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譯者: Lilian Chiu
審譯者: Bruce Sung
00:08
Gold is one of Earth’s most
valuable resources,
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黃金是地球上最貴重的資源之一,
00:12
with one kilogram regularly valued
at over 55,000 US dollars.
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一公斤的黃金的價值
通常超過五萬五千美金。
00:17
In 2020, Mali produced an estimated
71.2 tons of gold.
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2020 年,
馬利生產了估計 71.2 公噸的黃金。
00:22
But Mali only saw $850 million
from gold in 2020,
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但 2020 年馬利只從黃金
賺到八億五千萬美金,
00:27
when that amount is worth billions,
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那產量的價值應該有數十億,
00:29
not to mention that the country likely
produced much more
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更不用說該國實際的產量可能
遠不只公佈出來的 71.2 公噸。
00:32
than the reported 71.2 tons.
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00:34
The situation isn’t unique:
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這個情況並不罕見:
00:37
a number of other gold-rich countries
in Africa,
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非洲其他富含黃金的國家,
00:40
including Mauritania, Senegal, Guinea,
Cote d’Ivoire,
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包括茅利塔尼亞、塞內加爾、
幾內亞、象牙海岸、
00:44
Ghana, Burkina Faso, and Niger
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迦納、布吉納法索,及尼日,
00:47
also aren’t seeing the income they should,
given the price of gold.
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用黃金價格來算,它們也都
沒有得到該有的收入。
00:51
The force behind this is greed
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這背後的原因就是
個人層級、企業層級、
00:53
on an individual, corporate,
and national scale,
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國家層級的貪婪,
00:57
and a corrupt system
that perpetuates itself.
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以及一直存在的腐敗體制。
01:00
Although Mali has abundant gold,
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雖然馬利有很豐富的黃金,
01:02
the country lacks the infrastructure
to mine and export it.
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卻沒有基礎設施來開採和出口黃金。
01:06
So the government allows multinational
corporations to apply for licenses
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所以,馬利政府允許
多國企業申請執照,
01:10
to mine gold in exchange
for taxes paid to Mali’s government.
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開採黃金,換取它們
支付給馬利政府的稅款。
01:13
These taxes should, theoretically,
finance development,
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理論上,這些稅款
應該用來資助國家發展,
01:17
like building the infrastructure
to mine gold, improve the economy,
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比如建造基礎來開採黃金、
改善經濟,
01:21
and provide citizens with public goods
like healthcare and education.
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以及提供公共財給公民,
比如健康照護及教育。
01:25
Tax money alone isn’t enough
to do these things, of course:
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當然,光靠稅款是不夠做這些事的:
01:29
a government also has to be invested
in its people’s well-being,
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政府也需要其他資金
投資在其人民的福祉上,
01:33
and government corruption
can prevent progress.
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且政府腐敗可能會成為進步的阻礙。
01:36
But without adequate funds,
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但若沒有足夠資金,
01:37
even the best intentioned government
doesn’t stand a chance
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就算政府有最好的意圖,
也沒有機會改善其公民的境況。
01:40
of improving circumstances
for its citizens.
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01:44
Foreign corporations exploit
Mali’s need for tax revenue
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外國大公司利用
馬利對於稅收的需求,
01:47
to get the government to sign on to very
unfavorable yet perfectly legal contracts.
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讓政府簽下非常不利
卻完全合法的合約。
01:52
For example, one such contract stated
that no corporate taxes would be owed
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比如,
有一份這種合約就約定,
在前五年都不能課公司稅,
01:57
for the first five years,
costing Mali millions in tax revenue.
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讓馬利損失數百萬美金的稅收。
02:01
Meanwhile, mining licenses sometimes allow
these corporations to take samples of gold
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同時,
採礦執照有時會允許這些大公司
可以把黃金樣本帶出國,不用登記,
02:06
out of the country
without registering them
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02:08
or paying taxes on them.
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也不用支付相關稅款。
02:10
These should be small amounts of gold
used to test for quality,
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樣本應該是少量的黃金,
用來做品質檢測,
02:13
but the license doesn’t limit
the size of samples,
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但執照中沒有對樣本的量設定限制,
02:16
so this creates a loophole
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這就造成了漏洞,
02:18
where corporations export large
amounts of gold without paying any tax.
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讓大公司可以出口大量黃金,
卻什麼稅都不用付。
02:23
The multinational corporations are
also evading taxes
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跨國公司
也在設法逃避法律規定要繳納的稅。
02:27
they are legally required to pay.
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02:29
They filter profits through a labyrinth
of tax havens that’s difficult to trace.
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它們透過難以追蹤的
避稅港迷宮來過濾利潤。
02:33
Or they exaggerate their expenses
so they end up owing very little in taxes.
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或者,它們會誇大費用,
最後欠的稅款就非常少。
02:38
For instance, a corporation in Mali uses
a subsidiary in Ireland
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比如,馬利有一家公司
用愛爾蘭的子公司
02:42
to manage its operations
and another subsidiary in the Netherlands
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來管理它的營運,
並用荷蘭的另一家子公司
來授權其品牌名稱。
02:46
to license its brand name.
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02:48
The corporation in Mali pays
management fees to the Irish subsidiary
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馬利的公司支付管理費
給愛爾蘭的子公司,
02:52
and pays intellectual property license
fees to the Dutch company,
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並支付智慧財產授權費
給荷蘭的公司,
02:56
all for enormous sums.
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總金額都很大。
02:58
These costs are deducted
from overall profits,
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整體利潤會把這些成本扣除,
03:01
leaving the amount subject
to taxes at a bare minimum.
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讓需要課稅的金額減到最低。
03:05
These companies also buy gold
on the black market.
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這些公司也會在黑市買黃金。
03:08
Local, small-scale miners often operate
without a license,
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當地的小型開採業者
通常都會無照營運,
03:11
so the government is unaware
of how much gold they mine.
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因此政府不知道它們開採了多少。
03:14
Corporations buy gold from these miners,
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大公司向這些開採業者購買黃金,
03:16
avoiding the cost of mining
the gold themselves,
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省去自己開採黃金的成本,
03:19
and pay the miners far below market value.
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付給開採業者的價格
遠低於市場價值。
03:22
Then they turn around and tell
the government
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接著,它們回頭就告訴政府
它們產生了大量的費用,
03:24
they incurred huge expenses
mining gold they didn’t mine at all.
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用在開採根本不是它們開採的黃金。
03:28
There’s no way for Mali’s revenue
authority to verify this information,
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馬利的稅收管理機關
不可能去驗證這類資訊,
03:32
causing the country to lose
even more tax money.
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導致馬利又損失更多稅收。
03:36
Similarly, corporations pay corrupt
government officials
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同樣的,
大公司會賄賂腐敗的政府官員
協助它們將黃金走私出國,
03:39
to help them smuggle gold across borders,
primarily to the United Arab Emirates,
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主要走私到阿拉伯聯合大公國,
03:44
rather than operating
through legal channels.
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而不是透過合法管道來營運。
03:47
In 2016, Mali reported around $200 million
of exported gold,
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2016 年,
馬利公佈出口的黃金
大約有兩億美金,
03:53
but the UAE reported receiving slightly
over $1.5 billion of imported gold
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但同年,阿拉伯聯合大公國公佈
從馬利進口的黃金
有略多於十五億美金。
03:58
from Mali that same year.
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04:00
The gold is then sold to European,
American, and Asian markets from the UAE,
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接著,阿拉伯聯合大公國的這些黃金
會再被賣到歐洲、
美國,及亞洲的市場,
04:06
with no questions asked about its origins.
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且不會被過問黃金來源。
04:08
Similar patterns can be seen
with gold-rich countries across Africa,
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在非洲各地有豐富黃金的國家
都看得到類似的模式。
04:12
indicating that gold smuggling
is happening on a massive scale,
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顯示現在黃金走私的規模相當可觀,
04:15
without ever being subject to taxes.
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完全不會被課稅。
04:18
All of this creates a vicious cycle,
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這一切造成了惡性循環,
04:21
forcing a continued reliance
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導致必須要持續仰賴大公司,
即造成這個情況的始作俑者。
04:23
on the corporations that helped create
the situation in the first place.
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04:27
More than half of Mali’s citizens live
below the international poverty line,
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一半以上的馬利公民過著
低於國際貧窮線的生活,
04:31
while their nation’s wealth lines
the pockets of foreign corporations
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而國家的財富
卻都在外國大公司和貪官的口袋中。
04:34
and corrupt officials.
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