收到美国驻香港总领事的邮件，他在评论中描述了美国的外交官们对于维基解密的看法，并有很多坦诚的评论，再次转发如下：                                       子非

美國駐香港總領事楊甦棣

奥巴马總统和希拉里國務卿一直把重新为美國與世界各國的關係注入活力作为一项重点工作。與亞洲展開全面互動 - 包括香港和澳門 -更是重點中的重點。他们努力争取加强我们已有的伙伴關係並营建新的伙伴關係，以應对我们所共同面临的气候变化、结束核武器的威胁、疾病和贫穷等一系列挑战。作為美國驻香港總領事，能为此盡一份力，令我深感自豪。香港和澳門在基本法的框架內成功實施“一國兩制” 對美國有長遠的利益。我們彼此有很多共同的利益﹐在執法和跨境議題等廣泛領域內密切合作﹐同時也加強彼此之間的文化和教育方面的交流。

当然，即使是一种很牢固的關係也会出现波折起伏。近幾天来，媒体大量报道的據称是从美國國防部电脑中下载的文件，就使我们就看到了這种情况。這些文件看似包含我國外交官對於政策、谈判和各國政府首脑的评估，包括他们与其他政府的官员和外界人士的私人谈话记录的报告。我不能担保這些文件中任何一份的真實性。但我可以说，美國對於任何本应保密的资料的泄露深感遗憾﹐我们強烈谴责這种泄密行為。外交官们必须與他们的同事進行坦率的討論，他们必须能够确信這些討論不会被公開。政府内部和政府之间的坦诚對話是國際關係中的基本交涉原则之一，是我们维护和平、安全与國際稳定的努力所不可或缺的。我相信，香港駐美國的代表一定也會同意這一點。他们同样也需要能够與华盛顿的同事们坦率交换意见，並把對美國領導人、政策和行動的評估送回這裡。

我确信﹕有常識的人都能明白外交官员的内部报告並不代表一个政府的官方外交政策。在美國，它们只是影响最终由總统和國務卿制定的有关政策的诸多因素之一。而這些政策最終都是公共资料，美國國務院把成千上萬頁的講話、聲明、白皮書等资料通过互聯網和其他渠道公之於眾。

而我們與各國政府之间的關係並不是唯一令人担心的問題。派駐在世界各地的美國外交官與当地人權工作者、記者、宗教领袖和其他非政府人员会面，聽取他们個人的坦率见解。這些談話也都基於彼此之間的信任和保密。如果有反腐败活動人士告發官员的渎职行為，或社工提供揭露性暴力的资料，暴露這些人的身份便可能造成导致他们遭到监禁、酷刑甚至杀害的嚴重後果。

维基解密網站（WikiLeaks) 聲稱拥有约25萬份機密文件，其中许多已經向媒体公佈。無論他們的動機如何，公佈這些材料顯然對一些具體人士 - 包括那些勇敢地站出來反對濫權和為保護他人而大聲疾呼的人們 - 構成切實的危險。意在触動当權者的行為可能反爾会危及無權無势者。我们支持並愿意對緊迫的公共政策問題展開坦誠的辯論。但是，魯莽草率﹑不計後果地公佈文件，並不是開展這種辯論應有的方式。。

 美國政府致力於維護我们外交通訊的安全性，並正在採取步骤确保其保密性。我们正在积极努力，确保此类泄密行為不再發生。我们也将繼續致力於加强與香港和澳門的伙伴關係，並在事关雙邊關係的重要問題上取得進展。我们必須做到這些。我和領事館的同事們將繼續維護我們與香港和澳門特區政府的同行之間以及和整個社會各個層面的真誠﹑有建設性的接觸。奥巴马總统、希拉里國務卿和我本人都將繼續致力於成为值得信赖的合作伙伴，努力为所有人建设一个更美好、更繁荣的世界。(完)

 (譯文僅供參考)

OP-ED BY U.S. CONSUL GENERAL STEPHEN M. YOUNG

President Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton have made it a priority to reinvigorate America’s relationships around the world. Intensive engagement with Asia, including Hong Kong and Macau, has been high on that list. They have been working hard to strengthen our existing partnerships and build new ones to meet shared challenges, from climate change to ending the threat of nuclear weapons to fighting disease and poverty. As the United States Consul General to Hong Kong and Macau, I’m proud to be part of this effort. My government has enduring interests in the success of “one country, two systems” under the Basic Law in both SARs. We share many common interests and cooperate as close partners on a wide range of law enforcement and transnational issues, as well as jointly fostering cultural and educational exchanges.

Of course, even a solid relationship will have its ups and downs. We have seen that in the past few days, when documents purportedly downloaded from U.S. Defense Department computers became the subject of reports in the media. They appear to contain our diplomats’ assessments of policies, negotiations, and leaders from countries around the world including reports on private conversations with people inside and outside other governments.

I cannot vouch for the authenticity of any one of these documents. But I can say that the United States deeply regrets -- and strongly condemns -- the disclosure of any information that was intended to be confidential. Diplomats must engage in frank discussions with their colleagues, and they must be assured that these discussions will remain private. Honest dialogue—within governments and between them—is part of the basic bargain of international relations; we couldn’t maintain peace, security, and international stability without it. I’m sure that Hong Kong’s representatives in the United States would say the same thing. They too depend on being able to exchange honest opinions with their counterparts in Washington and send home their assessments of America’s leaders, policies, and actions.

I do believe that people of good faith recognize that diplomats’ internal reports do not represent a government’s official foreign policy. In the United States, they are one of many elements that shape our policies, which are ultimately set by the President and the Secretary of State. Those policies are a matter of public record, the subject of thousands of pages of speeches, statements, white papers, and other documents that the State Department makes freely available online and elsewhere.

But relations between governments aren’t the only concern. U.S. diplomats around the world meet with local human rights workers, journalists, religious leaders, and others outside the government who offer their own candid insights. These conversations depend on trust and confidentiality as well. If an anti-corruption activist shares information about official misconduct, or a social worker passes along documentation of sexual violence, revealing that person’s identity could have serious repercussions: imprisonment, torture, even death.

The owners of the WikiLeaks website claim to possess some 250,000 classified documents, many of which have been released to the media. Whatever their motives are in publishing these documents, it is clear that releasing these documents poses real risks to real people, including some who have courageously chosen to speak out against abuse or to protect others. An act intended to provoke the powerful may instead imperil the powerless. We support and are willing to have genuine debates about pressing questions of public policy. But releasing documents recklessly and without regard for the consequences is not the way to start such a debate.

For our part, the U.S. government is committed to maintaining the security of our diplomatic communications and is taking steps to make sure they are kept in confidence. We are moving aggressively to make sure this kind of breach does not happen again. And we will continue to work to strengthen our partnership with Hong Kong and Macau and make progress on the issues that are important to our relationship. We can’t afford anything less. I and my staff will continue to maintain the cordial and productive contacts we enjoy with our colleagues in the Hong Kong and Macau SAR Governments, as well as with the full range of people and organizations within these two dynamic societies. President Obama, Secretary Clinton, and I remain committed to being trusted partners as we seek to build a better, more prosperous world for everyone.