10月，中国正式加入“新冠肺炎疫苗实施计划”；中共中央办公厅、国务院办公厅印发了《深圳建设中国特色社会主义先行示范区综合改革试点实施方案（2020－2025年）》；刑事责任年龄拟调整；“两高一部”发布指导意见应对“碰瓷”；新修订的《未成年人保护法》表决通过；部分车型驾照70岁年龄上限将取消；京沪高铁将推出“静音车厢”；中国共产党第十九届中央委员会第五次全体会议召开，审议通过了《中共中央关于制定国民经济和社会发展第十四个五年规划和二〇三五年远景目标的建议》（proposals for formulating the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-2025) for National Economic and Social Development and the Long-Range Objectives Through the Year 2035）。
 

新冠肺炎疫苗实施计划 COVAX

China signed an agreement with Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, officially joining COVAX on Oct 8. This is an important step China has taken to uphold the concept of a shared community of health for all and to honor its commitment of turning COVID-19 vaccines into a global public good.
10月8日，中国同全球疫苗免疫联盟签署协议，正式加入“新冠肺炎疫苗实施计划”。这是中国秉持人类卫生健康共同体理念、履行自身承诺推动疫苗成为全球公共产品的一个重要举措。

新冠肺炎疫苗实施计划”由世界卫生组织和全球疫苗免疫联盟、流行病防范创新联盟共同牵头成立，拟于2021年底前向全球提供20亿剂新冠肺炎疫苗，供应给“自费经济体”和“受资助经济体”。包括我国在内的“自费经济体”需向该计划承诺为本经济体一定比例人口购买疫苗并缴纳预付款，而“受资助经济体”无须缴纳预付款，同时享受该计划补贴。

COVID-19 vaccine development and deployment in China, when available, will be made a global public good. This will be China’s contribution to ensuring vaccine accessibility and affordability in developing countries.
中国新冠疫苗研发完成并投入使用后，将作为全球公共产品，为实现疫苗在发展中国家的可及性和可担负性作出中国贡献。

中国特色社会主义先行示范区 a pilot demonstration area of socialism with Chinese characteristics

中共中央办公厅、国务院办公厅印发了《深圳建设中国特色社会主义先行示范区综合改革试点实施方案（2020－2025年）》。

Supporting Shenzhen to pilot the comprehensive authorized reform measures is another significant step to advance the city's opening-up in the new era and a key move in building a pilot demonstration area of socialism with Chinese characteristics, said the document.
方案指出，支持深圳实施综合授权改革试点，是新时代推动深圳改革开放再出发的又一重大举措，是建设中国特色社会主义先行示范区的关键一招。

方案提出的主要目标是：

In 2020, major reform measures are expected to be taken in the spheres of market-based allocation of production factors, business environment optimization, and the utilization of urban space, while a list specifying the first batch of authorized matters shall be formulated and implemented.
2020年，在要素市场化配置、营商环境优化、城市空间统筹利用等重要领域推出一批重大改革措施，制定实施首批综合授权事项清单，推动试点开好局、起好步。

In 2022, significant institutional achievements that can be replicated and promoted shall be made in all relevant aspects.
2022年，各方面制度建设取得重要进展，形成一批可复制可推广的重大制度成果，试点取得阶段性成效。

In 2025, landmark achievements shall be scored, with the pilot reform tasks basically completed and providing an essential paradigm for institutional building throughout the country.
2025年，重要领域和关键环节改革取得标志性成果，基本完成试点改革任务，为全国制度建设作出重要示范。

方案其他要点：

To further optimize business environment, the plan said that the special economic zone will draw up a list of special measures to relax restrictions on sectors including energy, telecommunication, public service, transport and education based on the nationwide negative list.
进一步优化营商环境，在全国统一的市场准入负面清单基础上，制定深圳放宽市场准入特别措施清单，放宽能源、电信、公用事业、交通运输、教育等领域市场准入。

Greater efforts will be made to further loosen limits on foreign investment in cutting-edge technologies, and improve the system of fair competition, the document said.
进一步放宽前沿技术领域的外商投资准入限制。支持完善公平竞争制度。

The city will pilot the legal protection of new intellectual property rights (IPR), establish a compensation system for IPR infringements, and explore legislation in emerging areas.
开展新型知识产权法律保护试点，建立知识产权侵权惩罚性赔偿制度，在新兴领域加强立法探索。

Shenzhen will also help foreign talent obtain Chinese permanent residence permits and attend professional qualification examinations.
为符合条件的外籍高层次人才申请永久居留提供便利。放宽境外人员参加各类职业资格考试的限制。

Opening-up in the finance and shipping industries will be strengthened, with more efforts to advance the renminbi internationalization and improve the foreign exchange management system.
扩大金融业、航运业等对外开放。支持深圳在推进人民币国际化方面先行先试，推动完善外汇管理体制。

Foreign institutions will be encouraged to set up securities and fund management companies in the city, the document said.
支持符合条件的外资金融机构在深圳依法发起设立证券公司、基金管理公司。

野生动物 wild animals

Captive breeding of 45 types of wild animals, including bamboo rats, will be phased out by the end of this year, the National Forestry and Grassland Administration said.
国家林草局表示，对于竹鼠等45种野生动物，要在年底前逐步停止养殖活动。

确需适量保留种源（for the purpose of keeping the species alive）用于科学研究等非食用性目的的，要充分论证工作方案的可行性，并严格履行相关手续。

【词汇讲解】

这里的短语phase out表示“逐步淘汰，逐步停止”，因为phase本身就有“阶段”的意思，所以phase out强调的就是分阶段、一步一步地停止。比如：They phased out my job in favor of a computer.（他们一步步用电脑取代了我的岗位）。这个短语的名词形式是phase-out，比如：The project is currently in its phase-out period.（这个项目目前处于逐步收尾阶段）。

Another 19 wild animals, including hedgehogs, guinea pigs, nutrias and cobras, will be allowed to be raised for species protection, scientific study, medical use and the pet industry, but stricter regulation of farming and quarantine inspections will be required.
对于刺猬、豚鼠、海狸鼠、眼镜蛇等19种野生动物，允许用于保留种源、科研、药用、宠物等非食用性目的的养殖，强化日常监督管理，严格落实防疫检疫相关要求。

今年2月24日，十三届全国人大常委会第十六次会议表决通过了《全国人民代表大会常务委员会关于全面禁止非法野生动物交易、革除滥食野生动物陋习、切实保障人民群众生命健康安全的决定》。

The decision has made it clear that all wildlife on the protection list of the existing Wild Animal Protection Law or other laws, and all terrestrial wildlife, including those artificially bred and farmed, are banned from consumption.
决定明确规定，凡野生动物保护法和其他有关法律禁止的，以及人工繁育、人工饲养的陆生野生动物，全面禁止食用。

全面禁止以食用为目的猎捕、交易、运输在野外环境自然生长繁殖的陆生野生动物（hunting, trading and transportation of wild terrestrial animals for purposes of consumption）。

对于鸽、兔等人工养殖、利用时间长、技术成熟，人民群众已广泛接受的人工饲养的动物（farm-raised animals），决定规定，列入畜禽遗传资源目录的动物，属于家畜家禽（under the category of poultry and livestock），适用畜牧法的规定。

青少年犯罪 juvenile delinquency

10月13日，刑法修正案（十一）草案二审稿提请全国人大常委会审议。草案二审稿的一系列新修改引人注目。

* 拟个别调整刑事责任年龄

If a juvenile who has reached the age of 12, but is under 14, commits intentional homicide or inflicts an injury that leads to death under flagrant circumstances, he or she shall bear criminal responsibility upon attestation and approval of the Supreme People's Procuratorate (SPP), according to the draft.
草案规定，已满12周岁不满14周岁的人，犯故意杀人、故意伤害罪，致人死亡，情节恶劣的，经最高人民检察院核准，应当负刑事责任。

【单词讲解】

英语中关于“青少年犯罪”有一个固定的说法juvenile delinquency/juvenile offending，juvenile读作[dʒuːvənaɪl]，指“未成年、青少年”，也可以用作形容词表示某人“孩子气的、幼稚的”，与childish、silly意思相近，比如：Don't be so juvenile（别那么幼稚了）。Delinquency这个词读作[dɪlɪŋkwənsi]，指“违法行为”，尤指青少年的违法行为，实施违法行为的青少年就可以称为delinquent。

草案规定，因不满16周岁不予刑事处罚的，责令他的家长或者监护人加以管教；在必要的时候，依法进行专门矫治教育（corrective education）。

* 拟明确规定监护、收养等人员性侵犯罪

The draft stipulates that guardians and those who adopt underage females aged between 14 and 16 shall be investigated for engaging in criminal sexual activity, regardless of whether the minors agree or not. Others targeted include those who have special duties of giving medical treatment to and educating the juveniles.
草案规定，对负有监护、收养、看护、教育、医疗等特殊职责人员，与已满14周岁不满16周岁未成年女性发生性关系的，不论未成年人是否同意，都应追究刑事责任。

【单词讲解】

这里的underage和minor都表示“未成年”，二者的区别在于，underage是形容词，表示“is legally too young to do something”，也就是“未到法定年龄的”，比如：underage youth（未成年人）、underage drinking（未成年人饮酒行为）等；而minor是名词，与adult相对，大家应该都很熟悉了，比如：cigarette sales to minors are not allowed（禁止向未成年人销售香烟）。

此外，草案还明确将“冒名顶替上大学”等行为规定为犯罪。

草案规定，盗用、冒用他人身份，顶替他人取得的高等学历教育入学资格、公务员录用资格、就业安置待遇的（identity theft in college admission, public office qualification and employment），处三年以下有期徒刑、拘役或者管制，并处罚金。

碰瓷 staged crash fraud

最高人民法院、最高人民检察院、公安部近日联合印发《关于依法办理“碰瓷”违法犯罪案件的指导意见》，全面加强对此类违法犯罪行为的打击力度。

The guideline identifies and specifies several illegal acts, such as deliberately crashing a car to claim compensation, and their corresponding punishments.
指导意见针对“碰瓷”手法多样的情况，进一步明确案件的定性和处罚。

【单词讲解】

这里用deliberately crashing a car to claim compensation来表示“碰瓷”，其实是用了解释说明的办法，即“故意撞车以索要赔偿”，更简洁的表达可以是“staged crash fraud”或“staged (auto) accident fraud”。我们都知道stage作为名词有“舞台”的意思，用作动词的时候stage也可以表示“（为了吸引公众注意而）安排、组织（某件事）”，所以，staged crash/accident都是“刻意制造出来的车祸（意外）”，而最后的fraud正是组织这件事的目的。

指导意见明确，

Acts of fabricating facts, concealing truths and swindling compensation, that meet the relating provisions of the Criminal Law, shall be convicted and punished as the crime of fraud, according to the guideline.
虚构事实、隐瞒真相，骗取赔偿，符合刑法有关规定的，以诈骗罪定罪处罚。

Malicious behavior, including fabricating facts about the infringement of personal or property rights and interests as well as bringing a civil lawsuit on the grounds of a fake civil dispute, shall be punished as the offense of false charges if meeting the relating provisions of the Criminal Law, it adds.
捏造人身、财产权益受到侵害的事实，虚构民事纠纷，提起民事诉讼，符合刑法有关规定的，以虚假诉讼罪定罪处罚。

The guideline also stipulates that whoever deliberately causes a traffic accident and blackmails the victim utilizing the victim's violation of provisions on road passage, which meets the relating provisions of the Criminal Law, shall be punished as the crime of extortion by blackmail.
“碰瓷”团伙若故意制造交通事故进而利用被害人违反道路通行规定等相要挟的，符合刑法有关规定的，以敲诈勒索罪定罪处罚。

【单词讲解】

这里表达“敲诈勒索”时用到了两个词：extortion和blackmail。我们先说大家更熟悉的blackmail，这个词强调的是“对方手里有受害人的某种把柄，并以此为要挟，要求受害人支付钱财”，所以我们通常翻译为“勒索”。Extortion适用的范围要比blackmail更广，除了用黑料要挟受害人以外，还包括用暴力、恐吓、损坏财物等手段威胁受害人，以得到财物，所以，extortion在法律领域通常翻译为“恐吓取财”。

A relatively stable criminal organization formed by three or more persons for committing such blackmail-related crimes jointly should be considered as a criminal group, it said, noting that those in conformity with the identification standard of gang crimes should be investigated, prosecuted and tried accordingly.
三人以上为共同故意实施“碰瓷”犯罪而组成的较为固定的犯罪组织，应当认定为犯罪集团。符合黑恶势力认定标准的，应当按照黑社会性质组织、恶势力或者恶势力犯罪集团侦查、起诉、审判。

消除绝对贫困 eradicate absolute poverty

Tibet Autonomous Region has accomplished the historical feat of eradicating absolute poverty, according to a press briefing held in the regional capital of Lhasa Thursday. By the end of 2019, Tibet had lifted 628,000 people out of poverty and delisted 74 county-level areas from the poverty list, said Wu Yingjie, Communist Party of China chief of Tibet.
西藏自治区委员会书记吴英杰在发布会上表示，截至2019年底，西藏74个贫困县全部摘帽，62.8万建档立卡贫困人口全部脱贫，历史性消除绝对贫困。

【知识点】

脱贫攻坚中经常提到的四类重点人群是：建档立卡贫困户（households registered as living under the poverty line）、低保户（people eligible for subsistence allowances）、农村分散供养特困人员（individuals who live at home in rural areas in extreme poverty and receive basic assistance）和贫困残疾人家庭（the families of people with disabilities affected by poverty）。

西藏是全国“三区三州”深度贫困地区中唯一的省级集中连片特困地区（the only contiguous poor area at the provincial level），是脱贫攻坚之初全国贫困发生率最高（the highest poverty headcount ratio）、贫困程度最深、扶贫成本最高、脱贫难度最大的区域。

为此，党中央制定特殊优惠政策，西藏各族干部群众奋发有为，改变了雪域高原千百年来贫穷落后的面貌。

Since 2016, Tibet has spent 74.8 billion yuan of agriculture-related funds in poverty alleviation, with an average annual increase of over 15 percent, Wu said.
2016年以来，西藏累计统筹整合涉农资金748亿元用于脱贫攻坚，年均增幅超过15%。

Since 2016, a total of 39.89 billion yuan has been invested in 2,984 poverty alleviation projects, which helped lift more than 238,000 impoverished people out of poverty and benefited more than 840,000 people, according to Wu.
2016年以来，西藏累计投入398.9亿元，实施产业扶贫项目2984个，带动23.8万贫困人口脱贫，受益群众超过84万人。

To date, the construction of 965 relocation sites has been completed, and 266,000 people have moved into new houses.
截至目前，已建成965个易地扶贫搬迁安置区（点），26.6万人搬迁入住。

经第三方评估，西藏脱贫攻坚群众满意度达99%以上。

消除绝对贫困后，西藏脱贫攻坚将全面转入巩固提升阶段（consolidate poverty alleviation achievements）。

易地搬迁和职业培训坚持群众自愿

Qizhala, chairman of the regional government of Tibet, told the press briefing that there are no forced vocational education and ensuing employment transfers for local farmers and herders.
西藏自治区主席齐扎拉表示，不存在强迫当地农牧民参与职业培训和转移就业的问题。

With Tibet eliminating absolute poverty and a spate of preferential policies implemented to benefit the people, residents have strong desires to work outside their hometowns and to learn skills. The government answers their desires and demands, Qizhala said.
随着西藏消除绝对贫困并实施一系列惠民政策，老百姓有强烈的愿望外出打工，老百姓有强烈的愿望想去学技术，而且政府顺应了他的愿望和需求。

Vocational education and skills training are popular among local farmers and herders, with them earning a larger proportion of their incomes with skills, said the chairman.
职业教育和技术培训在农牧民当中很受欢迎，劳动力收入中有技术含量的收入比重在不断提高。

Local farmers and herders can choose to work within Tibet or in neighboring or other regions, making employment choices of their own free will, Qizhala said.
当地农牧民可以选择在西藏就业，也可以去临近或其他地区就业，就业选择自主决定。