What would Chinese cash for eurozone bailout fund mean? - Trung Quốc cung cấp tiền mặt cho quỹ cứu trợ tài chính khu vực châu Âu đẻ làm gì?

What would Chinese cash for eurozone bailout fund mean?
By Jorn Madslien and Laurence Knight BBC News
Chinese yuan next to the US currency

China has plenty of money and would be able to help, though it is not a given that a cash injection will be beneficial for European nations

With some $3.2 trillion (£2tn) in its foreign reserves coffers, China may well be a natural contributor to the eurozone's bailout fund.

But the fact that China is a wealthy country, and therefore able to help, does not explain why China would actually want to do so.

One obvious reason might be a desire to prevent the crisis from leading to a recession in Europe - China's biggest export market.

Moreover, if the eurozone crisis were to spread globally - just as the US mortgage crisis did in 2008 - not only could it damage China's other trade partners, but also China itself.

Beijing recently had to intervene to shore up its own banks, which many investors fear are riddled with bad debts. Another global financial crisis could leave those banks in even worse shape.
Feeling the pinch

With consumers in Europe - and indeed in the US - already scaling back consumption and repaying personal debts, the demand for stuff made in China is slowing and could stay weak for years.
A worker monitors the loading of containers in Qingdao, China China's exporters would be hit if Europe was to suffer an economic recession

On the domestic front in indebted European countries, a reduction in imports is generally deemed beneficial, as it helps reduce their trade deficits. Or to put it another way, if consumers cut back, it is better for a country if they spend less on stuff made abroad and maintain spending on goods made at home.

But of course, China is not the only one that will take a hit as global consumption and trade slows to a trickle. Exporters - especially in trade surplus countries such as China, Japan or Germany, but also in trade deficit countries - will feel the pinch.

In turn, this general reduction in global trade will cement stubbornly high unemployment levels in the industrialised world, doing little to alleviate the crisis or to reduce the risks of it spreading beyond Europe.

But to the extent that the burden of shrinking demand falls on exporters like China, that means more of the job losses will be Chinese jobs.

Indeed, as global demand weakens, there is less point in keeping up massive investment in manufacturing in China. So perhaps it would be better to invest elsewhere?
Sound investments

China has long said it is eager to invest in Europe. But there are different ways for it to do so.
Banesto bank in Spain Europe's weakest economies may need investment, but China is not about to get involved

The one discussed in the context of the eurozone bailout fund would be an investment in European bonds, which equates to lending money to European governments.

This is not to say China is about to lend money directly to countries that need it the most.

Buying Spanish or Italian bonds may not be a tempting proposition, while buying German bonds clearly is, as they are deemed more likely to be repaid in full.

China has made it clear that it would only want to make sound investments, so it would require guarantees.

A Chinese contribution to the European European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF) would thus, in practice, differ little from a loan to Germany.

And that, of itself, would do little to help the likes of Spain and Italy manage their finances.

Indeed, Michael Pettis, international finance professor at Beijing University, says that Europe - or at least Germany - has plenty of capital of its own, and shouldn't even need China's money.

Prof Michael Pettis, finance professor at Peking University, says Europe "shouldn't turn to poor Asian countries"

He says that if China invests more capital in Europe, it may perversely end up putting more Europeans out of work.

By increasing its total investment in the eurozone, China is likely to push up the euro's value.

And that would make the eurozone's exports less competitive in international markets and Chinese exports more competitive in Europe - hardly an outcome that will help struggling Mediterranean countries.
Direct investment

Moreover, investing in government bonds is a very different proposition from investing in assets such as buildings, factories or infrastructure - the sort of investments that would deliver economic growth and create jobs.

Such investment is hard to come by these days, and transferring eurozone government debts from Europe's banks to China is not expected to do much to alleviate the situation.

As European governments repay their loans to the banks, the cash is likely to be absorbed by banks to help them with their recapitalisation. So it may not result in fresh funds being freed up for loans to companies.

In other words, Chinese investment in European bonds may do little to bolster economic growth in Europe.

Chinese investment directly into the real economy in Europe could well have a much greater effect.

Whether European voters would welcome Chinese buyers of real estate, companies and roads at a time when prices are depressed by the ongoing crisis is another matter.

But compared with the non-tangible rewards China is likely to demand in return for formal financial support - such as an early European Union recognition as a market economy, greater voting rights within the International Monetary Fund, a lifting of a ban on European arms sales to China, or silence around the matter of China's supposed efforts to keep its currency artificially weak - that may be a small price to pay.

China's exporters would be hit if Europe was to suffer an economic recession

Europe's weakest economies may need investment, but China is not about to get involved

Exotic pets: Why do Americans keep dangerous animals? Tại sao người Mỹ nuôi nhiều vật cưng nguy hiểm

In Oklahoma, Louis met tiger Sarg and owner Joe Exotic

Louis Theroux meets Joe Exotic and his dangerous pets

There are more tigers in captivity in the US than in the wild in the whole of Asia, according to some estimates. But the trade in exotic pets has dangerous consequences for man and beast alike, writes Louis Theroux.

I was in the back garden of an elegant home in rural Missouri with a ticklish question hanging in the air. Should we let the big chimpanzee out of his cage?

For several weeks I'd been on a kind of suburban safari, on the trail of America's large and growing population of exotic wild animals that are kept as pets.

In Indiana, I'd had a close encounter with a baboon called Tatiana. I'd also spent several days getting to know a few of the more than 150 tigers at an "Exotic Animal Sanctuary" in Oklahoma, though mostly through the bars.

But this chimpanzee, called Cooper, was a step up on the exotic animal danger-scale. He belonged to a couple called Jill and Brad James.

The owners of a funeral home, they'd raised two daughters when they decided to take on Cooper. Later, to give Cooper some company, they added a second, younger chimp called Tucancary into the mix.

Even in the world of exotic animals, chimps are considered somewhat controversial.

Fully grown men who would think nothing of rolling around on the ground with a lion would politely decline the opportunity to get in a cage with an adult chimpanzee. Many are mindful of the infamous "Travis incident".

Travis, a 14-year-old, 200lb (91kg) chimpanzee, had once been the star of several TV commercials. He lived in suburban Connecticut with his owner Sandra Herold, sipping wine from a stemmed glass and occasionally popping a Xanax. One day in 2009, he viciously attacked a human neighbour, ripping off her face and chewing off several of her fingers.

Chimp owners have been fighting an uphill publicity battle ever since.

Earlier in the afternoon, with a little trepidation, I'd spent some one-on-one time with the James' smaller chimp, Tukem Kerry. He is only five years old and the size of a human toddler, though much hairier and with long, powerful arms.

Tormented by visions of him biting off my nose or chewing off my testicles, I was relieved when he clambered up onto me to offer nothing more menacing than a hug.

But Cooper is two years older and close to sexual maturity. This makes him much more potentially dangerous, notwithstanding that his testicles are in a jar in Brad and Jill's garage.
In Oklahoma, Louis met tiger Sarg and owner Joe Exotic, who runs an animal park In Oklahoma, Louis met tiger Sarg and owner Joe Exotic

Exotic animal ownership is rampant in the US. According to one oft-repeated factoid, there are more tigers in Texas than in India.

Only last week in Ohio a man with a menagerie of more than 50 animals, including tigers, giraffes and bears, decided to open up his cages and then shoot himself in the head - after being convicted of animal cruelty.

Local schools were closed down while authorities tried to track down the animals. Police shot some of the tigers as they stood rather pathetically (the tigers, not the police) outside their cages.

Quite why anyone would enjoy having an animal that could easily kill him is not easy to say. Why not own a creature you can stroke and cuddle and tease with a piece of string?

Of course, you can stroke and cuddle a baby lion, tiger or chimp, and therein lies part of the problem. Animals that are cute and huggable in infancy later grow into potential man-killers.

Most tiger owners let them roam the house for the first year or so of their lives. After that they are locked up for the rest of their lives, which can be as much as 20 years. There is no minimum size mandated for a tiger cage if the tiger is privately owned.

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) registered facilities are required to provide "sufficient space to allow each animal to make normal postural and social adjustments with adequate freedom of movement".

In practice, an animal that roams hundreds of miles in the wild can find itself contained in a space no bigger than a living room.

As for chimps, they get to enjoy their first eight to 10 years with direct human interaction. But after that they too tend to be locked away. Given that they can live to be as many as 60 or 65 years old, that's a pretty long stretch behind bars.
An animal that roams hundreds of miles in the wild can find itself contained in a space no bigger than a living room”

Some owners tire of their animals as they get older and become too unpredictable to play with. Others run out of money or pre-decease their pets.

The prices tell the story. A baby chimpanzee can go for as much as $50,000 (£31,195) or $60,000 (£37434). An adult chimpanzee has no market value.

Abandoned adult animals end up in sanctuaries. But in one of the paradoxes of the exotics world, some of the sanctuaries that rescue animals also breed animals to defray their expenses - thereby, arguably, making the problem of surplus adults even worse.

As chimp owners, Jill and Brad are in many respects paragons. They have built their hairy friends a large-ish enclosure at the bottom of the garden where they have ropes to swing on, toys and TV to watch.

They say they still spend plenty of time with them. I watched Tucancary luxuriating in a warm shower, he seemed especially keen on the shampoo (drinking it more than washing with it).

Jill and Brad say they are committed to Cooper and Tucanary for the long term. But even they admit that as the chimps get older, they may have to play with them "through the bars".

As for my alone time with Cooper, when the time came, though he did come out of the cage, after some soul-searching I decided to "enjoy" him from afar. From the safety of inside the James' house, with the doors locked.

I watched him as he frolicked in the garden. He rode the sit-down mower, got a coke from the pool-side cabana, then relaxed in the hot tub.

No, I didn't get to grapple with him.

But on the plus side, I've still got my face.

The American POW who chose China - Tù binh Mỹ chọn Trung Quốc

Mr Hawkins was 17 when he went to the front lines in Korea

By Chloe Hadjimatheou and Daniel Nasaw BBC News

At the end of the Korean War, thousands of prisoners from both sides faced a choice - whether to return home or remain with their captors. David Hawkins was one of a handful of American GIs who chose to go to China.

"I don't think it ever occurred to the US or the army that there would be GIs that would choose to go somewhere other than their own country," Mr Hawkins says, more than six decades after he fought communist Korean and Chinese soldiers in the frozen mud along the 38th Parallel.
When the war ended in 1953, tens of thousands of Korean and Chinese prisoners of war chose life in the US over their own homelands.
But America, in the grip of anti-communist fervour, was shocked when 20 of its own young soldiers defected to China.
David Hawkins was just 17 years old when he was wounded in battle and captured. Held prisoner for more than three years, when the war ended he decided not to return home.
"My reasoning was, they really have embraced this socialism so let me see what it is like - let me check it out," says Mr Hawkins, now 78 and living in California.
'Death Valley'
After his capture a few months after arriving on the front in Korea, Mr Hawkins was taken to a prisoner-of-war camp run by the Chinese - the prisoners called it "Death Valley".
"This doctor handed me a little piece of shrapnel that he'd taken out of my leg and said: 'We are your friends, we won't hurt you,'" he says.

The compound was unheated, and at night, the temperature fell far below zero.
He and his comrades suffered severe frostbite. He lost a toe on his left foot and the tips of all of his other toes.
"We were all covered with lice by that time, we started to develop scabies," he remembers. "All of us had dysentery, we were all incontinent."
Thin line
Within a week of arriving at the camp, American GIs began to die.
The intense cold meant those who survived did not have to worry about the bodies decomposing, and in order to trick the prison guards into providing more food rations, they would prop the corpses against the wall so that it appeared there were more people in the room.

Of the roughly 26 prisoners in Mr Hawkins' room, only 10 made it out of the camp alive, he says.
"We were on a very thin line of survival," he says. "I was just 17. I turned 17 on the way over to Korea, so maybe that youth allowed me to survive."
More than 60 years later he is moved to tears as he recalls waking up and finding comrades dead beside him. He still suffers from nightmares.
Several months later the prisoners were moved to another camp where the conditions were far better. They had sports equipment, better food and washing facilities, but their Chinese captors also subjected the soldiers to six or seven hours of indoctrination per day.
The lectures on the glories of Marxism and the evils of capitalism had little effect.
"When we would get back to the squads we would all sit around and talk about cars and women and that sort of thing, like GIs do," he says.
The Americans were surprised at their mild treatment - they had been warned the Chinese were brutal and sadistic to their prisoners.
As Mr Hawkins languished in the camp and the fighting raged on between the US-led UN force and the North Koreans and Chinese, the two sides spent two years negotiating an armistice.
Free to leave
The chief sticking point was the fate of the hundreds of thousands of North Korean and Chinese prisoners held in the south.
The Geneva Conventions in effect at the time called for all prisoners of war to be returned home when fighting ended. But many North Korean and Chinese prisoners in the south refused to be sent north following the ceasefire, and the armistice signed in July 1953 allowed for prisoners from both sides who wanted to stay behind to do so.

The final two years of fighting took place from heavily fortified trenches along the 38th Parallel

When it came time for his release, Mr Hawkins says, he had been so impressed by the Chinese he opted to return with them to Beijing, where he enrolled in language courses at a university.
"The one thing that they'd always said is that you're not there forever, you can come home any time you want," he says.
"I never thought of the consequences, quite honestly, I was looking through a very narrow window of opportunity."
After university, he obtained a commercial driving licence and moved to the city of Wuhan. There he drove a Czechoslovakian truck for a factory. He was the only non-Chinese in the city, he says.
"People were not shy," he recalls. And he says people would treat him as a celebrity when they learned he was American.
"They wanted to know what your lifestyle was like and where you lived," he says.
But after three years, Mr Hawkins decided it was time to return home.
"That was the only time I was really nervous, was when I got back to the States," he says.
His wife, a Russian woman he married in Beijing, joined him a year later and the couple eventually had two children, but Mr Hawkins had a difficult time readjusting.
"My thought processes and everything were in Chinese," he says. "In China I was dealing with people much older than I, much more sophisticated politically and I found it very shallow. I couldn't deal with people on that level when I came back."
'A real patriot'
He was also surprised he faced no personal animosity when he returned. In fact, Mr Hawkins was sought by universities to lecture about his experience, and was even invited as a guest on TV news programmes such as The Mike Wallace Interview.
Nevertheless, the US Army gave him a dishonourable discharge and refused to pay him for the years he spent in combat and in the prison camps.
"I never had regrets," he says. "The one big thing I learnt about going to China was how lucky we are here in the US. Our government's not perfect but I think it's one of the best in the world.
"So I learnt so much, I learned to be a better American. If nothing else I'm a real patriot."
Chloe Hadjimatheou's interview with David Hawkins will be broadcast on BBC World Service Witness. You can download a podcast of the programme or browse the archive.

Three former US POWs who chose to go to China after the Korean War return home. Pictures: British Pathe

Korean War, 1950- 1953

• 1945: The Korean peninsula is split in half at the 38th Parallel following WWII, with a Soviet-backed Stalinist regime in the north and an American-backed regime in the south
• June 1950: North Korean troops under Kim Il Sung invade the south. Pushed by the US, the UN Security Council authorises a military response
• September - October 1950: The US-led military force pushes the North Korean army back over the 38th Parallel.
• November 1950: The Chinese invade from the north, driving the UN forces back to the south
• Spring 1951: The line settles near the 38th Parallel
• 1951 - 1953: For two years, the two sides pummel each other with heavy artillery and pursue costly infantry attacks across the lines, while US planes ground the North Korean air force and bomb the north
• July 1953: The two sides negotiate a ceasefire and thousands of prisoners from each side cross the newly drawn demilitarised zone on the border

Warning over HIV home test kits

Warning over HIV home test kits	Cảnh báo về các bộ dụng cụ xét nghiệm HIV tại nhà
Home HIV testing kits have been illegal in the UK since 1992	Các dụng cụ xét nghiệm HIV tại nhà đã bị coi bất hợp pháp ở Anh từ năm 1992
Illegal home testing kits for HIV are giving people incorrect results, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has warned.	Cục kiểm soát các sản phẩm y tế và dược phẩm (MRHA) đã cảnh báo các dụng cụ xét nghiệm HIV tại nhà bất hợp pháp cho chúng ta những kết quả không chính xác.
It said there were issues with other tests for sexually transmitted diseases which were legal but might also be inaccurate.	Họ cũng cho biết có vấn đề với các xét nghiệm khác đối với các bệnh lây truyền qua đường tình dục tuy là hợp pháp nhưng cũng có thể không chính xác.
The body is investigating a UK website which is selling the tests.	Cục kiểm soát cũng đang điều tra một trang web bán các xét nghiệm này.
The Health Protection Agency has written to some of those affected to say the tests are unreliable.	Cơ quan bảo vệ sức khỏe đã viết thư cho một số người bị ảnh hưởng để nói rằng các xét nghiệm đó là không đáng tin cậy.
Sales records gathered during the investigation showed that about 500 tests for sexually transmitted diseases - such as HIV, chlamydia and syphilis - had been sold.	Doanh số bán hàng thu thập được trong quá trình điều tra cho thấy khoảng 500 xét nghiệm bệnh lây truyền qua đường tình dục - chẳng hạn như HIV, chlamydia và giang mai - đã được bán.
It warned that as well as home HIV tests being against the law, the other tests did not meet European regulations.	Họ cũng cảnh báo rằng cũng như các xét nghiệm HIV tại nhà là bất hợp pháp, các xét nghiệm khác cũng không đáp ứng các quy định của châu Âu.
Concern Susanne Ludgate, MHRA clinical director of devices, said: "We're concerned that there may be a number of self-test kits being sold online that may not be compliant with the relevant piece of legislation and we're urging people not to consider the internet as a method of anonymous testing.	Vấn đề đáng lo ngại Susanne Ludgate, giám đốc quản lí lâm sàng về dụng cụ, thiết bị của MHRA, cho biết: "Chúng tôi đang lo lắng rằng có thể có một số bộ dụng cụ tự kiểm tra được bán trực tuyến không tuân theo pháp luật và chúng tôi đang khẩn cấp kêu gọi mọi người không được xem internet như một phương pháp xét nghiệm bí mật.
"These kits may be unreliable and there is a significant risk they could be providing the user with a false result.	"Những bộ dụng cụ này có thể không đáng tin cậy và có nhiều nguy cơ chúng có thể cung cấp cho người dùng kết quả sai.
"The instructions for use might also be incorrect or confusing and not adequate for someone trying to use the kit in their home."	"Các hướng dẫn sử dụng cũng có thể là không chính xác hoặc gây nhầm lẫn và không đầy đủ cho người muốn sử dụng dụng cụ tự kiểm tra này tại nhà."
She said people should check for the "CE mark", which shows the tests have been approved.	Bà nói mọi người nên kiểm tra "dấu CE cho thấy các xét nghiệm đã được chấp thuận.
The Health Protection Agency has contacted those known to have ordered the kits.	Cơ quan Bảo vệ Y tế đã liên lạc với những người được biết đã yêu cầu đặt mua các dụng cụ này.
Dr Fortune Ncube, from the HPA's blood borne viruses department, said: "If anybody feels they have put themselves at risk they should contact their local GP or go to their most convenient GUM clinic, where they can receive a full screen for all STIs, including HIV.	Bác sĩ Fortune Ncube, thuộc khoa nhiễm virus đường máu của Cơ quan bảo vệ sức khỏe, cho biết: "Nếu bất cứ ai cảm thấy họ đã tự đặt mình vào 1 mối nguy hiểm nên liên lạc với bác sĩ đa khoa tại địa phương của họ hoặc đi đến phòng khám GUM thuận tiện nhất, nơi họ có thể nhận được thông tin đầy đủ về tất cả các bệnh lây truyền qua đường tình dục, trong đó có HIV.
"Rapid and confidential tests, as well as sexual health advice, are available through the NHS without charge."	"Kiểm tra nhanh chóng và bí mật, cũng như tư vấn sức khỏe tình dục, luôn có sẵn và hoàn toàn miễn phí."
	Translated by Võ Hoàng Nhân ice_man_hn@yahoo.com

Alcohol warnings 'still being ignored', minister says - Cảnh báo về rượu vẫn còn bị làm ngơ

Alcohol warnings 'still being ignored', minister says

Alcohol warnings 'still being ignored', minister says	Cảnh báo về rượu vẫn còn bị làm ngơ
Alcohol warnings 'still being ignored', minister says. Anne Milton said MPs were "susceptible" to problem drinking because of their working hours	Cảnh báo về rượu 'vẫn đang được bị bỏ qua", Bộ trưởng Anne Milton cho biết các nghị sĩ rất "nhạy cảm" với vấn đề uống rượu bia bởi vì giờ làm việc căng thẳng của họ.
Many people still do not accept the harm that alcohol can do to their bodies, despite government warnings, the public health minister has said.	Bộ trưởng y tế công cộng cho biết nhiều người vẫn không chấp nhận những thiệt hại mà rượu có thể gây ra cho cơ thể của họ, bất chấp cảnh báo của chính phủ.
Anne Milton told MPs that was in contrast to the risks of smoking and obesity which were acknowledged.	Bộ trưởng Anne Milton nói với các nghị sĩ rằng: điều này trái ngược với những rủi ro của việc hút thuốc, và béo phì vốn đã được thừa nhận.
She said the Department of Health was in "ongoing discussions" with the Treasury on how alcohol pricing could be used to encourage safer drinking.	Bà cho biết bộ Y tế đang tiếp tục thảo luận với bộ Tài chính về cách định giá rượu có thể được sử dụng để khuyến khích việc uống rượu bia an toàn hơn.
But she said setting a minimum price per unit was "probably illegal".	Tuy nhiên, bà cho biết việc thiết lập một mức giá tối thiểu trên một đơn vị "có thể bất hợp pháp".
Ms Milton was giving evidence to the House of Commons science and technology committee, which is looking into the evidence base for current alcohol guidelines.	Bà Milton đã đưa bằng chứng tới Ủy ban Khoa học và Công nghệ Hạ viện, và ủy ban này sẽ xem xét các cơ sở bằng chứng đối với hướng dẫn sử dụng rượu hiện hành.
She said that despite the incidence of problem drinking, there was not currently any evidence available to justify altering the recommended safe limits.	Bà nói rằng bát chấp những sự cố của việc uống rượu, hiên nay không có bất kỳ bằng chứng nào có sẵn để biện minh cho việc thay đổi các giới hạn an toàn đã được khuyến nghị.
And there was, she acknowledged, a "difficulty" with guidelines full stop because people were inclined to disbelieve any messages about what to do - and what not to do - that come from government.	Và bà cũng thừa nhận có khó khăn với những hướng dẫn ngừng uống hoàn toàn vì người ta có khuynh hướng không tin bất kỳ thông điệp nào về những việc cần làm và những gì không làm – điều đó là do chính phủ.
'Very, very drunk'	"Say sưa, say xỉn”
"I think [the guidelines] have an impact in as much as we know that the first step in changing behaviour is people being aware of the harm it can cause," she said.	"Tôi nghĩ rằng các hướng dẫn có tác động nhiều nếu chúng ta biết rằng bước đầu tiên trong việc thay đổi hành vi là những người ta nhận thức được tác hại nó có thể gây ra", bà nói.
"[But] I still think that whereas people accept the harm that smoking causes, they accept the problems being overweight causes, there is still some issue about accepting the harm that alcohol causes. "I think that's still a message that we haven't got through in the guidelines."	"Nhưng tôi vẫn nghĩ rằng trong khi mọi người chấp nhận những tác hại do hút thuốc lá gây ra và các vấn đề do việc tăng cân gây ra, thì người ta vẫn còn chưa chịu chấp nhận những tác hại do rượu gây ra. "Tôi nghĩ đó vẫn là một thông điệp mà chúng tôi đã không thông qua trong các hướng dẫn".
“n England there is a deafening silence where a substantive strategy should be”	“Ở Anh có một sự im lặng gây điếc tai: một chiến lược bền vững nên đặt ở đâu."
Diane Abbott Shadow public health minister	Diane Abbott Shadow, Bộ trưởng Y tế cộng đồng
Even where people do accept the risks, the minister said, some still carry on regardless.	Bộ trưởng cho biết ngay cả khi người ta chấp nhận những tác hại, một số bất chấp cứ tiếp tục uống.
"People do things that they know harm their health, so 22% of people still smoke," she told the committee.	"Mọi người làm những điều mà họ biết gây tổn hại cho sức khỏe của mình, vì vậy 22% người vẫn hút thuốc," bà nói với hội đồng.
"We do have to look at why it is that people feel the need to go and get very, very drunk and harm their health."	"Chúng ta phải xem xét lý do tại sao mọi người cảm thấy cần phải uống rượu và gây tổn hại cho sức khỏe của họ."
Ms Milton said it was unclear whether price changes were really able to alter habits, particularly among problem drinkers, pointing out that 80% of alcohol was drunk by one-third of the population.	Bà Milton cho biết không rõ liệu những thay đổi giá sẽ thực sự có thể thay đổi được những thói quen, đặc biệt trong những người có vấn đề về uống rượu, khi chỉ ra rằng 1/3 dân số uống 80% rượu.
But she said the government's new alcohol strategy, expected later this year or early in 2012, "will say more about what we are going to do on price", and measures taken already - raising the duty on strong beer and cutting it on weaker varieties - were having an effect.	Tuy nhiên, bà cho biết chiến lược về rượu mới của chính phủ, dự kiến cuối năm nay hoặc đầu năm 2012, sẽ nói thêm về những gì chúng ta sẽ làm với vấn đề giá cả", và những biện pháp đã được thực hiện – tăng thuế đối với bia coa độ cồn cao và cắt thuế đối với những loại yếu hơn - đã có hiệu lực.
"Already, there has been a response from the industry," she said. "Already they are dropping the alcohol strength to get below that duty level.	"Hiện tại, đã có một phản ứng từ ngành công nghiệp", bà nói. "Đã giảm độ mạnh của rượu để đóng mức thuế thấp hơn.
"There is no doubt about it, price can manipulate the market, so increasing duty on high-strength alcohol is not a bad idea, because for every litre sold there is less alcohol in it, which is a move in the right direction."	"Không có nghi ngờ gì nữa, giá có thể thao túng được thị trường, do vậy việc tăng thuế theo độ mạnh của rượu không phải là một ý tưởng tồi, bởi vì đối với mỗi lít được bán ra có ít cồn hơn, đó là là một bước đi đúng hướng."
Scotland is planning to introduce a minimum price per unit for alcohol, but Ms Milton said the move was probably illegal under European trade laws and would be challenged.	Scotland đang có kế hoạch giới thiệu một mức giá tối thiểu trên một đơn vị rượu, nhưng bà Milton cho biết động thái này là có thể bất hợp pháp theo quy định của pháp luật thương mại châu Âu và sẽ bị thách thức.
However, Labour's shadow public health minister Diane Abbott said the government should be prepared to look at minimum pricing.	Tuy nhiên, Bộ trưởng y tế công đồng Diane Abbott cho biết chính phủ nên được chuẩn bị để xem xét giá tối thiểu.
MPs 'susceptible'	Nghị sĩ 'nhạy cảm'
"A recent report predicted that binge-drinking will cost the NHS (National Health Sẻvice) £3.8 billion by 2015, with 1.5 million A&E (accident and emergency) admissions a year," she said.	"Một báo cáo gần đây dự đoán rằng uống rượu bia say sưa sẽ làm tiêu tốn cho Y tế quỗc gia 3,8 tỷ bảng Anh vào năm 2015, với 1,5 triệu nhập viện tai nạn và cấp cứu một năm", bà nói.
"In Scotland, Alex Salmond is pushing ahead with minimum pricing policies, and yet in England there is a deafening silence where a substantive strategy should be."	"Tại Scotland, Alex Salmond đẩy mạnh các chính sách giá tối thiểu, và ở Anh là một sự im lặng khó hiểu: một chiến lược bền vững nên đặt ở đâu."
Anne Milton Anne Milton said there was "no one magic bullet" to solving the problem of alcohol abuse.	Anne Milton nói là "không có một viên đạn thần kỳ" để giải quyết vấn đề lạm dụng rượu.
Ms Milton insisted she had "an appropriate degree of cynicism" about industry campaigns to promote responsible drinking, but she believed companies did not want their brands to be "associated with crime, anti-social behaviour and people being paralytically drunk".	Bà Milton khẳng định bà đã có "một mức độ hoài nghi nhất định" về các chiến dịch ngành công nghiệp nhằm thúc đẩy việc uống có trách nhiệm, nhưng bà tin rằng các công ty không muốn thương hiệu của mình có "liên quan đến tội phạm, hành vi chống đối xã hội và những người ta say rượu bí tỉ".
She said about 80% of the major drinks companies had agreed to introduce labelling with information about units and warnings for pregnant women.	Bà cho biết khoảng 80% các công ty đồ uống lớn đã đồng ý áp dụng ghi nhãn với các thông tin về các đơn vị và cảnh báo đối với phụ nữ mang thai.
She said there was "no one magic bullet" to solve alcohol abuse, and local alcohol campaigns were likely to have worked best because consumption patterns were so varied.	Bà nói "không có một viên đạn thần kỳ" để giải quyết lạm dụng rượu, và các chiến dịch chống rượu địa phương khả năng thành công nhất bởi vì mô hình tiêu thụ rượu rất đa dạng.
The minister also said MPs were "susceptible" to "risky behaviour" like excessive drinking because of their anti-social hours and the time they spent away from family.	Bộ trưởng cũng cho biết các nghị sĩ "nhạy cảm" đối với "hành vi có nguy cơ” như uống rượu quá mức vì giờ làm việc khó gần gũi của họ và thời gian họ sống xa gia đình.
But she said she did not believe some of Parliament's many bars should be shut down in a bid to make them more sober.	Nhưng bà nói rằng bà không tin rằng một số trong nhiều quán rượu của Quốc hội nên bị đóng cửa trong một nỗ lực để làm cho họ tỉnh táo hơn.
	Translated by Võ Hoàng Nhân, Class Y2E - Gr 2