（中国民主党人 张兴贵）
Who Are the Real Traitors?
(By Zhang Xinggui, Member of the China Democracy Party)
编辑：胡丽莉 责任编辑：罗志飞 鲁慧文 翻译：鲁慧文
在历史的长河中，“汉奸”这个词总是带着深深的耻辱与痛楚，它指向那些背叛民族、投靠外敌的人。然而，这一定义是否足够全面？是否反映了真正对民族造成最大伤害的人群？当我们回顾历史，尤其是那些民不聊生、社会动荡的年代，会发现许多被指为“汉奸”的人，其实只是为了生存、为了家人、为了避免更大灾难而不得不作出妥协。而与此同时，那些位高权重的统治者，却往往在和平时期、掌握资源的条件下，漠视民生、剥夺百姓、出卖国家利益。
所以，我想提出一个新的判断标准：真正的汉奸，不是那些在乱世中为求生存而与外来政权合作的人，而是那些背叛人民、罔顾民生的统治者。
传统意义上，“汉奸”通常指那些在国家危难之际投靠外敌、为虎作伥的汉族人。他们因将个人利益置于民族大义之上，被历史钉上耻辱柱，成为众矢之的。然而，现实往往比标签复杂得多。许多被冠以“汉奸”之名的人，实际上是在极端环境中为求生存、保全家人、延续一方秩序而做出的艰难选择。他们可能是被剥夺权利的底层百姓，也可能是为了避免更大伤害而与外来势力妥协的地方士绅，甚至是为推动社会变革、敢于引入先进制度的先行者。他们的选择未必高尚，却也未必可耻；他们的初衷，往往不是背叛民族，而是寻找一线活路。
相比之下，那些居庙堂之高、掌握国家资源和决策权的统治者，若在和平年代却依旧漠视民生、践踏正义，才更值得警惕。他们本应守护人民的福祉，却在关键时刻背弃信任，甚至出卖国家利益。他们披着爱国的外衣，却干着祸国殃民的勾当；表面高举民族大义，实际却用腐败、压迫与无能将国家拖入泥沼。这些人或许没有明面上与敌为伍，但他们对民族根基的侵蚀、对人民利益的背叛，比那些在乱世中妥协求存的人更可耻。他们，才是真正让国家蒙羞、让百姓受难的“汉奸”。
晚清时期，某些高官面对外敌入侵，忙于割地赔款，换取一时的苟安，只为保住自己的权位与财富。这样的行为，与直接投敌何异？近现代，某些统治者口口声声喊着富国强民，却在背后压榨民脂民膏，置人民于水深火热之中，对老百姓的住房、医疗、养老、食品安全等基本民生问题不闻不问，甚至将其垄断成权贵牟利的工具。那些滥用权力、贪污腐败的官员，那些漠视民生、只顾私利的决策者，他们或许没有投靠外敌，但他们的行为却在侵蚀国家的根基，伤害人民的利益，他们让社会的不公加剧，让人民的信任流失，这难道不是另一种形式的背叛？
真正的汉奸，不一定需要举着白旗向敌人投降，他们可能正隐藏在高墙深院之中，用权力和自私蚕食着这个民族的希望。他们控制了财政资源、占用公共福利、加重平民负担，让社会撕裂加剧，这实际上比外敌入侵更具破坏性。他们对内苛政暴敛、对外慷慨输送，以图外交虚名，而受苦的始终是沉默的纳税人。这种损人利己的模式，实质就是对国家责任的背叛，他们不拿外国护照，却早已背叛了人民！这样的统治者，难道不是更可恨的“汉奸”吗？
真正的汉奸，不在于他是否与外敌合作，而在于他是否背叛了人民，是否违背了民族的根本利益。那些在夹缝中求生的普通人，那些因现实压力而不得不妥协的人，并非罪人。一个为生存而让步的人，或许有他的苦衷；一个为发展而引入外力的人，或许有他的远见。而那些身居高位、本应为民谋利却背弃责任、罔顾民生的统治者，则没有任何借口可以为自己的背叛开脱。他们才是真正令人唾弃的“汉奸”。
我们要警惕这样的“汉奸”，更要用我们的眼睛去辨别、用我们的声音去谴责、用我们的行动去改变。作为普通人，我们或许没有惊天动地的力量，但我们有良知，有责任。只有当我们每个人都站出来，哪怕只是转发一则真相，支持一次舆论监督，参与一次问责，我们就已经在瓦解这些“汉奸”赖以维持的沉默之墙，我们才能让那些背叛人民的“汉奸”无处遁形。
Who Are the Real Traitors?
(By Zhang Xinggui, Member of the China Democracy Party)
Edited by Hu Lili | Chief Editors: Luo Zhifei, Lu Huiwen | Translated by Lu Huiwen
Throughout history, the term “Hanjian”—traitor to the Han people—has carried deep shame and pain. It has referred to those who betrayed the nation and colluded with foreign enemies. But is this definition truly comprehensive? Does it reflect who actually causes the greatest harm to the nation? When we look back at history, especially during times of suffering and turmoil, we find that many of those labeled as “traitors” were merely trying to survive, protect their families, or prevent greater disasters. Meanwhile, those who held immense power often, even in times of peace and with full control over resources, ignored the people’s hardships, exploited the masses, and sold out national interests.
So, I propose a new standard of judgment: the real traitors are not those who, in chaotic times, collaborated with foreign regimes for survival, but those rulers who betray their people and disregard their well-being.
Traditionally, the label “Hanjian” has been applied to Han Chinese individuals who sided with enemy forces during national crises, placing personal gain above the greater good of the nation. They were condemned by history and became the target of universal scorn. Yet reality is often more complex than labels. Many so-called traitors were in fact ordinary people stripped of rights, local gentry forced to compromise to prevent greater harm, or reformers who dared to introduce advanced systems. Their choices may not have been noble, but they were not necessarily shameful. Their motives were often not betrayal, but the pursuit of a sliver of survival.
In contrast, those who sat in palaces of power—holding national resources and the reins of decision-making—yet still turned a blind eye to the people’s needs and trampled justice during peaceful times, are the ones we must truly be wary of. They were entrusted to protect the people’s welfare, yet betrayed that trust at crucial moments—even selling out the country’s interests. Cloaked in patriotic rhetoric, they engaged in acts that harmed the nation and its people. They proclaimed loyalty to the nation, but their corruption, repression, and incompetence dragged the country into decline. These individuals may not have openly joined foreign enemies, but their erosion of national foundations and betrayal of the public interest is more disgraceful than those who compromised to survive. They are the ones who truly bring shame to the nation and suffering to the people.
In the late Qing dynasty, some high officials, facing foreign invasions, scrambled to cede territory and pay reparations in exchange for temporary peace, just to preserve their own positions and wealth. How is this any different from directly siding with invaders? In more recent times, some rulers have chanted slogans of enriching the nation and empowering the people, while secretly exploiting the public, driving citizens into hardship. They turn basic needs—housing, healthcare, pensions, food safety—into profit machines for the elite. These officials who abuse power and ignore public welfare may not have colluded with foreign enemies, but their actions corrode the nation from within and injure the people profoundly. They intensify social injustice, erode public trust—is that not also a form of betrayal?
True traitors don’t need to raise a white flag to surrender—they may hide behind high walls, using power and selfishness to consume the nation’s hope. They control fiscal resources, monopolize public benefits, and deepen the burden on ordinary people, fueling social fragmentation. This internal harm is sometimes more destructive than foreign invasion. They impose harsh rule at home while making generous concessions abroad, all for empty diplomatic clout—yet it’s always the silent taxpayers who suffer. This kind of self-serving governance is a betrayal of national duty.
They may not hold foreign passports, but they have long since betrayed their own people. Are such rulers not even more contemptible traitors?
A real “Hanjian” is not defined by whether they cooperated with foreign enemies, but by whether they betrayed their people and violated the fundamental interests of the nation. Those ordinary people surviving in the margins, those who compromised out of pressure—are not criminals. A person who yields to survive may have his reasons. One who invites foreign resources for development may have vision. But those in high positions, entrusted with public duty, who abandon that duty and ignore the people’s needs, have no excuse. Their betrayal is inexcusable. They are the true traitors worthy of public contempt.
We must be vigilant of such traitors. More importantly, we must use our eyes to discern them, our voices to condemn them, and our actions to resist them. As ordinary citizens, we may lack overwhelming power, but we possess conscience—and responsibility. Every time we stand up, even if it’s just sharing a piece of truth, supporting a media outlet, or joining in public accountability—we are already dismantling the wall of silence that these traitors depend on. Only then can we ensure that those who betray the people have nowhere to hide.
