这些人和他们的故事既平凡又伟大。平凡是因为他们与我们每天在街上看到的人没什么不同。伟大是因为他们的故事很好地展现了两个文化迥异的国家间，人民如何能够找到共同点并相互理解，也因为他们就是中美两国人民不断发展的交流和友谊的缩影。
这些“小人物”的故事让我们看到为何中美关系基础坚实，为何应对其未来充满信心。这并非由于他们有何前无古人之壮举，而是因为他们日复一日，在两国人民间架设桥梁，为人民交往做出贡献，从而使中美关系不断向前。他们就是中美关系中“善良的天使”。
These people and their stories are both ordinary and extraordinary. Ordinary because they are no different from people we see on the streets every day. Yet they are extraordinary, because their stories are excellent examples of how people of two countries with very different cultures have been able to find common ground and get to understand each other, and because they epitomize the ever-growing exchanges and friendship between the Chinese and American peoples.
From these ordinary men and women, we know why the China-US relationship is firmly grounded, and why we should be confident in its future. It is not because they have accomplished a feat never done before; but because of their work day after day, building bridges between the two peoples and contributing to people-to-people ties, that our relations keep forging ahead. They are the "better angels" for our relations.
几个月后，我们将迎来中美建交40周年。过去四十年中，双边关系得到长足发展，硕果累累，却也曾经历不少曲折。每当中美关系遭遇坎坷，前景受到质疑时，两国人民都在那里，默默努力，坚持不懈，贡献自己的力量，推动两国关系走出困境，继续向前。正是因为他们的不懈努力，我们才能弥合分歧，实现两国关系持续稳定发展；正是因为他们的坚定信念，我们才能开辟合作共赢的道路，使两国利益前所未有地紧密相连。
但近来，两国关系的发展形势让许多人感到不安。过去一年，我们听到很多消极声音：贸易战的威胁，主张战略竞争的声音，在南海的武力炫耀，甚至对中国学生和学者的无端指责。竞争和对抗似乎成为我们未来道路的主流，人们不禁要再次呼吁“善良的天使”。有时，我们会想，“善良的天使”是否已经销声匿迹，亦或是否已被人性的阴暗面所掩盖？
In a couple of months, we will be celebrating the 40th anniversary of diplomatic relations between China and the United States. The relationship has come a long way in the past four decades. It has made great strides, while also has had its share of setbacks. But every time it risked being stranded, every time its future was cast into doubt, the people of our two countries would be there, quietly but persistently, doing their part, lifting it out of the quagmire, and moving it forward. And thanks to their unremitting efforts, we have been able to rise above differences and ensure sustained and steady growth of our relations; thanks to their unswerving commitment, we have blazed a trail of win-win cooperation and seen our interests as closely tied as never before.
But these days, what has been going on between our two countries has kept many people on tenterhooks. Over the past year we have heard enough of trade war threats, assertions about strategic rivalry, sabre-rattling in the South China Sea and even unfounded accusations against Chinese students and scholars. It looks as if rivalry and confrontation became the prevailing aspect for our path ahead and people cannot but again call for the touch of "better angels". Sometimes we wonder if they have just vanished or if they are overshadowed by the dark side of human nature?
上一篇：2018年11月2日外交部发言人陆慷主持例行记者会（中英对照）
下一篇：2018年10月24日外交部发言人华春莹主持例行记者会（中英对照）
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