编者按：新冠肺炎疫情发生以来，中国政府和人民抗击疫情的努力和成效得到国际社会广泛认可。2月19日，《我不见外——老潘的中国来信》一书作者潘威廉教授自美国加州给外文出版社写来一封“老潘的美国来信”，在信中他从一名美国知识分子的视角，以他的科学理性和丰富阅历告诉我们，中国政府为抗击疫情所展现的公开、透明、高效和负责是世所罕有的，新中国建立的公共卫生体系和中国人民享有的医疗水平，是另一个容易被人忽视的中国奇迹。

　　亲爱的外文出版社大家庭，

　　Dear Foreign Languages Press Family,

　　请接受来自加利福利亚的问候。希望在北京的每一位健康、平安！

　　Greetings from California! We hope that you are all staying safe and healthy there in Beijing.

　　我和苏珊一直非常关注有关中国疫情的报道，很多报道令人感动，不仅是中国政府处理危机时表现出的能力，还有全体中国人民同心抗击疫情的坚韧决心。一些中国朋友纷纷写信告诉我，他们是如何乐观地抗击疫情。有位厦门女孩告诉我，她正处于14天医学观察期，她用手机订购能够送货上门的生活用品，每天通过社交软件在家学习、与朋友聊天。他们都很清楚，这种必要的隔离和限制是为了大家的安全。

　　We’ve been following the news very carefully, and have been so impressed, and deeply moved, by China’s response to this present crises—and not just the government’s response but that of the people!  Many of my Chinese friends have sent me messages encouraging me, even though, not me, are facing the virus. A girl in Xiamen wrote, “I’m in 14 days quarantine but no problem! I can use my phone to order fresh food sent right to my door, and I can stay in contact with friends via social media or study online. We know the quarantine and restrictions are for our safety.”

    世界真的应该感谢中国！因为世界上没有哪个国家和人民可以用中国表现出的果断和勇气应对这个挑战。

　　The world should be grateful that this happened in China and not anywhere else, because no other nation’s government or people could have coped with this challenge with the decisiveness and courage that China has shown.

　　讽刺的是，西方媒体总是把新冠肺炎病毒与SARS病毒相比，他们对2009年美国发生的流感闭口不谈，对西方政府耗时数月却使疫情失控的事实闭口不谈。西方媒体对MERS（中东呼吸综合症）的传播事实也三缄其口，西方政府应对MERS的行为及其缓慢，致使病死率超过40%。相反，在中国，仅仅在两周内，中国科学家们就已经分离出这种病毒的基因组，并及时公布于世界。

　　I find it ironic that the Western media keeps comparing this virus to SARS, but they don’t talk about the Swine Fever of 2009, and how it took many months for Western governments to take it seriously. They also don’t talk about MERS (Mid East Respiratory Syndrome), which Western governments also responded to very slowly, even though the fatality rate was over 40%. Yet China, within 2 weeks, had already isolated the genome for this new virus and shared it with the world.

　　至于向公众宣布这件事时的短暂耽搁——那是病死率。正如你在拥挤的房间里不应大喊“着火了！”一样，直到流行病完全确认前，我们不应给大众带去无畏的恐慌。这是常识！一旦政府在各方面作出了确认，反应是迅速和精准的，同时也作出了牺牲。中国政府正花费数十亿美元去抗击这场疫情，不仅仅为了中国的安全，也为了世界上其他国家的安全。

　　As to the short delay in announcing this to the public—that was reasonable. Even as you should never shout “Fire!” in a crowded room, so we should not panic the public by announcing an epidemic until it is certain. This is just common sense. But as soon as the government was indeed certain, it reacted quickly and decisively—even sacrificially. China’s actions are costing the nation billions of dollars, but the nation and the people accept this stoically as the price to pay to protect not only China but the rest of the world as well.

　　我对中国媒体这次能够很好地报道疫情，一点都不惊讶。许多人，包括中国人，会惊讶地发现，一些西方专家说，即使在20世纪70年代，中国农村和城市的医疗保健都比美国好。1979年，美国维克多·西德尔博士在政府面前发表了讲话，他通过统计数据显示，中国在满足人民健康需求方面做得比富裕的美国更好，这激怒了不少领导人。

　　But it is no surprise to me that China’s medical corp can handle this so well. Many people, including Chinese, would be surprised to learn that some Western experts said that even in the 1970s, China’s medical care for average people, both rural and urban, was better than that in the U.S.! In 1979, Dr. Viktor Sidel spoke before the U.S. government and angered quite a few leaders when he gave statistics on how “poor” China did a better job of meeting its people’s health needs than “rich” America!

　　上个世纪七八十年代，西德尔博士经常读《中国建设》杂志（《今日中国》的前身），并且曾3次访问中国。他向美国政府领导人展示了纽约市婴儿死亡率是上海的两倍，非白人婴儿死亡率是上海的三倍时，让这些人感到震惊。他还展示了中国人在免疫方面比美国人做得更好。西德尔博士说，“中国是一个贫穷的国家，尽管她的科技水平很低，但在过去30年里，中国人民的健康状况取得了令人难以置信的进步。”

　　Dr. Sidel had often read “China Reconstructs (which I too read in the 70s and 80s, and is now “China Today”), and visited China 3 times in the 1970s. Dr. Sidel shocked the U.S. government leaders when he showed them that infant mortality in New York city was twice as high as that in Shanghai for white babies –and 3 times as high for nonwhite babies. He also showed how Chinese did a better job at immunization than Americans. Dr. Sidel said, “China is a poor country… Despite its low level of technology and its poverty, China has made incredible advances in the past 30 years in the health status of its people”.

    西德尔博士还把中国跟其他发展中国家做了比较，他说道，“在中国，你看到的都是基本健康的人民。如果你去过亚洲其他贫穷国家，你会对街上人们的面貌，以及通过照片看到的人们糟糕的健康状况有一些了解。”

　　Dr. Sidel also compared China to other developing Asian countries:

“Wherever one looks in China one sees a fundamentally healthy people.If you have traveled to other poor countries of Asia, you have some feeling for the different way people on the streets look and the poor health status that very different picture reflects.”

    西德尔博士随后说了一句令听众吃惊的话，“在一代人的时间里，中国人的健康状况发生了变化，但这种变化与医学毫无关系。它与人们吃什么、住什么房子、穿什么衣服、一起生活的方式有关。”紧接着，这位医学博士又说了一句更加令人震惊的话，他说，“食物分配对健康的决定作用要比医疗保健重要得多。”

　　Dr. Sidel then surprised his audience by saying, “Part of this change in health in China in the course of one generationhas nothing whatever to do with medicine. It has to do with what people eat, the houses which they live, the way in which they’re clothed, and the ways in which they live together.” This medical doctor then shocked his audience by saying, “Food distribution is a far more important determinant of health than is medical care. ”

    说到中国的衣食住行，西德尔博士谈到了“中国梦”。尽管过了几十年，才有人真正把它称为梦想，或者敢于相信它能够真正成为中国的现实。

　　In speaking of China’s better food, housing, clothing and society, Dr. Sidel was speaking of the China Dream, although it was decades before anyone had actually called it a dream, or dared believe it could truly become a reality for China (and, thanks to the Belt and Road Initiative, to others nations as well).

　　很多人会因为病毒而记住2020年，但是历史会因为中国实现了习近平总书记提出的消除贫困的目标，而记住2020年！

　　Some may remember 2020 for the virus, but history will remember 2020 as the year that China achieved Xi Jinping’s goal of eradicating absolute poverty. No other nation in history has ever dared to even voice such a goal, much less to act upon it. And thanks to the pivotal work of Foreign Languages Press, which for 70 years has helped tell China’s Story to the world.

    就在今天早上，我听说外文出版社面对当下重重的挑战，在迅速编辑出版《封城：武汉故事——坚守与逆行》这样的书，祝贺！你们从未停止把中国故事向世界传播的脚步，这是给我的惊喜。谢谢你们！这70年来，外文出版社帮助世界读懂真正的中国，帮助世界看到“中国梦”如何变为“世界梦”。

　　Just this morning, for example, I saw that, even in the face of the present challenges, Foreign Languages Press is editing a book Seal Off the City: Wuhan Story. Congratulations! You never cease to amaze me with your determination to tell China’s story to the world! Thank you for 70 years of helping the world to see the real China, and helping the world to see that the China Dream can also become a Global Dream.

    毕竟，所有的人都是梦想家，都希望自己的后代能过上更好的和平与繁荣的生活。但其他国家真的有希望吗?

　　All people, after all, are dreamers, and hope for a better life of peace and prosperity for their descendants. But do other nations really have any hope?

    当一位美国政府领导人对西德尔博士梦想在美国获得更好的医疗服务能否成为现实表示怀疑时，西德尔博士回复道，“正如你个人所知，实现有价值的目标从来都不容易。这不能阻止我们去尝试。”

　　When a U.S. government leader expressed doubt that Dr. Sidel’s dream of better medical care in the U.S. could become reality, Dr. Sidel replied, “The achievement of worthwhile goals, as you personally know, is never easy. That must not stop us from trying.”

    这就是外文出版社向世界所展示的，中国从不会停止尝试的脚步，而激情和坚持是会有回报的！正如我们在福建常说的——爱拼才会赢！

　　What Foreign Languages Press is showing the world is that China has never stopped trying—and passion and perseverance do pay off! As we say in Fujian, Victory comes from struggle—爱拼才会赢！

    谢谢外文出版社！我从上个世纪七十年代起就开始读你们的出版物，当时从未想过将来有此殊荣与你们合作。今年，2020年，你们一定有更多的中国故事要与世界分享。我们已经有关于中国政府和人民如何努力克服病毒的故事，也有了这个世界上人口最多的国家如何消除贫困的故事。

　　Thank you, Foreign Languages Press. I’ve read your publications since the 1970s, but never dreamed then that one day I would have the honor of working with you, to share China’s Story with the world. This year, 2020, is giving Foreign Languages Press many more great China Stories to share with the world. We have the story of how China’s government and people struggled and defeated the virus. And we also have the story of how the most populous nation on earth eradicated absolute poverty.

    加油！外文出版社！让我们继续用中国故事给世界带来希望。

　　Jiayou, Foreign Languages Press! Let’s continue to give the world hope by sharing China’s Story!

    向你们献上我所有的崇敬与爱！

　　My respect, and love, to all of you.

　　潘维廉

　　Bill Brown

　　2020年2月19日

　　February 19, 2020

    “2018年12月22日，潘维廉教授新书《我不见外——老潘的中国来信》由中国外文局所属外文出版社以中、英文出版。该书从策划、编辑到出版历时近三年的时间，编辑团队从上千封家书中精选出47封。这些信件展现了不同年代厦门乃至中国的风貌变化，生动地折射了中国改革开放四十年的历程。”