，一些有組織的私人團體在處理棘手事務上確實起到了重要作用，例如從廢墟中挖出倖存者和屍體。因此，一些官員認爲，應該鼓勵民間社會團體和私人志願者在救災工作中發揮更重要的作用。

'Some were there the first night, pulling people out,' said one member of China's People's Armed Police, who was among the first to arrive in the quake zone. 'They've been a huge help.'

一名第一批抵達地震災區的武警說，地震發生當晚一些志願者就已經抵達了地震現場，參與救援，他們提供了很大的幫助。

There was still much work to be done on Friday, as the death toll rose to 617, with many more injured, according to state media. Aftershocks continued to shake the area as troops and volunteers pushed further into the mountains to help people in distant villages, while authorities began to contemplate longer-term efforts that will be needed to rebuild.

據官方媒體報道，仍有大量工作需要完成，地震死亡人數已經升至617人，受傷人數仍在上升。該地區繼續遭遇餘震，部隊和志願者進一步深入山區，向邊遠山村的人們提供幫助，同時政府開始考慮長期災後重建工作。

It wasn't clear on Friday exactly how many volunteers had entered Ludian. The local government official in charge of managing volunteers declined to comment.

截至上週五，尚不清楚到底有多少志願者進入了魯甸。負責志願者管理工作的當地政府官員未予置評。

The debate over how much leeway to give private aid groups is an important one for China. Authorities have long feared that domestic and international charitable groups could morph into political activism or foster more criticism of the government, as they have in other countries.

在中國，有關應該給民間援助團體留下多大活動餘地的問題受到熱烈討論。其他國家的一些案例令中國當局一直以來都擔心，國內外慈善團體可能轉變爲具有政治傾向的激進組織，或者可能令政府招致更多批評。

Chinese President Xi Jinping has led a crackdown on other parts of civil society recently, with authorities detaining or jailing dozens of activists and rights lawyers, while also ordering a nationwide investigation into foreign nongovernmental groups and their local partners which authorities worry could stir up trouble.

中國國家主席習近平近期已經帶頭對其他領域的民間團體實施了打壓，政府部門逮捕或關押了數十名活動人士和維權律師，此外當局還在全國範圍內對海外非政府團體及其本地合作方開展調查，原因是擔心這些團體可能煽動矛盾。

'The ambiguity with which Chinese authorities have faced civil society has always been profound and, of late, more evident,' said Orville Schell, director of the Asia Society's Center on U.S.-China Relations.

亞洲協會美中關係中心(Asia Society's Center on U.S.-China Relations)主任夏偉(Orville Schell)表示，中國當局對待民間團體的態度一直非常含糊，近期這一點變得更加明顯。

Yet there is also a growing recognition among many Chinese that private groups are needed to help respond to crises that stretch official resources. Although authorities have generally gotten good marks for their work in Ludian so far, experts say they may lack capacity for more-sophisticated relief such as psychological counseling or child protection.

不過中國民衆也日益認識到，在遇到一些令官方疲於應對的危機時，需要得到民間團體的幫助。雖然到目前爲止，中國當局在魯甸的救災行動總體獲得好評，但專家們認爲，在開展心理輔導或兒童保護等較爲複雜的援助方面，政府部門的力量可能不夠。

'Our experience is that the government is starting to recognize the value-added that the NGOs can deliver,' said Mike Bruce, a regional media and advocacy specialist for Plan International, a children's development group. He said provincial authorities granted Plan permission to send in an emergency response team on Monday morning, just hours after the quake occurred.

兒童發展組織Plan International的區域媒體和宣傳專家布魯斯(Mike Bruce)說，按照他們的經驗，政府已經逐漸意識到了非政府組織(NGO)能夠帶來的附加價值。他說，就在地震發生之後數小時，中國的省級政府就給予了Plan International批准，允許其於上週一上午派出一支緊急應答隊伍。

Getting official buy-in for programs in China 'has been a gradual process, but that is a gradual process that has been getting better,' he said.

布魯斯說，在中國，得到官方的支持是一個循序漸進的過程，但這一過程正漸漸變得越來越順暢。

The emergence of more-active private aid efforts in China dates back to the 2008 Sichuan earthquake, when large numbers of residents spontaneously rushed to affected areas to help. Many volunteers were critical of the government response, and of the shoddy school construction that led to thousands of deaths in the area.

中國民間積極參與救援活動的興起，要追溯至2008年的四川地震，當時大批中國公民自發地趕赴災區救援。許多志願者對於政府的反應非常不滿，而且當地糟糕的教學樓質量造成數千學生傷亡，也令他們十分憤怒。

They also occasionally sowed chaos, burdening limited food supplies and getting in the way of rescue efforts.

不過，志願者們偶爾也會給局面添亂，他們的到來使得本就有限的食物供應更加緊張，還妨礙了救援工作。

Since then, private groups have become more sophisticated, with better equipment and logistics, and in some cases have tried working more closely with public officials to smooth over tensions. Some--sporting matching uniforms so that residents will take them more seriously--are now virtually indistinguishable from the troops and police they are helping.

自那時以來，民間救助組織變得越來越經驗豐富，他們配置了更好的設備和物流工具，有些時候還嘗試與政府官員更密切合作，緩和緊張局面。一些隊伍穿上了統一的制服，以便得到災區人民更認真的看待，現在，前來助軍隊、警察一臂之力的他們已經幾乎能夠和官方隊伍做得一樣好了。

Authorities have also become more organized about bringing volunteers under their wings, setting up check-in centers where officials can track them and disperse information. The result is a growing number of experienced rescue groups that function at times as an extension of the government, while also serving as an outlet for the swelling numbers of Chinese who want to participate.

當局也把志願者更好地組織起來，設立登記中心，以便官方聯絡他們和散發信息。結果是，偶爾充當政府救援力量補充的有經驗救援組織數量越來越多，它們同時也充當了越來越多的想要參加救災工作的中國志願者的一個樞紐機構。

One such group, from northern China's Hebei province, is managed and funded by Wang Wenzhong, a former soldier who went on to make millions in the clothing business in Beijing before returning to his hometown to serve as the local Communist Party Secretary.

王文忠就在河北省出資成立並管理着這樣一個組織。王文忠退伍後在北京做服裝生意，賺了許多錢，然後回到了家鄉擔任地方黨支部書記。

Mr. Wang led a team of 10, all outfitted in army surplus fatigues, into Ludian on Tuesday, bringing with him a van filled with supplies worth 30,000 yuan, or nearly $5,000. Mr. Wang, who's been to seven earthquake zones, said he has modeled his life on Lei Feng, a fictional good Samaritan soldier held up by Mao Zedong as a moral model.

王文忠週二帶領着一隻10人組成的團隊，統一穿着軍工裝，進入了魯甸，他還帶了一輛麪包車，裝載了價值人民幣3萬元的供給品。曾經到過七個地震災區的王文忠表示，他的人生楷模是雷鋒。士兵雷鋒是毛澤東樹立的一個助人爲樂的道德模範。

'I was helped by so many others when I was younger, so this is my way of giving back,' he said.

王文忠說，自己年輕的時候曾經受到許多人的幫助，所以這是他回饋社會的方式。

On the drive into Ludian, Mr. Wang coordinated with the local state-run TV station and officials in the county seat to determine where the group was most needed, something he said he learned to do after Sichuan. After waiting for approval to enter the quake zone, his team spent three days passing out goods they brought and helping authorities distribute medicine.

在驅車前往魯甸的時候，王文忠和當地國有電視臺及縣政府官員進行了協調，確定了哪裏是最需要其團隊的地方，他說這是他在四川地震之後學到的一件事情。在獲准進入災區後，他的團隊花了三天時間分發所攜帶的物品，並且幫助當局分發藥物。

Not all volunteers have been so experienced or conscientious. Many are students visiting a disaster area for the first time. Especially in the first few days after the earthquake, a number of them wandered aimlessly around the collapsed houses, snapping selfies in front of the wreckage.

並不是所有的志願者都富有經驗和認真負責。很多志願者都是首次來到災區的學生。特別是在災後的頭幾天，有不少志願者都在倒塌的房屋周圍漫無目的地轉悠，在廢墟前面自拍。

'Authorities are reacting faster and behaving more professionally,' so they don't need volunteers to rush in, said Zhang Haitao, a 21-year-old college student in Beijing who called the restrictions on traffic in Ludian 'a good thing.'

北京21歲的大學生張海濤表示，當局反應比以前更迅速、也更專業，所以不需要這些志願者一窩蜂趕來。他說，魯甸限行是好事。

'Some people just want to run up the mountain by themselves to dig out bodies or see what an earthquake looks like,' added Liu Yan, the manager of a volunteer service stand set up by the Communist Youth League next to the government's relief headquarters. 'We don't have any place for them.'

一個由共青團設立的志願者服務站的負責人劉豔（音）表示，一些人只想着自己爬山去救人或是看看地震是什麼樣子。她說，現在也沒有地方安置這些人。

Still, she said, the Communist Youth League had registered more than 3,000 volunteers willing to forgo the glamour for grunt work like bringing supplies to earthquake victims, cleaning, and cooking.

她表示，共青團有超過3,000名志願者願意做那些並不風光的繁重工作，例如爲災民送物資、打掃衛生、做飯。

In the first 72-hours--the time when survivors are most likely to be found--volunteers need to step aside and let the government take the lead, said Gu Linsheng, executive director of Sichuan University's Institute for Disaster Management and Reconstruction.

四川大學災後重建與管理學院執行院長顧林生表示，在震後72小時內――也就是找到倖存者可能性最高的時候――志願者應迴避，讓政府出面開展工作。

'But in the next stage of after-disaster resettlement, more social force should come in,' he said. 'In regards to the distribution of goods and mental assistance, only (the) government's efforts are not enough.'

他表示，但在接下來的災後重新安置階段，需要更多的社會力量參與。他說，在物質和精神幫助方面，只有政府的努力是不夠的。