经济学人234:伦敦大使馆 招人嫉妒的大使馆

 　　London embassies

　　伦敦大使馆

　　Envoy¹ envy

　　招人嫉妒的大使馆

　　Embassies in London are worth a lot of money

　　伦敦的大使馆价值不菲

　　IN 2009 America sold its embassy in fashionable Grosvenor Square for a reported ￡500m ($800m) to Qatar's sovereign wealth fund. By 2017 its new embassy should be ready in gritty Vauxhall. The details of embassies' ownership or leaseholds² are not known, but a new survey has created a sort of “fantasy embassy valuation”, estimating how other nations could be cashing in.

　　2009年，美国以媒体报道的5亿英镑（8亿美元）向卡塔尔主权财富基金出售了其位于时尚的格罗夫纳广场的大使馆。美国在地表多沙的沃克斯豪尔（位于英国伦敦南部）的新使馆也将于2017年建成。使馆所有权和使用权的细节都不为人所知，但是一项新调查却创造了一种“大使馆估算体系”，以此来评估其他国家如何赚得个盆满钵盈。

　　伦敦大使馆.jpg

　　The report, by Spear's, a magazine, and Lichfields, a buying agent, suggests that the embassies of Japan, Germany and Saudi Arabia could be worth more than ￡100m each (assuming they were sold as residential³ freeholds). More surprisingly, the Nepalese embassy and Zambian high commission, both in Kensington, are worth ￡30m and ￡40m respectively. Many members of the British Commonwealth⁴ gained locations in central London decades ago: Uganda, Zimbabwe and Tanzania have swanky central digs that would fetch a fortune.

　　Spear杂志和买方代理商Lichfields的一项报告声称，日本、德国和沙特阿拉伯大使馆的价值可能超过1亿英镑/一座（如果他们把大使馆作为住宅不动产来出售的话）。更令人惊讶的是，位于肯辛顿的尼泊尔大使馆和赞比亚高级专员公署，分别价值3亿英镑和4亿英镑。早在数十年前，就有许多英联邦成员在伦敦中心占有一席之地：乌干达、津巴布韦和坦桑尼亚在伦敦中心地带都有房产，都可以大赚一笔。

　　Some are already liquidating⁵ their assets. Canada sold the long lease on Macdonald House, its consular⁶ section in Grosvenor Square, for ￡306m last year. The Dutch embassy on Hyde Park Gate is for sale and could fetch ￡150m. The Chinese may sell their embassy in Portland Place and search for a new site, perhaps also in Vauxhall.

　　有些国家甚至已经开始清算他们的资产。加拿大去年以3.06亿英镑的价格出售了麦克唐纳大厦的长期租赁权，麦克唐纳大厦是加拿大在格罗夫纳广场的领事处。荷兰位于海德公园大门的大使馆也在出售，可能会卖到1.5亿英镑。中国也打算卖掉其在波特兰的大使馆，正为新使馆寻找一个合适的地址，或许也是在沃克斯豪尔。

　　The cheapest embassy appears to be North Korea's semi-detached house in Gunnersbury. But least proportionate to national wealth could be the consulate⁷ of Tuvalu, based in a ￡750,000 property in Wimbledon. If sold, it could pay off 11% of the tiny state's national debt.

　　最便宜的大使馆似乎是朝鲜在根拿斯贝利的半独立式房屋。但与国民财富最不相当的要数图瓦卢的领事馆了，位于温布尔登，价值75万英镑。如果出售，所卖得的钱就可以偿还这个小国家国家债务的11%。

1 envoy   

n.使节，使者，代表，公使

参考例句：

• Their envoy showed no sign of responding to our proposals.他们的代表对我方的提议毫无回应的迹象。
• The government has not yet appointed an envoy to the area.政府尚未向这一地区派过外交官。

2 leaseholds   

n.租赁权，租赁期，租赁物( leasehold的名词复数 )

参考例句：

3 residential   

adj.提供住宿的；居住的；住宅的

参考例句：

• The mayor inspected the residential section of the city.市长视察了该市的住宅区。
• The residential blocks were integrated with the rest of the college.住宿区与学院其他部分结合在了一起。

4 commonwealth   

n.共和国，联邦，共同体

参考例句：

• He is the chairman of the commonwealth of artists.他是艺术家协会的主席。
• Most of the members of the Commonwealth are nonwhite.英联邦的许多成员国不是白人国家。

5 liquidating   

v.清算( liquidate的现在分词 )；清除（某人）；清偿；变卖

参考例句：

• Liquidating collateral is clearly a second best source of repayment. Why? 抵押品显然并不是获得贷款偿还的最佳方法。为什么？ 来自互联网
• There are often costs and inconvenience associated with liquidating other assets. 这些资产变现时总须花费，也不方便。 来自互联网

6 consular   

a.领事的

参考例句：

• He has rounded out twenty years in the consular service. 他在领事馆工作已整整20年了。
• Consular invoices are declarations made at the consulate of the importing country. 领事发票是进口国领事馆签发的一种申报书。

7 consulate   

n.领事馆

参考例句：

• The Spanish consulate is the large white building opposite the bank.西班牙领事馆是银行对面的那栋高大的白色建筑物。
• The American consulate was a magnificent edifice in the centre of Bordeaux.美国领事馆是位于波尔多市中心的一座宏伟的大厦。