Show notes
政治篇
1.NATO held a summit in Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania, which was dominated by Ukraine’s ambition to join the alliance. Amid resistance from some members, notably America and Germany, to give a firm timetable, NATO issued a pledge that Ukraine will join, but only when “allies agree and conditions are met”. It was, however, promised as an accelerated process. More important was a pledge by the G7 that its members will each offer Ukraine enduring commitments to provide it with the weapons it needs to defend itself from Russia during and after the war, as well as help with rebuilding its economy.
北約 (NATO) 在立陶宛首都 Vilnius 舉行峰會，而烏克蘭入盟野心主導了此次峰會。在一些成員國 (尤其是美國和德國) 抵制給出明確的時間表之情況下，北約承諾烏克蘭將加入北約，但前提是“其他盟友/成員們同意且條件得到滿足”。不過呢，烏克蘭被承諾獲得加速入盟的進程。更重要的是七國集團 (G7) 承諾將向烏克蘭做出持久承諾，為其提供戰時和戰後抵禦俄國侵害所需的武器，並幫助其重建經濟。
Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, said he would now support Sweden’s bid to join NATO, reversing months of opposition as the last country in the alliance to resist its membership. Before changing course, Mr Erdogan was widely condemned for suggesting that he would only support Sweden if the EU opened new talks on Turkey’s ambition to join the bloc. America provided a different incentive, promising to “move ahead” with supplying F-16 fighter jets to Turkey.
土耳其總統艾爾多安表示他現在將支持瑞典加入北約，扭轉了數個月以來作為最後一個抵制瑞典加入北約的國家之反對態度。在改變其方針之前，艾爾多安表示只有歐盟就土耳其加入歐盟之野心展開新的談判，他才會支持瑞典加入北約，但因此而廣受譴責。美國提供了不同的激勵措施，即承諾“繼續”向土耳其提供 F-16 戰鬥機。
3.The European Union’s population rose by 2m to 448m in 2022, the first increase since the for two years following the pandemic. More people still died than were born, but migration made up the shortfall. Germany’s population rose by 1.1m people, to 84.4m.
於 2022年，歐盟人口增加了兩百萬人，達到 4.48億，而這是自新冠疫情爆發兩年以來的首次增長。死亡人數仍多於出生人數，但移民彌補了此一缺口。德國人口增加 110萬人，達到 8,440萬人。
4.A month after hosting NATO’s biggest ever air exercise, Germany said it would for the first time send troops to Australia to participate in war games involving principally American and Australian forces that are held once every two years. The Talisman Sabre exercise, which includes troops from Japan, South Korea and elsewhere, always unnerves China.
在舉辦了北約有史以來最大規模的空中演習一個月後，德國表示將首次派遣部隊前往澳洲參加每兩年舉行一次的軍事演習 Talisman Sabre，而該演習主要由美國和澳洲的軍隊參加。Talisman Sabre 演習還有來自日本、南韓和其他國家等軍隊參加，而這總讓中國感到不安。
5.China signed a “comprehensive strategic partnership” with the Solomon Islands, which will include more Chinese help for the Pacific nation’s police force. China is also building a telecoms network across the islands. Last month the Solomons’ prime minister, Manasseh Sogavare, called for a review of his country’s defence arrangements with Australia, which has long been an ally and aid provider.
中國與 (南太平洋島國) 所羅門群島簽署了“全面戰略夥伴關係”，之中將包括中國為所國警察部隊提供更多協助。中國還在各島嶼上建設電信網絡。於上個月，所國總理 Manasseh Sogavare 呼籲審視該國與澳洲的國防/防衛事宜，而澳洲長期以來一直是所國的盟友和援助提供者。
6.North Korea test-fired an intercontinental ballistic missile, which fell into the sea short of Japanese waters. In its latest flurry of sabre-rattling, North Korea has ranted against what it describes as “air patrols” by American aircraft off the Korean peninsula.
北韓試射洲際彈道飛彈，並將其落入日本海域附近。在北韓近期一系列的武力威嚇中，其指控美國飛機在朝鮮半島“空中巡邏”。
7.Pita Limjaroenrat’s bid to become Thailand’s prime minister failed in the first round of voting in parliament, which recorded around 200 abstentions. Mr Pita’s pro-democracy Move Forward party claimed the most seats in May’s general election and he has the support of other reformist parties. He needs the votes of half of the 749 lawmakers in parliament to become prime minister, but is being fiercely resisted by parties aligned with the conservative military establishment.
泰國國會第一輪的總理競選中，Pita Limjaroenrat 落選、約有兩百多位國會議員放棄投票。在五月的眾議院選舉中，Pita Limjaroenrat 的泛民主前進黨 (Move Forward party) 獲得多數席次，而他本人也獲得了其他改革派政黨的支持。他需要國會 749席中的半數選票才能成為總理，但遭軍方保守派政黨的強烈抵制。
經濟篇
China faces a different problem to other countries. It is on the cusp of deflation, as demonstrated by the latest official data. Annual inflation in June was recorded as zero; consumer prices actually fell by 0.2% compared with May. The value of China’s exports fell by 12.4% in June, year on year, the biggest drop since the start of the pandemic. Imports were down by 6.8%.
中國面臨著與其他國家不同的問題。根據最新官方數據，中國正處於通貨緊縮的邊緣。今年六月的年度通膨率為零；與五月相比，消費者物價指數也下降了 0.2%。中國的出口值與去年同期相比下降了 12.4%，是自疫情以來的最大跌幅。另外，進口量也下降了 6.8%。
2.China’s financial and securities regulators fined Ant Group, the fintech arm of Alibaba, 7.1bn yuan ($994m) for breaking rules on consumer affairs and corporate governance. They also said that the tech industry would return to “normal supervision” as most regulatory concerns had been resolved. Investors took that to mean that the crackdown on the sector is over. After the fine, Ant launched a $6bn share buy-back, which values the firm at $78.5bn, far below its worth in 2020.
中國金融和證券監管機構對阿里巴巴 (Alibaba) 旗下的金融科技公司螞蟻集團 (Ant Group) 處以 71億人民幣 (約 9.94億美元) 的罰款，原因是其違反了消費者事務和公司治理方面等規定。官方還表示由於大多數監管問題已解決，科技行業將恢復“正常監管”。投資人們認為這意謂著對該行業的打擊已結束。遭罰款後，螞蟻集團啟動了 60億美元的股票回購，而其公司估值為 785億美元、遠低於其 2020年的價值。
3.In a setback to India’s ambition to become a global hub of chipmaking, Foxconn, best known for assembling the iPhone, pulled out of a $19.5bn joint venture to develop semiconductors at a factory in Gujarat. The deal had been announced with much fanfare last year. Press reports suggested the project had been held up by the government’s dithering on state support.
在印度成為全球晶片製造中心的雄心受挫之際，以組裝 iPhone 而聞名的
富士康 (Foxconn) 退出了價值 195億美元、在古吉拉特邦 (Gujarat，印度第四大城) 的一間開發半導體工廠之合資企業。此合資項目於去年大張旗鼓地宣佈；媒體報導指稱該項目因政府在國家支持問題上猶豫不決而擱淺。
4.Elon Musk officially launched his latest venture, a startup working in artificial intelligence, named XAI. Mr Musk has recruited staff from OpenAI, DeepMind, Microsoft and other leaders in the field. In March Mr Musk co-signed a letter calling for a six-month moratorium on developing AI.
馬斯克正式啟動了他最新的創業，即一間名為 XAI 並從事人工智能的新創公司。馬斯克從 OpenAI、DeepMind、微軟和該領域的其他領航企業招募員工。於 (今年) 三月時，馬斯克共同簽署了一封信，即呼籲暫停開發人工智能為期六個月。
5.Amazon filed a legal challenge against its inclusion on a list of 19 companies that the European Union says are subject to new rules governing online content under the Digital Services Act. Facebook, TikTok and Twitter are also included on the list, but Amazon says that retailing is its business, and not advertising or the dissemination of information.
亞馬遜 (Amazon) 對其被歐盟列入 19家公司名單提出了法律挑戰；歐盟稱這些公司受到數位服務法 (Digital Services Act) 下對其線上內容的新規定所約束。臉書 (Facebook)、TikTok 和推特 (Twitter) 也被列入該名單，但亞馬遜表示零售是它的主要業務，而非廣告或訊息傳播。
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