「華盛頓郵報」八月三日北京消息，記者約翰·普菲報道：

Attacked by China's conservatives for abandoning Marxism and criticized by liberals for failing to launch political reform, President Jiang Zemin by any measure should feel embattled.(中國國家主席江澤民現在正面臨左右兩派的強烈攻擊。強硬派批評江澤民放棄了馬克思主義理論，自由派攻擊江澤民政治改革失敗。)

Jokes about his paunch, love life and a clunky poem he recently published on the front page of China's biggest daily newspaper have reached critical mass. He is the subject of snickers throughout Chinese society.(江澤民的臭事、糜爛性生活和發表在中國最大報紙上的蹩腳詩被當成笑話一樣在中國社會廣爲流傳。江澤民成了中國百姓談話中的笑柄。)

Jiang took power in 1989 following the crackdown on student-led protests around Tiananmen Square. At the time, he was considered a transitional figure, called a "weather vane" and a "flower pot." Many predicted that he would be booted from the scene.(江澤民於1989年天安門血腥屠殺學生民主運動之後登基，當時被人們戲稱爲「風咕嚕車」weather vane和花瓶flower pot)

In late May, he published a clunky poem, "Feelings on Climbing Huang Mountain," a popular tourist destination, on the front page of the Communist Party's mouthpiece, the People's Daily. The poem was included immediately in a textbook for students from Shanghai, the first time since the days of Chairman Mao Zedong that students will study the poetry of a living Chinese leader.(今年五月底，江澤民發表臭詩「登黃山偶感」，發表在黨內最大的喉舌報紙「人民日報」上。隨即這首詩被收入了上海小學生的課本教材中。這是自毛澤東時代後，上海小學生第一次能夠學到活着的領導人的詩詞。)

Late last month, Deng Liqun, an 87-year-old former top party official, and 14 other retired senior party members and military officers issued the letter attacking Jiang's decision, according to sources close to two of the signatories.By not first obtaining a resolution from a party congress on this matter, the letter said, Jiang "violated party discipline" and sparked "confusion" in the minds of many party members. It predicted the decision could lead to the collapse of the party and raised the specter of the Soviet Union's collapse. It also called on Jiang to conduct a "self-criticism." (據知情人透露，上月底，87歲的中共高層幹部鄧力羣和其他14名退休老幹部聯名寫信給江澤民，攻擊江澤民的政策。指責江澤民違反黨紀，未經政協同意，擅自發表不負責任的言論，引起黨內的極大混亂。並指出，江澤民的決策將導致中共土崩瓦解，重蹈蘇聯的覆輒。這批中共老幹部強烈要求江澤民做自我檢討。)

唉，怎麼就夠不着？再努把勁抬一抬興許比他倆還高！

For the past year, Jiang's subordinates have attempted to elevate his ideas to the status of a doctrine so that Jiang can join "Mao Zedong Thought" and "Deng Xiaoping Theory" in the pantheon of Chinese revolutionary thought. "Like others, I am not overwhelmed at the intellectual content of this idea," said Joe Fewsmith, a Boston University expert on Chinese politics, "but I do see it as making a very important point: If the party does not change, it will end up like other Communist parties ━ gone." (從去年起，江澤民的爪牙曾一再企圖將江澤民的理論抬高到「毛澤東思想」與「鄧小平理論」一樣的高度。對此，美國波士頓大學的一名中國政治問題專家喬·菲爾斯評論說「跟別人一樣，我不認爲江的理論有什麼高度。我看不出江澤民的理論有什麼重要性。相反，如果中共再一意孤行，就逃不過所有共產國家破滅的下場！」)

But Jiang has also disappointed the liberal wing of the Communist Party. Before the July 1 speech, a group of senior liberals, including Du Runsheng, a former close associate of purged party secretary Zhao Ziyang, sent Jiang a report, urging him to mention the need to allow more democracy in China, Chinese sources said. (江澤民還面臨着黨內自由派的壓力。據中國消息，七一講話前，包括杜潤生(前黨書記趙紫陽的幕僚)在內的中共自由派高層向江澤民提交了一份報告，嚴正提出民主中國的要求。)

Ever since the crackdown against the group began in July 1999, smashing Falun Gong has become Jiang's particular obsession, despite doubts expressed by some of his colleagues. (自一九九九年七月鎮壓法輪功以來，法輪功成了江澤民的心腹大患，儘管江澤民一意孤行鎮壓法輪功的決定沒有得到黨內其他同僚的支持)

In the end, said Cheng Li, an expert on China's leadership transition process, Jiang will probably be moved from the stage by younger party officials. "He certainly wants to hang around," he said, "but more capable younger leaders, including some of his own aides, will push him aside in a few years." (最後，一名署名陳力的研究中共高層決策的專家指出，江澤民也許會被下一代更年輕的接班人所擠出歷史的舞臺。他說「江澤民肯定還想賴着不走，但更年富力強的領導班子將會在幾年之內把江澤民踢出去。」

「人民報編譯組」8月3日編譯