“华盛顿邮报”八月三日北京消息，记者约翰·普菲报道：

Attacked by China's conservatives for abandoning Marxism and criticized by liberals for failing to launch political reform, President Jiang Zemin by any measure should feel embattled.(中国国家主席江泽民现在正面临左右两派的强烈攻击。强硬派批评江泽民放弃了马克思主义理论，自由派攻击江泽民政治改革失败。)

Jokes about his paunch, love life and a clunky poem he recently published on the front page of China's biggest daily newspaper have reached critical mass. He is the subject of snickers throughout Chinese society.(江泽民的臭事、糜烂性生活和发表在中国最大报纸上的蹩脚诗被当成笑话一样在中国社会广为流传。江泽民成了中国百姓谈话中的笑柄。)

Jiang took power in 1989 following the crackdown on student-led protests around Tiananmen Square. At the time, he was considered a transitional figure, called a "weather vane" and a "flower pot." Many predicted that he would be booted from the scene.(江泽民于1989年天安门血腥屠杀学生民主运动之后登基，当时被人们戏称为“风咕噜车”weather vane和花瓶flower pot)

In late May, he published a clunky poem, "Feelings on Climbing Huang Mountain," a popular tourist destination, on the front page of the Communist Party's mouthpiece, the People's Daily. The poem was included immediately in a textbook for students from Shanghai, the first time since the days of Chairman Mao Zedong that students will study the poetry of a living Chinese leader.(今年五月底，江泽民发表臭诗“登黄山偶感”，发表在党内最大的喉舌报纸“人民日报”上。随即这首诗被收入了上海小学生的课本教材中。这是自毛泽东时代后，上海小学生第一次能够学到活着的领导人的诗词。)

Late last month, Deng Liqun, an 87-year-old former top party official, and 14 other retired senior party members and military officers issued the letter attacking Jiang's decision, according to sources close to two of the signatories.By not first obtaining a resolution from a party congress on this matter, the letter said, Jiang "violated party discipline" and sparked "confusion" in the minds of many party members. It predicted the decision could lead to the collapse of the party and raised the specter of the Soviet Union's collapse. It also called on Jiang to conduct a "self-criticism." (据知情人透露，上月底，87岁的中共高层干部邓力群和其他14名退休老干部联名写信给江泽民，攻击江泽民的政策。指责江泽民违反党纪，未经政协同意，擅自发表不负责任的言论，引起党内的极大混乱。并指出，江泽民的决策将导致中共土崩瓦解，重蹈苏联的覆辄。这批中共老干部强烈要求江泽民做自我检讨。)

唉，怎么就够不着？再努把劲抬一抬兴许比他俩还高！

For the past year, Jiang's subordinates have attempted to elevate his ideas to the status of a doctrine so that Jiang can join "Mao Zedong Thought" and "Deng Xiaoping Theory" in the pantheon of Chinese revolutionary thought. "Like others, I am not overwhelmed at the intellectual content of this idea," said Joe Fewsmith, a Boston University expert on Chinese politics, "but I do see it as making a very important point: If the party does not change, it will end up like other Communist parties ━ gone." (从去年起，江泽民的爪牙曾一再企图将江泽民的理论抬高到“毛泽东思想”与“邓小平理论”一样的高度。对此，美国波士顿大学的一名中国政治问题专家乔·菲尔斯评论说“跟别人一样，我不认为江的理论有什么高度。我看不出江泽民的理论有什么重要性。相反，如果中共再一意孤行，就逃不过所有共产国家破灭的下场！”)

But Jiang has also disappointed the liberal wing of the Communist Party. Before the July 1 speech, a group of senior liberals, including Du Runsheng, a former close associate of purged party secretary Zhao Ziyang, sent Jiang a report, urging him to mention the need to allow more democracy in China, Chinese sources said. (江泽民还面临着党内自由派的压力。据中国消息，七一讲话前，包括杜润生(前党书记赵紫阳的幕僚)在内的中共自由派高层向江泽民提交了一份报告，严正提出民主中国的要求。)

Ever since the crackdown against the group began in July 1999, smashing Falun Gong has become Jiang's particular obsession, despite doubts expressed by some of his colleagues. (自一九九九年七月镇压法轮功以来，法轮功成了江泽民的心腹大患，尽管江泽民一意孤行镇压法轮功的决定没有得到党内其他同僚的支持)

In the end, said Cheng Li, an expert on China's leadership transition process, Jiang will probably be moved from the stage by younger party officials. "He certainly wants to hang around," he said, "but more capable younger leaders, including some of his own aides, will push him aside in a few years." (最后，一名署名陈力的研究中共高层决策的专家指出，江泽民也许会被下一代更年轻的接班人所挤出历史的舞台。他说“江泽民肯定还想赖着不走，但更年富力强的领导班子将会在几年之内把江泽民踢出去。”

“人民报编译组”8月3日编译