民主峰會 | 羅冠聰演講：我們不是因為看到希望才堅持，而是因為堅持才看到希望（2021-12-10）

譯者按：美東時間2021年12月10日晨，羅冠聰通過視頻在民主峰會上發表了演講。我聽了之後感到簡短，有力，結尾振聾發聵。

特別感謝@免於恐懼的自由 幫助補完翻譯本演講的粵語結尾。

演講視頻（直接跳到羅冠聰演講部分）：https://youtu.be/Hg7dT-r11GE?t=7970

以下由本人聽寫和翻譯完成。如有不完善之處，敬請指教。謝謝！


演講譯文：

大家好。我是羅冠聰，香港前學生領袖，也是香港最年輕的民選立法委員。在中國政府的迫害下，我的立法會席位被推翻，我的自由被剝奪。我在 2017 年因和平集會被判入獄。

為了應對另一波大規模抗議，北京於2020年夏天制定了全面的國家安全法以徹底根除香港的公民社會。在分裂國家罪的指控下，我被放在通緝名單首位。從那以後，我被迫流亡到英國。我不得不切斷與家人的聯繫，以免危及他們。

此時此刻，與我共事的大多數香港民主活動家如黃之鋒、戴耀廷和黎智英都被關押並面臨終身監禁。我的經歷是一個典型的例子：一個曾經被認為是亞洲最自由的城市，如今卻在我們眼前淪爲專制的警察國家。對我來說，民主倒退不是抽象的理論，而是痛苦的親身經歷。

我知道香港故事並不是獨一無二的。北京持續犯下危害人類的罪行。數以百萬計的維吾爾人被關進集中營。藏人繼續在他們的社會中面臨打壓。台灣人每天醒來都不得不面對被軍事入侵的真實可能。從全球金融市場到娛樂業，中國的影響力早已滲透到一切事物。

不幸的是，自由世界缺乏協調反擊的決心。我們到處都看到民主受到威脅；自由受到威脅；我們的機構正在失去說服我們、使我們相信自由的國際秩序能夠取得勝利的能力。我們必須改變。我們必須採取行動表明我們可以做得更好，確保民主政治能夠產生真正的結果，加強具有相同價值觀的國家之間的多邊聯繫，改革國際組織，使它們有意義地履行其使命。

長期以來，世界一直都在擁抱中國崛起，卻沒有建立追究其責任的機制。這就是政治行動者和公民社會領導人必須共同努力的原因。我們必須利用我們所擁有的一切來確保民主的複興是我們的首要任務。

也許你們中有些人害怕惹惱習總書記；也許你們中的一些人不想失去中國市場；也許你們中的一些人沒有意識到對我們民主價值觀的威脅。而這就是我們失敗的原因，也是我們必須改變的原因。

（以下為粵語，感謝@免於恐懼的自由 幫助翻譯）

我們不是因為看到希望才堅持，而是因為堅持才看到希望。香港人，加油。


演講原文：

Hello, everyone. I’m Nathan Law, a former student leader and the youngest elected legislator in Hong Kong. Yet, under the Chinese government’s persecution, my seat in legislature was overturned, and my freedom was deprived as I was jailed for peaceful assembly in 2017.

And in response to another wave of massive protest, Beijing enacted a sweeping National Security Law in the summer of 2020 to eradicate Hong Kong's civil society once and for all. I was put on the top of the wanted list under the charge of secession. I’ve since been forced into exile into the United Kingdom.  I had to cut my ties with my family so as not to endanger them.

Most democratic campaigners in Hong Kong with whom I’ve worked, such as Joshua Wong, Benny Ty, and Jimmy Lai, are detained and facing life imprisonment as I speak. My experience embodies a prime example of a city once believed to be the freest in Asia can deteriorate into an authoritarian police state right in front of our eyes. I’ve lived through it. For me, democratic backsliding isn’t an abstract theory, but a personal and painful story.

I know the story isn’t unique because of Beijing’s ongoing crimes against humanity. Uyghurs numbers in millions are put in concentration camps. Tibetans continue to face suppression in their society. Taiwanese wake up every day to the real possibility of a certain military invasion.  Chinese influence has long been creeping into the rims of everything, from global financial markets to entertainment.

Unfortunately, the free world lacks determination to coordinate a push back. Everywhere we see that democracy is under threat. Our freedoms are at stake. Our institutions are losing the ability to persuade us that our liberal international order will always prevail. We must change. We must act to show that we can do better. It’s time to make sure democratic politics can deliver real results, to strengthen multilateral ties among countries that share the same values, and to reform international organizations so they meaningfully live up to their mission.

For too long, the world has embraced the rise of China without developing mechanisms to hold it accountable. That’s why political actors and civil society leaders must work together. We must leverage all we have to ensure that the democracy’s revival is our top priority.

Maybe some of you are afraid of upsetting General Secretary Xi; maybe some of you don’t want to lose Chinese market; maybe some of you don’t recognize the threat to our democratic values, and that, is the reason why we failed, and that’s why we must change.

We persisted not because we saw hope; we saw hope because we persisted. Hongkongers, giddy-up (translated from Cantonese).