中國規定公款設宴禁用燕窩魚翅

A government-led austerity drive is taking all the fun out of being a Chinese official.

一場政府發起的節儉行動正把在中國當官的樂趣抽得一乾二淨。

The latest anti-corruption measures, issued Sunday, ban cigarettes and upscale liquor as well as classic Chinese delicacies like sharks' fin and birds' nests from official banquets.

週日最新發布的反腐措施規定，公務接待宴請不得提供香菸、高檔酒水以及例如魚翅、燕窩等佳餚。

It's part of a drive to portray the country's civil service as a model in austerity. So far, the public response has been a heap of skepticism.

這些規定意在把政府部門打造成爲節儉模範。目前爲止公衆對此多持質疑態度。

The central government's most recent austerity orders take aim at some of the most visible symbols of official excess. Birds' nest soup, made from the saliva of swiftlets, and shark fins are a fixture at expensive Chinese soirees. Premium birds' nest can command $155 a gram, making it more expensive than silver, while shark fin can fetch up to $700 a kilogram, according to the Australian Marine Conservation Society.

中央政府最近出臺的節儉規定瞄準了官員鋪張浪費的一些典型事例。金絲燕唾液製成的燕窩和魚翅是中國高檔晚宴上的必點菜餚。優質燕窩可賣到每克155美元，比銀子還貴，而據澳大利亞海洋保護學會(Australian Marine Conservation Society)稱，魚翅售價可高達每千克700美元。

There's one caveat: China has tried to get its officials to dial it back before. It issued a similar edict seven years ago (in Chinese), though the wording used at the time was vaguer, calling on civil servants 'not to use public funds for 'excessive dining.' '

中國此前曾試圖讓官員有所收斂。七年前曾有類似規定出臺，不過當時的文件措辭較含糊，僅要求公務員“不得用公款大吃大喝”。

This time around, the government was more explicit. It named 'shark fin, birds' nest and other high-end cuisine and meals made from protected wild Animals' as dishes that mustn't reach official dining tables. But the move should have come as no surprise to civil servants - Beijing last year warned it would introduce the prohibition soon.

這一回政府態度更加明確。此次規定點明“魚翅、燕窩等高檔菜餚和用野生保護動物製作的菜餚”不得出現在公務宴席上。但這一動作應屬公務員意料之內――去年北京方面警告過將很快頒佈禁令。

All this is reshaping what it means to be a Chinese bureaucrat. In the past, the Chinese civil servant's position was popularly associated with perquisites such as black -0.31% cars, premium Moutai liquor and endless rounds of boozy karaoke evenings. That's no longer as true, with the government's anti-graft campaign extending to interdictions on alcohol, mooncakes, fireworks and those conspicuously inscrutable black cars.

這一切都在重塑擔任中國官職的意義。在過去，很多人把中國公務員職位和特權聯繫起來（例如黑色奧迪車、高品質茅臺酒和無數個燈紅酒綠的KTV之夜）。而隨着政府將反腐措施拓展至酒水、月餅、煙花爆竹、公務車方面的限令，情況發生了變化。

On China's Sina Weibo microblogging platform, the country's nearest equivalent to a national forum, one blogger - who appeared to be a civil servant - complained that these new requirements were just plain un-Chinese. 'How can you treat officials of a higher position than yourself to a mediocre restaurant?' one blogger wrote. 'If high officials agree to dinner, it is too embarrassing to treat them to somewhere poor. Chinese people just love 'face.''

新浪微博上，一位似乎是公務員的博主抱怨說新規定太不符合中國國情了。一位博主寫道，你怎麼可能請一個位置比你高的領導去吃普通餐館呢？如果領導答應跟你吃飯，你卻帶他們去個破破爛爛的餐館，那也太沒面子了。中國人就愛講面子。

Sunday's edict doesn't just entail food. The document also detailed regulations on the use of public funds for entertainment and limits the number of people allowed to accompany officials to dinners. It bars some from a travel entitlement to hotel suites, and stops bureaucrats from receiving a range of gifts. The rule's clearest expansions from 2006 were on the food items, a requirement for officials to submit details of travel plans, and requirements to disclose public expenditures on receptions to the Ministry of Finance.

週日發佈的規定不只涉及餐飲方面。這份文件還在接待活動的公款使用範圍和陪餐人數上給出了詳細的規定，要求一些人不得公費入住酒店套間，並禁止官員收取一系列禮品。相較於2006年頒佈的文件，這份文件在供應菜品，要求官員提交詳細的公務外出計劃，以及向財政部披露公務接待經費開支上做出了最爲清晰的規定。

The new regulation will also apply to state-owned companies and state-sponsored organizations, it said.

據該文件，新規定還將適用於國有企業和公有事業單位。

The fresh proposals haven't scored high in public approval, at least judging by a stream of skepticism on China's microblogs. For some, there was recognition that the latest edict wasn't exactly new. 'What we need is not regulation, but the courage to enforce regulation,' said one user.

單從目前中國微博上的一片質疑之聲來看，新要求尚未博得公衆的高度認可。在一些人看來，最新規定並不是什麼新的做法。一位網友寫道，我們現在需要的不是制定規則，而是要勇於執行規則。

'The regulations are (like) a kind father educating his good-for-nothing sons,' said one user. 'But will his sons listen? This is a warning to officials and is more progressive than practical.'

一位網友說，這份規定就（像）是一位慈父在教育自己那羣一無是處的兒子。但是兒子們會聽他的話嗎？這份文件是對官員們的一種警告，與其說它具有實際意義，不如說它更具進步性。

Wildlife officials say the new regulations could mark the start of stricter state control over Chinese trade in endangered species' parts, such as African ivory and rhinoceros horns. 'I think this sets up the new administration's willingness to reduce consumption of endangered wildlife,' said Jeff He, a Beijing-based communications manager for the International Fund for Animal Welfare. 'The current notice sends out a very strong signal that the administration is responding.'

野生動物保護官員說，新規定或標誌國家對瀕危野生動物交易展開新一輪更加嚴格的控制。國際愛護動物基金會(International Fund for Animal Welfare，簡稱：IFAW)駐北京的公關經理Jeff He說：我認爲這使政府形成了減少瀕危野生動物消費的意願。當前的規定釋放出了一個非常強烈的信號，即政府正在對這一問題做出迴應。

It's less clear whether previous government action has actually cut trade in wild animals and their parts. Wildlife groups including the IFAW, the World Wildlife Fund and Greenpeace didn't have data immediately available, and smuggling masks actual trade trends. But China's commerce ministry has claimed victory in one aspect, according to the official Xinhua news agency. Ministry spokesman Shen Danyang said consumption of shark fin fell 70% and birds' nest by 40% around this year's Lunar New Year because of the anti-waste campaign, though the ministry didn't provide a specific time frame for comparison.

政府的先前舉措是否真的減少了野生動物貿易則不甚清楚。包括IFAW、世界野生動物基金會(World Wildlife Fund)和綠色和平組織(Greenpeace)在內的野生動物保護組織無法立即提供相關數據，且走私掩蓋了實際的貿易數額。但據新華社稱，就某一方面而言，中國商務部已宣告取得勝利。商務部發言人沈丹陽稱，在政府節儉行動的影響下，今年農曆新年期間魚翅消費下降了70%，燕窩消費下降了40%。不過商務部並未指出這一對比所參照的確切時間範圍。