【新唐人2011年8月20日讯】新任美国大使骆家辉的平民形象使中国百姓大跌眼镜，美国副总统拜登到京城小吃店吃炸酱面自掏腰包埋单，还付小费，更是令中国人惊愕不已。长期居住美国，对美国社会有深入了解的中国人却认为，在美国，官员一向如此，因此，呼吁中共官员应该向美国官员学习做人。
到访北京的美国副总统拜登，18号在驻华大使骆家辉陪同下，和孙女一起品尝北京炸酱面。一行五人点了五碗炸酱面、十个包子、凉拌黄瓜、凉拌山药、凉拌土豆丝及可乐等，总共花费79元人民币。
结账时，副总统掏出 100元，表示余款按美国习惯作为小费。并对店主表示歉意，说给店方带来了不便。拜登的举动在中国引起震撼，有人甚至以为是美国官员在用行动教育中共官员。
不过，在美国生活了20多年的《北京之春》杂志主编胡平认为，民主社会的官员必须是这个样子。
胡平：“民主国家非常正常的，很普通的，并且所有官员几乎都是这个样子，当然和靠民主产生紧密关系在一起的，如果你要摆谱、摆架子，那选民不高兴了，就不会选你了吧。”
胡平先生表示，在中国，中共的独裁制度造就了不可一世的官员，而官员必须高高在上才能维持独裁统治。
胡平：“他没有意识形态的约束，更没有民主制度对他的制约，摆谱，耍大牌就越来越盛，而且他们就是通过这种方式表示他们高人一等，因为对专制社会来说，官员就是需要和老百姓拉开距离，让别人觉得你是高高在上的，这样才能打消人们的公民意识，因为公民意识主要是平等。”
据胡平分析，现在中国的官场，有意识的培养讲排场，摆派头的作风。即使个别很高的官员表演所谓亲民的动作，也是在一系列周密的安排下，由一大堆中共的保镖隔离老百姓的前提下做出来的。
胡平：“反过来，他这种耍大爷呢，这种派头，就能助长人们的这种草民的意识啊，顺民的意识，臣民的意识啊，就只当人家是官老爷，所以当然对他们磕头求拜， 哪还敢对他们说三道四，谈不上，把他们什么选下台啊，都谈不上。所以现在中国官场上摆谱成了一种风气，有意识的炫耀，这是中国现在很明显的一个特点。”
长期关心普通百姓的孙文广教授则呼吁美国官员能深入民间，了解中国的真实情况。
孙文广：“因为中国对外有很多选材，那些都是正面的，接触平民能够了解到一些真实的情况，因为在中国不管是美国的总统或它的大使，更重要的是了解民情，了解真实的情况，通过报纸，通过官员的交谈是很难了解清楚的。”
然而，网友报料，拜登光顾的这家姚记小吃店，当天下调了菜价，“平时不止这价啊~”。所以拜登五人吃饭才花了79元。网友说：“是为了迎接总统，还是上面的命令，不得而知！”
新唐人记者刘惠、郭敬采访报导。
U.S. Officials vs Chinese Officials: Big Difference
New U.S. ambassador to China Gary Locke’s civilian image
was a great shock to Chinese civilians, and more surprisingly
U.S. Vice President Biden visited Beijing and ate noodles
in a snack bar, paying the bill himself including tips.
But this doesn’t surprise the Chinese people living in the U.S.
With a deep understanding of U.S. society, they said that
this is the U.S. officials’ custom, therefore,
they called on Chinese officials to learn how to behave.
During his visit to China, on Aug. 18, U.S. Vice President
Biden, accompanied by ambassador to China Locke
and Biden’s granddaughter, ate fried-sauce-noodles.
Five people ordered five bowls of fried-sauce-noodles,
ten steamed buns, a cucumber salad, a yam salad,
a potato salad and coca-cola, totaling RMB 79.
Vice President took out 100 yuan to pay the bill and
said that following the U.S. customs, the balance is the tip.
Biden apologized to the shop owner for any inconvenience.
Biden’s behavior caused great shock in China.
People believe that this is an educational deed by
the American officials towards their Chinese counterparts.
Editor-in-Chief of Beijing Spring magazine Hu Ping
has lived in the U.S. for over 20 years.
He said that the officials in a democratic society
should behave in that way.
Hu Ping: In a democratic society, this is a very normal and
common practice and almost all officials are like that.
This goes hand in hand with a democratic system.
If you are pretentious, voters will be unhappy.
Naturally, they won’t vote for you again.
Hu Ping said that in China, the Communist dictatorship
fosters extremely arrogant officials
and their superiority helps maintain the dictatorship.
Hu Ping: He is not bound by any ideology,
nor by a democratic system.
More and more officials have put on airs and shown off,
in order to feel superior to everyone else.
Authoritarian rule deliberately requires
its officials to keep a distance from the civilians,
so others will believe that they are superior.
In this way, they eliminate the people’s civic awareness,
as its core lies in equality among people.
Hu Ping’s analysis is that at present, China’s officials
are consciously fostering the trend of ostentatious airs.
Even if some high-level officials perform some so-called
“caring for communities”, these are strategically planned,
with lots of Chinese Communist’s (CCP) bodyguards
around to keep the civilians at a distance.
Hu Ping: In return, such put-on-airs trend can contribute to
people’s awareness that they are the born grassroots,
but regarding those officials as bureaucrats.
So the people naturally kowtow to these officials,
without the courage to criticize them or vote them down.
So in China’s officialdom, the trend of deliberate showing off
has become a common and obvious characteristic.
Long-term concerned with the civilians’ lives, Professor
Sun Wenguang called on the U.S. officials to visit the public
to find out the real situation in China.
Sun Wenguang: Because all reports on Chinese officials are
written to positively propagandize the communist regime.
Only getting in touch with the civilians enables one to
find out the truth about China.
It’s more important for the U.S. President and ambassador
to know the people’s opinions and their true situation.
It’s hard to acquire by reading newspapers
or having official talks.
Unexpectedly, netizens revealed that the snack bar where
Biden ate, lowered its price that day just for Biden’s trip.
“It’s just much cheaper than usual.” That’s why it only cost
Biden 79 yuan for five person’s meals.
A netizen wrote, “This is done to welcome the president or
to follow the Chinese authorities’ instructions; I have no idea.”
NTD reporters Liu Hui and Guo Jing
