译文：
编者按：今年是中国改革开放40周年。中国日报推出系列专访，报道那些经历或见证这一重要进程的人物。
潘基文：中国应在国际舞台发挥更重要作用
——联合国前秘书长称赞中国为维护世界和平、应对气候变化和消除贫困所付出的努力
中国日报首尔电（记者 潘梦琪）联合国前秘书长潘基文用他最喜欢的一句话总结了中国改革开放40年的历程，那就是“成就越大，责任越大”。
他说，“中国在1978年改革开放后，社会经济发生的大变革与大发展是难以用言语描述的。”
潘基文认为，中国过去40年所取得的经济成就堪称“奇迹”，因为中国的发展不仅让中国人民富了起来，还为其他发展中国家树立了一个国家发展的样板。
潘基文指出，1978年，也就是改革开放元年，中国国内生产总值仅占世界经济比重的2%，许多中国人生活在贫困线下。
然而，改革开放让中国的社会经济实现飞跃式发展。
根据国家统计局数据显示，去年中国国内生产总值增长6.9%，达到12.06万亿美元，占世界经济比重的五分之一，超过了英国、德国和日本，继续保持着世界第二大经济体的地位。此外，城镇居民人均可支配收入达5245美元，是1978年的104倍，而农村居民人均可支配收入则从1978年的20美元（约137元）增长至1935美元（13432元）。
“中国经济建设最突出的一个成就就是让7亿多极端贫困人口摆脱贫困，占同期全球减贫人口总数的70%，”潘基文说，并强调中国的扶贫工作意义重大，因为通过这一系列的国内改革，中国也承担更多国际责任。
在离开联合国近两年后，现年74岁的潘基文仍然对中国在联合国应对地区和全球性挑战方面继续发挥领导作用、推动多边合作的行为表示赞赏。
潘基文于2007年至2016年担任联合国秘书长，任职期间，他积极呼吁各个成员国应对气候变化和其他全球性挑战。
“在我担任两届联合国秘书长期间，我努力推动联合国优先发挥其在促进全球发展方面的重要作用，对此我深感自豪。”
2015年，联合国及其193个成员国批准通过了《2030年可持续发展议程》，提出了17项可持续发展目标。潘基文说，这些目标为世界应对当下最严峻挑战提供了途径，这些挑战包括减贫、教育、不平等、气候变化、改善公共卫生和性别平等。
潘基文说，联合国《2030年可持续发展议程》需要“各利益攸关方在伙伴关系中，调动和分享知识、专长、技术和财政资源，帮助各国实现可持续发展目标”。
他补充说，可持续发展目标确立三年来，取得的进展并不平衡，一些产业和地区比其他产业和地区发展更快。不过，他还指出，联合国已经同中国加强合作，并表示，中国在践行可持续发展目标方面的重要作用是帮助国内外人民提高生活质量。
中国于2016年发布了落实可持续发展目标的国家规划。潘基文说，这是“国内发展规划与国际责任的完美结合”。
在一系列可持续发展目标中，潘基文认为气候变化是“最令人担忧的问题之一”。
潘基文最早于2007年召开了联合国气候变化大会，随后他作了大量外交努力，让气候变化成为全球关注的重点议题。
潘基文说，他非常关注气候变化，因为气候变化正在使地球发生改变，带来了极大的风险和不稳定性。
“从突破历史极值的高温天气和野火，到史上最强飓风和洪水，气候变化不再只是一个议题，气候变化正在发生。前几个月的极端天气事件就表明了人类的未来前景黯淡、危机重重。”
“今年夏天，加州燃起了史上最具破坏力的山火，火光冲天，浓烟滚滚。而在日本和朝鲜半岛，漫长炎热的高温天气也夺去了几十条生命。在格陵兰岛附近，北极最厚冰层有史以来首次破裂。这些不再是反常现象，而是成了新常态。”
他补充道，我们必须采取必要措施应对气候变化，否则城市和农村地区将继续面临炎热高温天气的伤害，人民流离失所，对各个国家乃至整个世界都会造成严重威胁。
因此，潘基文表示，他很高兴看到，包括中国在内的许多国家，正在加强合作，落实《巴黎协定》。
潘基文将《巴黎协定》的签署视为他担任联合国秘书长期间取得的最重要成果之一。他认为《巴黎协定》为应对气候变化问题提供了可能。
近200个缔约国在2015年签署的《巴黎协定》为遏制气候变暖、限制温室气体排放以及推动气候适应型发展和促进绿色发展制定了切实可行的目标。
潘基文说：“为了实现这些目标，我们需要继续共同努力。”他补充说，他对美国退出《巴黎协定》深感失望，美国此举是在气候政策方面孤立自己。
他说：“这在科学上是错误的，在经济上是不负责任的，美国将站在历史错误的一边。我非常希望美国能重新考虑这一决定，回心转意。”
不过，潘基文相信我们仍有理由保持乐观。
因为，中国不断增强的气候领导力可能会对亚洲地区乃至整个世界发挥积极影响。
此外，潘基文高度赞扬了中国对联合国维和事业所作的贡献。中国在复杂和困难的环境条件下，向联合国派遣维和部队，潘基文认为这是“其他国家的榜样”。
他列举了中国在叙利亚、阿富汗、缅甸、南苏丹为维护和平与安全所作的贡献，并鼓励中国继续关注这些问题。
他说：“这不仅表明中国是一个爱好和平的国家，也表明中国正在承担更多国际责任，把和平带到世界的其他地方。”
1944年，潘基文出生在韩国。他亲眼目睹了朝鲜战争时的断壁残垣、妻离子散和经济萧条。
“我在战争中长大，我亲眼见证了是联合国帮助我的祖国恢复重建，这是我投身公共服务事业的一个重要原因。”
随着二战硝烟散尽，联合国于1945年成立，旨在为维护世界和平与安全提供一个国际平台。潘基文说，尽管当时的联合国备受争议，但它为所有国家和人民提供了另一种选择，让他们远离二战的枪林弹雨，免受灭顶之灾。
外交与合作
他说：“这种选择是基于这样的指导理念，即外交方式与相互合作是解决国际争端的更好途径。我珍惜和平，所以我特别珍视中国为维护和平付出的努力。”
他还说，朝鲜半岛的人民不会忘记中国为朝鲜半岛和平所做的一切。
“中国的努力不容忽视。今年中国与朝鲜领导人进行了三次会晤，发挥了非常重要的作用。”
潘基文长期以来一直积极参与处理朝韩关系问题，他同联合国的关系可以追溯到1975年他在韩国外交部联合国处任职之时。
多年来他的工作经历不断丰富，担任了包括全面禁止核试验条约组织筹委会主席等职。
潘基文说，中国的改革开放与中国在联合国的作用和影响力相互促进，他强调他最欣赏的是中国坚持“共同繁荣、和平共处”。
“我的祖国韩国也受益于中国的这一理念。”潘基文说，1991年韩国能加入联合国，中国的支持起了重要作用。
今年四月，潘基文开始担任博鳌亚洲论坛理事长。他说，他未来的工作目标是同中国和许多其他国家一道，通过博鳌亚洲论坛应对更多全球性挑战。“世界正在经历重大变革，将面临更多新的风险和不确定性。”
潘基文说，单边主义和保护主义业已成为世界面临的主要威胁，中国在推动世界金融和经济不断发展的同时，还能作出更大贡献。
“中国应该意识到自身的责任，推动世界金融经济的发展。”他还表示，中国的成就得益于多边贸易自由化，多边贸易自由化是二战结束以来实现全球繁荣、和平与稳定的主要因素。
潘基文说，他注意到，中国为对抗反全球化浪潮，推进中国进一步融入世界市场付出了更多努力。他指出，比如11月在上海举办的第一届中国国际进口博览会，就彰显了中国扩大对外开放、与国际社会合作应对全球性挑战的决心。“中国国际进口博览会是强调自由贸易和市场自由化重要性的大好时机，值得其他国家学习。”
潘基文还强调，“一带一路”倡议不仅对相关国家的人民有利，同时也有利于推动构建人类命运共同体。
四月，在海南召开的博鳌亚洲论坛上，中国领导人宣示了中国坚定不移深化改革、扩大开放的决心。潘基文表示，“这对中国和国际社会都具有重要意义。”
他说：“因为中国走出去不仅仅关系到中国自身，同时也为其他国家树立了榜样，带来了好处。”
原文：
BAN URGES CHINA TO INCREASE PRESENCE ON WORLD STAGE
Former UN secretary-general praises country's efforts to maintain global peace, tackle climate change and eradicate poverty
PAN MENGQI
Ban Ki-moon, former UN secretary-general, summarized China's 40 years of reform and opening-up by using one of his favorite phrases－"With great success, comes great responsibility."
He added, "It's hard to describe the phenomenal changes and development China has made with the reform and opening-up of Chinese society and the economy since 1978."
Describing China's economic achievements during the past four decades as "a miracle", Ban said that in addition to making its own people richer, the country's contribution to the world has been to set a development model for other developing nations.
He noted that in 1978, the year the policy was adopted, China's GDP accounted for just 2 percent of the global total, and many people in the country were living below the poverty line.
However, economic and social development in China has grown in leaps and bounds as a result of the policy.
According to the National Bureau of Statistics, China's GDP rose by 6.9 percent to $12.06 trillion last year, one-fifth of the global total and surpassing the United Kingdom, Germany, and Japan to retain the country's position as the world's second-largest economy. Moreover, the monthly per capita disposable income of China's urban workers rose to $5,245, 104 times higher than in 1978, while rural monthly per capita net incomes rose to $1,935 from $20.
"One of the greatest achievements of China's economic growth is that it has lifted more than 700 million people out of absolute poverty, accounting for 70 percent of global poverty reduction during the period," Ban said.
Stressing the importance of China's poverty alleviation efforts, he added that the country has also made a commitment to accept more responsibility within the international community.
Nearly two years' after leaving the UN, the 74-year-old still appreciates China's continued leadership and multilateral engagement within the organization in support of resolving regional and global challenges.
Ban held office from 2007 to 2016, and during his tenure he was a keen promoter of tackling climate change and other global challenges.
"During my two terms as UN secretary-general, I am proud to have prioritized and expanded the importance of the organization's global development efforts," he said.
In 2015, the UN and its 193 member countries passed the 2030 Agenda and its 17 sustainable development goals. Ban said the goals offer the world a way to confront the most critical issues of our time, including poverty reduction, education, inequality, climate change, improvements in public health, and gender equality.
The initiative called for "multistakeholder partnerships that mobilize and share knowledge, expertise, technology and financial resources to support the achievement of the sustainable development goals in all countries", Ban said.
He added that in the three years since the goals were adopted, progress remains uneven and some sectors and regions are moving faster than others. However, he also noted that cooperation between the UN and China has accelerated, and said the country's crucial role in advancing the goals at home and abroad is providing a better quality of life for the world.
China released its national plan for implementing the goals in 2016, which Ban said "perfectly incorporated its domestic development plan with an international commitment".
Within the goals, he said climate change is "one of the most concerning issues".
One of his earliest major initiatives at the UN was the 2007 Climate Change Conference, followed by extensive diplomatic efforts that helped put the issue at the forefront of the global agenda.
Ban said he pays a lot of attention to climate change because it is altering the Earth's character and creating dire risks and instability.
"From record-breaking heat waves and wildfires, to hurricanes and flooding of historic intensity, climate change is no longer a debate. It is clearly here right now. The extreme weather events of just the last few months alone point to a bleak and dangerous future," he noted.
"This summer, California has been engulfed in flames and smoke from historic wildfires. Intense and prolonged heat waves claimed dozens of lives in Japan and the Korean Peninsula. And near Greenland, the Arctic's thickest sea ice broke up for first time on record. These events no longer seem like anomalies; rather, they appear to be the new normal."
He added that the necessary steps should be taken to combat climate change otherwise these turbulent shifts will continue to bring dangerous scorching heat waves to cities and rural areas, which will drive displacement and seriously threaten entire communities and countries.
With this reality in mind, Ban is happy to see that many countries, including China, are stepping up collective efforts to implement the Paris climate agreement.
Ban regards the signing of the agreement as one of his most significant achievements during his tenure at the UN, and he believes that it offers scope to counter the serious threats to the planet.
The agreement, signed by nearly 200 countries in 2015, set viable targets to impede rising temperatures, constrict emissions of greenhouse gases and spur climate-resilient development and green growth.
"To achieve these goals, we need to keep working together," Ban said, adding that he is deeply disappointed that the United States has withdrawn from the agreement, and the move isolates the US from every other country in terms of climate policy.
"It is scientifically wrong and economically irresponsible, and it will be on the wrong side of history. I greatly hope that this decision is reconsidered and reversed," he said.
However, he believes that there are still many reasons for optimism.
He said China's growing climate leadership in these difficult times for the planet has the potential to positively affect the Asian region and the world at large. The country's decision to set a deadline to completely phase out sales of fossil-fuel-powered vehicles is a sterling example in this regard, he added.
Ban said he also greatly values China's contribution to UN peacekeeping pledges, adding that the country's contribution of troops for UN missions in complex and challenging environments is "a role model for other countries".
He listed China's contributions to the promotion of peace and security in Syria, Afghanistan, Myanmar, Sudan and South Sudan, and encouraged the country to remain focused on these issues.
"This not only shows that China is a peace-loving country, but it is also taking more responsibility to bring peace to other places in the world," he said.
Born in the Republic of Korea in 1944, Ban witnessed how the Korean War (1950-53) destroyed buildings, separated families and damaged economies.
"I grew up in war, and I saw the UN help my country recover and rebuild. That experience was a big part of what led me to pursue a career in public service," he said.
Established in 1945, the UN was designed to provide an international forum for the maintenance of global peace and security as the ashes of war dispersed. Although the UN had numerous critics at the time, Ban said the organization offered all nations and peoples an alternative to the bombs, guns and destruction of World War II.
Diplomacy, cooperation
"This alternative was based on the guiding belief that diplomacy and cooperation offered the international community a better way of resolving conflicts," he said. "I cherish peace, and because of this I especially cherish China's efforts to maintain peace."
He added that China's work to bring peace to the Korean Peninsula has been noted by the people of the area.
"Never in the history of the ROK and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea have we seen such an exciting process of reconciliation between the two countries," he said.
"China's efforts cannot be neglected. It has played a very important role by engaging with the DPRK leader Kim Jong-un three times this year. It's very important that Kim understands and learns from China's rapid industrialization and development through reform and opening-up. I think Pyongyang could gain a lot by opening up and engaging in the denuclearization process."
Ban has long been actively involved in issues relating to inter-Korean relations because his ties to the UN date back to 1975, when he worked for the ROK foreign ministry's UN division.
His work expanded over the years, with assignments that included serving as chairman of the preparatory commission for the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty Organization and chef de cabinet during the ROK's presidency of the UN General Assembly in 2001-02.
China's reform and opening-up had synergies with the country's due role and proper influence in the UN, Ban said, stressing that the thing he most appreciated was China's vision of "mutual prosperity and coexistence".
"My country, the Republic of Korea, is also benefiting from this Chinese philosophy," Ban said, adding that China's support was instrumental in the ROK gaining UN membership in 1991.
In April, Ban began work as chairman of the Boao Forum for Asia. He said his future career goal is to work with China and many other countries at the forum to fight more global challenges: "Our world is going through pronounced changes, and this is resulting in elevated uncertainties and new risks."
He said unilateralism and protectionism have become the main threats to the world, and while China continuously contributes to global financial and economic development, it can make a greater contribution.
"China should feel a sense of responsibility for global economic and financial development as a whole," he said, adding that the country's achievements are the result of multilateral trade liberalization, which has been the major factor in bringing about global prosperity, peace, and stability since the end of WWII.
He said he has seen more moves by China that are aimed at resisting the anti-globalization trend and deepening the country's integration with the global market. As an example, he pointed out that the first China International Import Expo, held in Shanghai last month, demonstrated the country's determination to expand opening-up and work with the international community on tough global issues.
"The expo was a great occasion to stress the importance of free trade and market liberalization, which should be learned by other countries," he said.
Ban also highlighted the Belt and Road Initiative, which will not only benefit people in participating countries but also build a community with a shared future for mankind.
At the Boao Forum for Asia in Hainan province in April, President Xi Jinping promised the nonstop continuation of reform and opening-up and a commitment to an open economy, which, according to Ban, "was significant for domestic development, as well as that of the international community".
"Because China is not going out on its own, it also sets an example for, and brings benefits to, other countries," he said.
