英国国王查尔斯三世10月27日启程加勒比之行：先访巴哈马与圭亚那，再赴安提瓜和巴布达出席英联邦峰会，奴隶制赔偿议题再受关注
伦敦——英国国王查尔斯三世与卡米拉王后10月27日启程前往加勒比地区访问，行程至11月4日结束：两人先访问巴哈马与圭亚那，随后赴安提瓜和巴布达出席英联邦政府首脑会议（CHOGM）。此次访问正值加勒比国家要求英国就奴隶贸易作出赔偿的呼声再度升高。
英联邦由56个国家组成，成员多为前英国殖民地，涵盖约27亿人口，查尔斯三世为其元首；英联邦政府首脑会议每两年举行一次。在2022年的上届会议上，查尔斯曾就奴隶制表达深切的个人悲痛；外界预计，赔偿议题在本届会议上将再次成为焦点。
加勒比共同体（CARICOM）由23个成员及联系成员组成，包括巴哈马、巴巴多斯与牙买加等国；该组织上月表示，将推动把赔偿议题列入本届峰会议程。加共体秘书长卡拉·巴尼特上月表示，加勒比地区一贯认为，赔偿从根本上关乎正义，关乎承认、责任与变革。英联邦秘书长雪莉·博奇威上周也表示，讨论赔偿的时机已经到来，赔偿可以是经济形式，也可以是归还文物等其他形式。
白金汉宫表示，国王在访问期间不会回避英国在跨大西洋奴隶贸易中扮演的角色，但不会正式道歉；这与英国政府的政策一致，英政府同样排除支付任何经济赔偿。王宫发言人表示，国王本人多年来一直致力于承认过去的错误，并寻找办法纠正延续至今的不平等。
历史背景方面，15至19世纪，至少1250万名非洲人被欧洲商人掳走并卖为奴隶，其中英国运送约320万人，是仅次于葡萄牙的欧洲第二大奴隶运送国。查尔斯三世目前仍是巴哈马、安提瓜和巴布达等多个加勒比国家的国家元首。
King Charles III Heads to the Caribbean on October 27: Bahamas and Guyana First, Then Antigua and Barbuda for Commonwealth Summit as Slavery Reparations Demands Grow
LONDON — King Charles III and Queen Camilla set off on October 27 for a Caribbean tour running through November 4, visiting the Bahamas and Guyana first before heading to Antigua and Barbuda for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM), as calls from the region for Britain to pay reparations for its role in the slave trade grow louder.
The Commonwealth is a group of 56 nations, mainly former British colonies, encompassing some 2.7 billion people and headed by Charles; its leaders meet every two years. At the previous meeting in 2022, Charles expressed deep personal sorrow over slavery, and the issue is expected to be prominent once again.
Last month the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), a group of 23 member and associate member states including the Bahamas, Barbados and Jamaica, said it would push for reparations to be on the CHOGM agenda. CARICOM Secretary-General Carla Barnett said last month that the Caribbean has consistently asserted that reparations is fundamentally about justice, about recognition, accountability and transformation. Commonwealth Secretary-General Shirley Botchwey said last week that the time had come for discussions about reparations, be they financial or in some other form such as the return of artefacts.
Buckingham Palace has said the monarch will not shy away from Britain's involvement in the transatlantic slave trade during the tour, but will not formally apologise, in keeping with British government policy, which also excludes making any financial reparations. A palace spokesperson noted the work the king himself has done over many years both to acknowledge the wrongs of the past and to find creative ways to right inequalities that endure.
From the 15th to the 19th century, at least 12.5 million Africans were abducted and sold into slavery by European merchants, with Britain transporting an estimated 3.2 million people, making it the second most active European nation after Portugal. Charles remains head of state of a number of Caribbean nations, including the Bahamas and Antigua and Barbuda.
来源：GSM·美国（原文链接）
图片来源：图：英国国王查尔斯三世（2023年7月）。图片为美国联邦政府作品、公共领域，经Wikimedia Commons使用。Image: King Charles III in July 2023, a work of the U.S. federal government in the public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
