In the 50 shades of diplomatic speak, the word “accommodation” is only slightly less stinging than that other A-word: “appeasement”. Last week, a senior US official rebuked the UK for its “constant accommodation” of China. London had agreed to be a member of a Beijing-led infrastructure bank that some fear could one day challenge a US-led World Bank. The implication is that other concessions have been made. A deal not to meet the Dalai Lama here. A soft-pedalling on Hong Kong democracy there. “We are wary about a trend toward constant accommodation of China, which is not the best way to engage a rising power,” the official said.
在50套外交辭令中，「accommodation」（遷就）這個詞令人不快的程度僅略次於另一個A開頭的詞「appeasement」（綏靖）。最近，一名美國高級官員指責英國「不斷遷就」中國。英國已同意加入中國領導的亞洲基礎設施投資銀行（簡稱亞投行），有些人害怕該行有朝一日將挑戰美國主導的世界銀行(World Bank)。這番指責的言下之意是：英國已在其他方面做了許多讓步，比如同意不再會見達賴喇嘛(Dalai Lama)，在香港民主問題上軟化立場。「我們很擔心這一不斷遷就中國的趨勢，這不是與一個崛起中的大國打交道的最佳方法，」這名官員表示。
