【注：文章原文为英文，发表于8月3日的《旧金山纪事报》，主要面向美国读者】
A dream being realized
梦想正成为现实
Kai-Fu Lee
李开复
Seventy years ago, my mother had a dream -- to represent China in the Olympics. She was one of the fastest women in China, and she awaited the 1940 Olympics in Tokyo with pride and anticipation.
七十年前，我的母亲就有一个梦想——代表中国参加奥林匹克运动会。她是当时中国跑得最快的女运动员之一，一直充满自豪地期待着1940年的东京奥运会。
But her dream was shattered when Japan invaded China, resulting eventually in the cancellation of the 1940 Olympics. My mother"s misfortune was emblematic of China"s humiliating recent history, for about 140 years dating from the Opium War in 1839. This period was filled with foreign invasions and can be characterized by China"s insolvency, instability, and poverty.
但是日本发动了侵华战争，她的梦想也随之破灭，战争最终导致1940年奥运会停办。我母亲的不幸是近代中国不幸历史的一个象征，这段历史可追溯到1839年的鸦片战争，持续了近140年。期间充满了外国列强的入侵，国家主权丧失、社会动荡和经济贫穷是这段历史的特征。
Starting in 1978, and for the past 30 years, China has focused itself on purging these three problems, and on bringing about sovereignty, stability and prosperity. Its economic accomplishments have been unmatched in the history of mankind — in the past 30 years, more than 600 million people have been lifted above the poverty line, and China is on its way to becoming the world"s largest economy.
自1978起，在过去的30年里，中国集中精力改变这种状况，维护了国家主权，创造了社会安定和经济繁荣的局面。中国所取得的经济成就是人类历史上史无前例的——在过去的30年，有超过6亿人摆脱了贫困，目前中国正朝着世界上最大的经济体迈进。
The Olympics this summer in Beijing marks the next phase in China"s development beyond these three problems. On Friday Aug. 8, China is not just opening its doors for Olympic spectators, but also welcoming tens of thousands of journalists. This, along with President Hu Jintao"s speech about moving toward democracy, signifies a clear intention to make more progressive changes. Like my mother"s Olympic dream, I await these changes with pride and anticipation. But knowing that reforms take time, I shall also await future changes with patience and optimism.
今天的中国安定而繁荣，夏天举行的北京奥运会标志着中国迈入了一个新的发展阶段。本周五（8月8日），中国不仅将向奥运会的观众们敞开大门，同时也将迎来成千上万的新闻记者。奥运会的举办以及胡锦涛主席关于迈向民主的讲话，清楚表明中国正寻求更大的转变。正如我母亲曾经怀有奥运之梦时的心情一般，我也充满自豪地期许着这些转变。改革需要时间，我将充满信心地耐心等待转变的来临。
Kai-Fu Lee is the head of Google China.
李开复 谷歌大中华区总裁
