伦敦，10月30日——自2022年以来，查尔斯国王已对奴隶制造成的苦难表达了悲痛，但并未跨越英国长期以来坚决抵制的一条红线：道歉。
LONDON, Oct 30 - King Charles has since 2022 expressed sorrow for the suffering caused by slavery without crossing a line that Britain has long resisted: an apology.
这种平衡术预计将在下周于安提瓜和巴布达举行的英联邦峰会上接受考验，届时支持通过加勒比共同体（CARICOM）推动赔偿运动的加勒比领导人预计将提出他们的主张。
That balancing act is likely to be tested at next week's Commonwealth summit in Antigua and Barbuda, where Caribbean leaders who back a reparations campaign through the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) are expected to press their case.
白金汉宫已表明，查尔斯不会代表英国道歉，英国一再排除就其在跨大西洋奴隶贸易中的角色进行经济赔偿的可能性。
Buckingham Palace has indicated Charles would not apologise on behalf of Britain, which has repeatedly ruled out financial reparations over its role in the transatlantic slave trade.
查尔斯周二在巴哈马发表讲话，为周日开始的英联邦政府首脑会议铺垫，他说，“只有承认过去巨大的苦难和不公，才是正确的”，并表示受影响国家的领导人将在峰会上讨论这一问题。
Speaking in the Bahamas on Tuesday ahead of a Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting that begins on Sunday, Charles said it was "only right that we should acknowledge the great suffering and injustices of the past," and said leaders from affected countries would discuss the issue at the summit.
但巴哈马国家赔偿委员会主席尼亚姆比·霍尔·坎贝尔-迪恩表示，这还远远不够。她在一份声明中说：“我们不需要更多关于疗愈的精心措辞。我们需要与所造成伤害规模相称的行动。”君主制的宪法制约从15世纪到19世纪，根据跨大西洋奴隶贸易数据库，至少有1250万非洲人被欧洲贩子绑架并贩卖为奴，英国运送了估计320万人穿越大西洋，使其成为最大的贩奴国家之一。
But Niambi Hall Campbell-Dean, chair of the Bahamas' National Reparations Committee, said that did not go far enough. "We do not need more carefully crafted words about healing," she said in a statement. "We need action equal with the scale of the harm inflicted."
萨塞克斯大学历史学家艾伦·莱斯特的研究涵盖奴隶制和帝国的遗产，他说，赔偿运动的反对者已经“成功地将赔偿仅仅意味着开一张支票这一观念武器化”，而这一观念是极少西方政府能够容忍的。
MONARCHY'S CONSTITUTIONAL CONSTRAINTS From the 15th to the 19th century, at least 12.5 million Africans were abducted and sold into slavery by European traders, with Britain transporting an estimated 3.2 million people across the Atlantic, making it one of the biggest slave-trading nations, according to the Transatlantic Slave Trade Database.
相反，加勒比地区领导人往往以债务减免、发展融资、教育和医疗以及气候韧性来表述他们的诉求，他们称这些措施将解决根植于奴隶制和殖民主义的不平等。
Alan Lester, a University of Sussex historian whose research spans the legacies of slavery and empire, said opponents of the reparations movement had "successfully weaponised" the idea that reparations simply meant writing a cheque, an idea that few Western governments will countenance.
白金汉宫曾在2023年表示，查尔斯支持一项研究，该研究正在考察君主制与奴隶制的关联。此前《卫报》报道了一份显示存在历史关联的文件。
Instead, Caribbean leaders often frame their demands in terms of debt relief, development finance, education, healthcare and climate resilience, measures they say would address inequalities rooted in slavery and colonialism. Buckingham Palace said in 2023 that Charles had given his support to research that was examining the monarchy's links to slavery after the Guardian newspaper reported on a document showing a historical connection.
在更近期的一项发现中，独立研究员德西蕾·巴普蒂斯特对路透社表示，她即将出版的著作《乔治四世、帝国与威望之物》将引用英国上议院文件及其他英国政府记录，这些材料显示，来自被奴役者劳动所得的利润为乔治四世委托制作的家具和装饰作品提供了资金，这些物品置于王室住所中。白金汉宫未立即回应就这些发现置评的请求。
In a more recent finding, independent researcher Desiree Baptiste told Reuters her forthcoming book, "George IV, Empire, and Objects of Prestige," would cite House of Lords papers and other British government records showing that profits derived from enslaved labour helped fund furniture and decorative work commissioned by George IV at royal residences. Buckingham Palace did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the findings.
“我认为国王查尔斯三世处境艰难，因为你可以对某事表达悲痛，但道歉的意义要深远得多，”王室评论员阿富阿·哈根说。
"I think King Charles III is in a difficult position because you can express sorrow about something, but an apology goes much further," royal commentator Afua Hagan said.