The people of Yap, a flyspeck of an island in the western Pacific, learned long ago how to make money the hard way: They carved giant stone currency and ferried it across miles of open ocean in canoes. 雅浦是西太平洋上一个巴掌大的岛屿。岛上的人很早就懂得怎样老老实实地“钻钱”：他们在数百英里外的地方雕出巨大的石头币，然后用独木舟穿越大洋运回来。

These days, islanders are split over how to make money in a global economy─and in particular what to do with a tide of Chinese money that is now washing up on these remote shores. 如今，在这座方圆39平方英里（约合101平方公里）的火山岩构成的小岛上，岛民们对这样一个问题产生了分歧：在国际化的经济环境中，该怎样赚钱？特别是在中国资金的浪潮冲刷这些偏远海岸之际，又该怎么做？

Deng Hong, a Chinese real estate developer, envisions a billion-dollar, 4,000-room casino-and-golf resort that he promises would boost the island's economic output to $200 million a year, from $50 million. 中国房地产开发商邓鸿设想在这里建一个耗资10亿美元、拥有4,000个房间的度假村，兼具赌场和高尔夫球场功能。他许诺，这个项目将把岛上的年度经济产值从5,000万美元提高到两亿美元。

But residents of this 39-square-mile patch of volcanic rock worry whether what they will get is worth what they will give up. Chinese tourists and imported workers would double Yap's population, and the project would require some Yapese to leave their thatch-roofed, ancestral villages along the coast to live in apartments provided by developers to make room for the resort. 但居民们担心他们所得的东西能否补足他们将会放弃的东西。中国游客和岛外劳工的涌入将使雅浦人口翻番，项目还需要部分雅浦人离开他们世世代代居住的海岸茅草屋村庄，搬到开发商提供的楼房里，为度假村让出地盘。

'Yapese are not as aggressive as Chinese coming with lots of money,' said Henry Falan, the speaker of Yap's 10-man legislature, which has passed laws trying to block the project. 'I don't see much future in subjugating ourselves on our own island,' 雅浦10人议会的议长亨利•法兰(Henry Falan)说：“雅浦人不像携带大量资金前来的中国人那样强势。我觉得在自己的土地上臣服，是没有多大前途的。”这个议会已经通过了旨在封杀该项目的法律。

Still, even project opponents agree that Yap─with a population of 11,000─must learn self-sufficiency. The island has long relied on U.S. aid, which is scheduled to end in 2023. 但是，就连项目的反对者也都承认，人口1.1万的雅浦必须实现自给。这座小岛长期依赖于美国的援助，而按计划，美国的援助将在2023年结束。

Seized by Japan in 1915, Yap became a U.S. protectorate after World War II and gained independence in 1986, as part of the Federated States of Micronesia. Since then, in return for military dominion over the area, the U.S. has provided annual subsidies that account for 70% of public spending on Yap. In 2011, the island's share of the American subsidy to the FSM was $15.5 million. 雅浦于1915年被日本占领，第二次世界大战之后成为美国的附属地，然后在1986年作为密克罗尼西亚联邦的一部分实现独立。从那时候起，作为对该地区实施军事管治的补偿，美国每年都提供补贴，补贴金额占到雅浦公共开支的七成。2011年，在美国对密国提供的补贴中，雅浦获得的部分为1,550万美元。

'Yap has to do something,' said Gov. Sebastian Anefal during the signing of a development agreement with Mr. Deng last summer. 雅浦州州长塞巴斯蒂安•安尼法尔(Sebastian Anefal)去年夏天在跟邓鸿签署开发协议的时候表示：“雅浦必须有所作为。”

The American money on Yap supports a languorous blend of modern life─cellphones, cars, prepared foods─and an easygoing island culture that has survived some 3,000 years on the bounty of fish-filled waters, rain forests and the mild narcotic pleasures of the betel nut, which is still widely used. 用在雅浦岛上的美国资金，支撑起一种怡然自得的现代方式生活──手机，汽车，预制食品，以及一种雍容懒散的岛屿文化。拜海鱼、雨林之丰饶，以及仍在普遍食用的槟榔带来的微醺的快感，这种文化已经存续大约3,000年之久。

There are no traffic lights or retail chains. Most people live on their own land, sustained by fresh fish, crab, chickens, banana and coconut trees and patches of taro. Unemployment is 6%, with about half of Yap's workers employed in public service, including schools, law enforcement, road work and health care. Some families receive remittances from Yapese working in the U.S., which requires no visa. Many Yapese serve in the U.S. military. 没有交通灯，也没有连锁超市。大部分人都生活在自己的土地上，靠新鲜的鱼、螃蟹、鸡、香蕉树、椰子树和小块种植的芋头为生。失业率6%，约半数劳动者都在公共服务部门工作，如学校、执法机关、道班和卫生机构。一些雅浦人有赴美国工作的家人寄回的汇款。在美国工作不需要签证。很多雅浦人都在美国军队服役。

'You don't work hard, nobody pushes you around,' said Aloysius Faimau, a 66-year-old paramount chief, an ancient title that is part of a complex social hierarchy tied to land ownership and village affiliation. 'If you want to earn money, go to Guam, Hawaii or the United States.' 66岁的最高首领阿洛伊修斯•法伊茅(Aloysius Faimau)说：“不用辛苦劳动，没人把你呼来喝去。如果你想挣钱，那就去关岛、夏威夷或者美国。”雅浦自古以来奉行一套与土地所有及村庄归属挂钩的复杂社会等级制度，“最高首领”称号便属于这套等级制度的一部分。

The U.S. concerned that Micronesia had developed a culture of dependency on U.S. aid, nudged its island allies to attract private investment. 美国担心密克罗尼西亚联邦已经形成一种依赖美国援助的文化，于是奉劝其各岛屿州吸引民间投资。

David Cohen, while serving as deputy assistant secretary for the Department of Interior's Office of Insular Affairs, which oversees U.S. relations with Micronesia, said in a 2007 speech that islanders should embrace modern investment. 'Christianity, for example, was alien to the Pacific until the 19th Century,' he said. 'Today, it is a fundamental part of most Pacific cultures.' 在美国，负责美密关系的是内政部岛屿事务办公室(Office of Insular Affairs)。2007年，负责该办公室的时任内政部副助理部长戴维•科恩(David Cohen)发表讲话，表示岛民应当接纳现代方式的投资。他说：“比方说基督教，19世纪之前它对于太平洋地区来说还是一个陌生事物。今天，它已经是太平洋地区大多数文化的一个基本构成部分。”

After being claimed by Spain in the late 16th century, sold to Germany in 1899, seized by Japan in 1915 and surrendered to the U.S. at the end of World War II, Yap turned to China. Early in 2011, Micronesia's embassy in Beijing began pitching the idea of transforming the island into a resort. 在16世纪晚期被西班牙占领、1899年卖给德国、1915年被日本占领、二战结束时交给美国之后，如今雅浦把目光投向了中国。2011年年初，密克罗尼西亚联邦驻华大使馆开始宣传推销将雅浦转变成度假胜地的构想。

Mr. Deng, a developer of convention centers and resorts in China, made an exploratory trip in August 2011 and liked what he saw. : sparsely populated beaches; crystal-clear water, and dense groves of mahogany and coconut trees, with ferns and tropical flowers. 在中国国内开发会议中心和度假村的邓鸿在2011年8月踏上了探索之旅，并对自己看到的一切感到满意：人迹罕至的沙滩，水晶一样清澈的海水，还有郁郁葱葱的红木树、椰子树、蕨草以及热带花卉。

The island resort, if it gets built, would be the first investment abroad for Mr. Deng's company, Exhibition and Travel Group, or ETG. 岛上度假村如果开建，则将是邓鸿的公司──会展旅游集团(Exhibition and Travel Group)──的第一笔海外投资。

The son of an Air Force officer, Mr. Deng sold clothes in a Beijing market then made his way as an importer-exporter to San Francisco, where he married an American. Mr. Deng returned home and made his fortune─estimated by Chinese media at $870 million─building resorts for China's burgeoning rich, including an Intercontinental hotel in the Tibetan capital of Lhasa. His company's Panda Travel agency boasts of arranging a million trips abroad for Chinese travelers every year 生于一个空军军官家庭的邓鸿曾在北京卖过服装，然后做进出口到了旧金山，并在那里娶了一位美国媳妇。他回国为中国新富阶层修度假村并发了财，其中就包括西藏首府拉萨的一座洲际酒店(Intercontinental)。据中国媒体估计，邓鸿的身家有8.7亿美元。他公司旗下的熊猫国旅(Panda Travel)号称每年为中国游客安排100万人次的出国游。

Choosing Yap was simple, said Yang Gang, the island's local ETG representative. 'The location is close to China,' he said. The island is a two-day trip from the U.S. mainland but is only a 3½-hour direct flight from Shanghai, closer for Chinese tourists than Bali or Singapore. 会展旅游集团驻雅浦代表杨刚（音）表示选择雅浦的原因很简单。他说：“其地理位置离中国较近。”从美国大陆到雅浦要花两天时间，而从上海直飞只需要三个半小时，对中国游客来说，比巴厘岛和新加坡都近。

To build support for his resort plans, Mr. Deng paid for Gov. Anefal and village chiefs to visit China, where they toured ETG projects in Chengdu, a city of seven million in western China. He gave a $20,000 check to Yap after an outbreak of dengue fever struck the island, and his company gave pencils and note pads to local schools. 为取得当地人对度假村方案的支持，邓鸿自掏腰包请安尼法尔州长和村落首领访问中国，让他们参观了会展旅游集团在有着七百万人口的华西城市成都建设的项目。他在雅浦岛爆发登革热之后捐资两万美元，他的公司也为当地学校捐赠了铅笔和笔记本。

ETG hired Florida architects HHCP, which designed the Jumeirah Palm, a sprawling residential development build on an artificial island in Dubai that looks like a giant palm tree from the air. For Yap, the architects envision beach-front hotels inspired by Yap's traditional steeply pitched, thatch-roof architecture. 会展旅游集团聘请了佛罗里达的建筑师事务所HHCP。建于迪拜一座人工岛上、俯瞰就像一棵巨大棕榈树的大型居住项目卓美亚棕榈岛(Jumeirah Palm)，就是由这家事务所设计的。在雅浦，HHCP构想中的海景酒店则是借鉴了用茅草搭成尖顶的当地传统建筑。

Mr. Deng promises to build Yap a longer airport runway, a deeper port, a hospital and new schools. The island's airport would expand from three weekly, middle-of-the-night flights─two to Guam and one to Palau─to daily direct flights from China. 邓鸿承诺为雅浦建一条更长的飞机跑道、一座更深的港口、一家医院及几所新的学校。雅浦机场目前有三条每周一次的红眼航班，两条飞往关岛，一条飞往帕劳。扩建之后，每天都将有航班直接从中国飞来。

His company also would pay $400 a year to residents. Yap had 4,000 tourists last year, mostly scuba divers, who stayed at a handful of small hotels. ETG said its resort would draw 1 million tourists a year. 他的公司还将每年为居民派钱400美元。去年雅浦接待游客4,000人次，多数人是来潜水的，住在仅有的几家小酒店里。会展旅游集团表示，其度假村将吸引一年100万人前来旅游。

To help smooth the way, the Chinese developer hired several American consultants, including Mr. Cohen, who flew in for a visit with Mr. Deng on the developer's private jet. Mr. Cohen had left his U.S.-Micronesia duties at the Department of Interior in 2008 and is now an attorney in Los Angeles. Mr. Cohen said he helped assess community support for the project. 'I played an advisory role rather than an advocacy role,' he said. 为帮助疏通环节，邓鸿聘请了多位美国顾问，科恩便是其中之一。科恩曾与邓鸿一道，乘坐邓鸿的私人飞机登岛参观。他在2008年就已经辞去内政部负责美密关系的职务，现在是洛杉矶的一名律师。科恩说，他的任务是帮助争取当地社团对度假村项目的支持。他说：“我充当的是一种顾问角色，而不是代言角色。”

In August, ETG's negotiating team and Yap's acting attorney general, a 32-year-old lawyer from Tennessee, completed a development agreement. that mapped out how the Chinese would proceed. 2012年8月，会展旅游集团谈判团队和雅浦岛代理总检察长、一名来自美国田纳西州的32岁律师达成开发协议，划出了中方的推进路线。

Since the signing, however, things have not gone smoothly. 然而在协议签署之后，事情进展却不太顺利。

A backlash erupted when residents learned that the plan would divide the island into tourist areas and a 'native town community,' with apartments for residents displaced by the development. Yapese fret that the project would break ties with ancestral villages, which are still dotted with the island's circular limestone coins, the world's largest and heaviest form of currency. Some are more than eight feet tall. The money is occasionally used when locals trade property or settle disputes, but it is seldom moved. 当岛民得知该协议方案将把雅浦划为旅游区和安置搬迁岛民的“土著城区”之后，他们愤怒了。会展旅游集团将在土著城区中修建供当地人居住的公寓楼。雅浦人担心，这个项目将切断他们与古老村落的纽带。在这些村落里面，石灰石刻成的圆形货币仍然随处可见。它们是世界上最大、最重的货币形式，有些石币的高度超过八英尺（约合2.4米）。如今在当地人买卖财物或解决纠纷的时候，这些货币还时有使用，但很少搬动。

'We are going to lose our land,' said Nicholas Figirlaarwon, a leader of the Concerned Citizens of Yap, the main opposition group. 'That's when we stepped forward.' 主要反对组织“雅浦忧心公民”(Concerned Citizens of Yap)的领袖尼古拉斯•费戈拉尔旺(Nicholas Figirlaarwon)说：“我们将失去土地，所以我们站了出来。”

Stone money eight feet tall is propped against telephone poles in Mr. Figirlaarwon's village. The circular limestone coins, the world's largest and heaviest form of currency, were quarried and shipped mostly by canoe from Palau, 280 miles away, in the 18th and 19th centuries. The money is still used when locals trade property or settle disputes. But rather than move the disks to new owners, Yapese say they simply remember who owns what stones. 在费戈拉尔旺的村子里，八英尺高的石币同电话线杆互为倚靠。这些圆形石灰石钱币是世界上最大、最重的货币形式，它们是18世纪、19世纪的时候在280英里（约合450公里）以外的帕劳采集之后运过来的，运输方式主要是通过独木舟。如今在当地人买卖财物或解决纠纷时，仍然会用到这些钱，但雅浦人说，他们不会把这些石头搬到新的主人家去，只要记住谁是哪些石头的主人就行了。

Because foreigners can't own property on Yap, the developers must secure 99-year leases from village property owners. It's unclear how many leases have been signed. Opponents who have gotten copies of the leases proposed by ETG bristle at their terms, complaining the rents are low and diminish over time. 因为外国人不能取得雅普房地产的所用权，开发商必须同村子里的房地产所有者签下99年的租约。不清楚目前已经签署的租约有多少。拿到会展旅游集团拟议租约副本的反对者对其中的条款感到十分愤怒，他们抱怨说，租金太低，而且会随着时间的推移越来越少。

So far, developers haven't secured enough land to build, said Mr. Yang. He has been signed. Opponents who have gotten copies of the leases proposed by ETG bristle atinstructed to keep pushing but has voiced some frustration. 杨刚说，到目前为止，开发商还没有拿到足够的开发用地。他说公司要求他继续推进。

'I don't know why they think we will take their terms, complaining the rents are low and diminishland,' he said, after ticking off the project benefits to residents. 'We can't take over time.. We aren't Japanese soldiers. We do all business legally, with permits. We never force anyone to lease land. It's all based on free will.' 他在条分缕析地向当地居民讲解项目的好处之后说：“我不明白为什么他们觉得我们会夺走他们的土地。我们不可能占领这里。我们不是日本军人。我们的所有业务都是合法的，都是有许可的。我们从来不逼迫任何人出租土地，这些全都是基于自由意志。”

Local opponents also say that turning the island into a Chinese resort would further erase a culture that has already faded under U.S. aid. 'People live on what they can farm and fish,' said John Hagileiram, a Catholic priest on one of Yap's outlying islands. 'I can't see how bringing in golf courses and casinos is going to strengthen the Yapese culture. It will do the opposite.' 当地反对者还说，因为接受美国的援助，雅浦文化已经退色，而如果将它变成一座中国度假村，这种文化还会进一步走向衰亡。雅浦一座外岛上的天主教牧师约翰•哈吉雷兰姆(John Hagileiram)说：“这里的人们以他们能够收获、捕捞的东西为生。我无法想象，引进高尔夫球场和赌场将如何加强雅浦文化。此举只会削弱雅浦文化。”

Military analysts warn that as China develops its navy, Yap and other remote Pacific islands that were fought over in World War II could regain strategic importance. 军事分析人士提醒，在中国发展其海军力量的过程中，雅浦和其他曾在二战期间成为交战双方争夺对象的太平洋偏远岛屿，可能会重新拾得战略上的重要地位。

Memorial plaques to fallen U.S. bomber pilots sit near the remains of wrecked World War II planes scattered around the island. The U.S. holds a security treaty with Micronesia that gives it military dominion in the region. 雅浦岛上四处散落着二战期间失事轰炸机的残骸，残骸附近树立着美国阵亡飞行员的墓碑。美国同密克罗尼西亚联邦签有安全条约，赋予了它在该地区实施军事统治的权利。

'As the global geopolitical chess pieces start moving around, it becomes quite evident why the Chinese decided to focus on Yap,' said Eddie Calvo, the governor of nearby Guam, the U.S. territory closest to China and home to U.S. military installations. 'Besides, for a beautiful place for Chinese tourists to go, it sure seems to be in the right location as well.' 附近的关岛州的州长埃迪•卡尔沃(Eddie Calvo)说：“随着国际地缘政治棋子四处移动，中国人决定看重雅浦岛的原因变得相当明显。除此以外，从中国游客的旅游胜地的角度来看，它所处的位置似乎也是再好不过的。”关岛是离中国最近的美国领土，部署有美国的军事设施。

Officially, the U.S. is neutral over the Chinese proposal. 'The U.S. is not opposed to legitimate investors and investments that would provide long-term benefits to the people of Yap,' said Doria Rosen, the U.S. ambassador to Micronesia, in a statement last fall. 美国在官方场合对中国人的方案持中立态度。美国驻密克罗尼西亚联邦大使多莉亚•罗森(Doria Rosen)去年秋季发表声明说：“美国不反对将为雅浦人民带来长远利益的合法投资者及投资。”

In October, opponents organized Yap's three paramount chiefs, who claim to be the highest authority on the island, to send a letter to the Gov. Anefal, ordering him to stop the project to save island culture. Resort supporters said the letter signers weren't Yap's legitimate paramount chiefs, a body that hasn't been active for more 100 years. 2012年10月，反对者组织雅浦的三名最高首领（他们声称拥有岛上的最高权力）致信安尼法尔，下令他叫停项目、拯救岛上文化。度假村项目支持者说，信件签署人不是雅浦的合法最高首领，这个体系已经有100多年没有活动了。

Since then, however, people close to Gov. Anefal said he has begun to buckle to opponents, who have threatened to recall him. The governor sent a letter to Mr. Deng later in October, asking him to reconsider the resort plan. 但接近安尼法尔的人士说，从那时候起，他已经开始向曾威胁要将他撤职的反对者屈服。安尼法尔后来在10月份写信给邓鸿，请他重新考虑度假村方案。

But the ETG show no signs of budging. The company's local representative, Mr. Yang, said he's signing land leases and noted a recent visit by the Chinese ambassador to Micronesia is a signal of support. 但会展旅游集团没有显示出妥协迹象。该公司当地代表杨刚表示他正在签署土地租约，并指出中国驻密克罗尼西亚联邦大使前不久曾到访雅浦，这是一个支持信号。

The 'project is going forward smoothly,' he said in an email. 他在电子邮件中表示：“项目将顺利推进。”