During Chinese President Hu Jintao’s recent state visit to Washington, a US senator expressed disbelief on Jan. 19 that a major museum in the US capital sells only “crafted in China” busts of US presidents.
“That is pretty pathetic! I was not aware that the collapse of our manufacturing base had gone that far,” Independent Senator Bernie Sanders said in a letter to the director of the National Museum of American History.
Sanders’s office released photographs of bronze-colored busts of the first US president, George Washington, as well as his current successor, Barack Obama, labeled “crafted in China.”
PHOTO: AFP 照片:法新社
The lawmaker urged the museum to stock its shelves with US-made goods, while noting that the museum’s purchase of Chinese goods “will not have a profound impact upon our massive trade deficit -- currently at US$457 billion (NT$13.71 trillion)…But the symbolism is extraordinary.”
“It appears that a museum owned by the people of the United States, celebrating the history of the United States, cannot find companies in this country employing American workers that are able to manufacture statues of our founding fathers, or our current president,” he said.
(AFP)
當中國國家主席胡錦濤在美國華府展開訪問,一位美國參議員一月十九日對華府的主要博物館只販售「中國製造」的美國總統半身像,感到難以置信。
無黨籍參議員伯納‧桑德斯在一封寫給「國立美國歷史博物館」(National Museum of American History)館長的信說,「這是很悲哀的!我不知道我們製造業已衰落到這般地步。」
桑德斯的辦公室公布美國首任總統喬治‧華盛頓與現任總統巴拉克‧歐巴馬半身銅像,上面都標示為「中國製造」。
當這位參議員發現這間博物館購買中國貨時,就呼籲博物館架上只放美國製造的產品。他說,儘管這「將不會對我們目前四千五百七十億美元(約新台幣十三兆七千一百億元)的鉅額貿易赤字造成深遠影響,但象徵意義非同小可。」
他說,「這顯示美國人民所有的博物館、頌揚美國歷史的博物館,在美國境內找不到雇用美國勞工的公司,可以製造我們國父與現任總統的雕像。」
(法新社/翻譯:林亞蒂)
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