英联邦是什么？查尔斯三世前往加勒比海地区出席会议之际的指南英国国王查尔斯三世将前往主持一场汇聚50多个国家领导人的会议。
What’s the Commonwealth? A Guide as King Charles Heads to the Caribbean. King Charles III is traveling to host a meeting of the leaders of more than 50 nations.
本周，英国国王查尔斯和王后卡米拉将前往加勒比海地区。在那里，国王将召集50多个国家的领导人，举行被称为“英联邦”的组织的两年一度会议。
King Charles and Queen Camilla of Britain are traveling to the Caribbean this week. There, the king will bring together the leaders of more than 50 nations for the biennial meeting of an organization known as the Commonwealth.
但英联邦究竟是什么？它是如何起步的？成员有哪些？它的职能是什么？以下是您需要了解的内容：帝国的残余 英联邦诞生于大英帝国解体之际，当时遍布全球的殖民地纷纷宣称独立。
But what is the Commonwealth? How did it get started? Who are its members? And what does it do? Here’s what to know: Remnants of an empire The Commonwealth of Nations was born during the disintegration of the British Empire, as far-flung colonies asserted independence.
它最初创建于1926年的帝国会议，当时由英国统治的国家以及拥有半独立地位的国家宣布，它们都是平等的成员——不受英国统治——但同意仍效忠英国君主。
It was first created at the 1926 Imperial Conference, where nations ruled by Britain and those with semi-independent status declared that they were all equal members — not ruled by the United Kingdom — but agreed that they still owed allegiance to the British monarch.
现代英联邦始于1949年，即印度——英国最大的前殖民地——宣布脱离王冠独立两年后。在伦敦举行的会议上，英国和其他国家的领导人同意允许任何国家加入英联邦，包括那些不再效忠英国国王或女王的国家。
The modern-day Commonwealth dates to 1949, two years after India, Britain’s largest former colony, declared independence from the crown. Meeting in London, the leaders of Britain and other nations agreed to allow membership in the Commonwealth to any country, including those that no longer pledged allegiance to the British king or queen.
根据《伦敦宣言》，英联邦元首由成员国选出，而非世袭。尽管如此，该组织的首任领导人是查尔斯的祖父乔治六世。他在去世后由查尔斯的母亲伊丽莎白二世女王继任，随后又由查尔斯国王继任。然而，2022年，英国王位继承人威廉王子似乎暗示他可能不会成为该组织的下一任领导人，他说：“英联邦选择谁来领导这个大家庭，不是我心中所想的事。”
Under the London Declaration, the head of the Commonwealth is chosen by its members, rather than inheriting the title. Still, the group’s first leader was King George VI, Charles’s grandfather. He was succeeded upon his death by Queen Elizabeth II, Charles’s mother, and she was succeeded by King Charles. However, in 2022, Prince William, the heir to the British throne, seemed to suggest he might not be the group’s next leader, saying: “Who the Commonwealth chooses to lead its family in the future isn’t what is on my mind.”
成员国 目前英联邦共有56个成员国，其中包括莫桑比克、卢旺达、加蓬和多哥这四个从未与大英帝国有过关联的国家。否则，它可以被分为两大类。
Member countries There are 56 countries in the Commonwealth now, including four — Mozambique, Rwanda, Gabon and Togo — that were never connected to the British Empire. Otherwise, it can be divided into two broad groups.
英国以外有14个国家承认英国国王或女王为礼仪性国家元首，这使它们在象征意义上成为君主制的臣民。它们不受英国统治，拥有自己的政府。其中最大的是加拿大、澳大利亚和新西兰。有几个位于加勒比地区，包括牙买加和巴哈马。
Fourteen nations outside the United Kingdom recognize the British king or queen as their ceremonial head of state, making them, symbolically, subjects of the monarchy. They are not ruled by Britain and they have their own governments. The largest of these are Canada, Australia and New Zealand. Several are in the Caribbean, including Jamaica and the Bahamas.
另有41个国家是成员国，但不承认英国君主为国家元首。其中一些国家有自己的国王或女王。它们包括非洲的近二十几个国家，以及亚洲、太平洋、欧洲和美洲的几个国家。“骇人听闻的暴行”在最近的几次英联邦会议上，一些国家的领导人主张，英国应当向被大英帝国奴役者的后代支付赔偿。
Forty-one other countries are members without recognizing the British monarch as their head of state. Some have kings or queens of their own. They include nearly two dozen countries in Africa and several in Asia, the Pacific, Europe and the Americas. An ‘appalling atrocity’At several recent meetings of the Commonwealth, the leaders of some nations have argued that Britain should pay reparations to the descendants of people who were enslaved by the British Empire.
巴巴多斯总理米娅·莫特利是要求赔偿呼声最高的人之一，她主张英国应当为剥削奴隶承担责任。其他人则主张，英国应当向相关国家而非个人提供经济赔偿，以此为其在跨大西洋奴隶贸易中扮演的主要角色道歉。
Mia Mottley, the prime minister of Barbados, has been one of the loudest voices for reparations, arguing that Britain should be held accountable for the exploitation of slaves. Others have argued that Britain should provide financial reparations to the countries involved, rather than to individuals, as a way of apologizing for its major role in the trans-Atlantic slave trade.
英国政府迄今拒绝任何形式的经济赔偿或作出正式道歉。查尔斯国王承认了他所称的“骇人听闻的奴隶制暴行”，但他的宪政角色使他不能背离政府的官方政策，这意味着除非政府要求，他不能代表英国道歉。退出王国？
The British government has so far rejected any form of financial reparations or the giving of an official apology. King Charles has acknowledged what he has called the “appalling atrocity of slavery,” but his constitutional role prevents him from diverging from official government policy, meaning he cannot apologize on behalf of Britain unless the government asks him to. Leaving the realm?
在一些英联邦国家中，另一场持续进行的辩论是是否退出王国，采用不效忠英国君主制的共和制政府形式。
The other ongoing debate among some Commonwealth countries is whether to leave the realm and adopt a republican form of government with no allegiance to the British monarchy.
安提瓜和巴布达总理加斯顿·布朗表示，他的国家应在三年内就此问题举行公投。安提瓜和巴布达是今年英联邦会议的举办地。
Prime Minister Gaston Browne of Antigua and Barbuda, where this year’s Commonwealth meeting will be held, said in 2022 that his country should hold a referendum on the issue within three years.
该投票尚未举行，总理最近表示他不确定国家是否已准备好。巴巴多斯议会于2021年投票决定成为共和国，断绝与英国王室的联系。
That vote has yet to take place, and the prime minister has said more recently that he is not sure the country is yet ready. The Barbados Parliament voted in 2021 to become a republic, severing its ties with the British crown.
在牙买加，该国立法机构于2024年提出了一项法案，将该国转变为共和制政府形式，并断绝与英国君主制的联系。
In Jamaica, a bill was introduced in the country’s legislature in 2024 that would shift the country to a republican form of government and cut ties with the monarchy in Britain.
一份冗长的公报 英联邦本身对其成员国没有正式的权威。但它确实阐述了其共同的价值观，通常是在每两年一次的英联邦政府首脑会议（称为“英联邦峰会”）结束时发布的一份冗长声明中。
A long communiqué The Commonwealth itself has no formal authority over its member countries. But it does lay out its shared values, typically in a long statement issued at the end of the Commonwealth heads of government meeting — known as “Chogm” — every two years.
在2024年萨摩亚会议之后，发布了一份16页的公报，承诺支持世界和平、改善医疗保健、环境、法治和人权。
After the meeting in Samoa in 2024, it issued a 16-page communiqué, pledging support for world peace, better health care, the environment, the rule of law and human rights.
该组织没有做的是对当前世界事件发表评论。公报中没有提及乌克兰、俄罗斯、伊朗或中东，也没有提及世界上大多数其他冲突。
What the group did not do was weigh in on current events around the world. There was no mention of Ukraine, Russia, Iran or the Middle East, or of most other conflicts around the world.
英联邦的批评者近年来一直认为，其缺乏权力和权威使其成为一个几乎毫无意义的国际机构，应该进行改革甚至被放弃。支持者认为，它可以成为动荡世界中的指导来源，并使小国和中等强国能够接触和沟通大国。
Critics of the Commonwealth have argued in recent years that its lack of power or authority has rendered it a largely meaningless international institution that should be reformed or even abandoned. Supporters argue that it can be a source of guidance in a volatile world and allows small countries and middle powers access to and communication with larger countries.
迈克尔·D·谢尔是《纽约时报》驻英国首席记者，负责报道英国政治、文化以及世界各地的外交事务。
Michael D. Shear is the chief U.K. correspondent for The New York Times, covering British politics and culture and diplomacy around the world.