Every Monday morning, the stirring strains of China’s national anthem stream into my Beijing apartment from the elementary school across the street. Young students in uniform stand in neat rows on a freshly turfed playground as the Chinese flag inches up a pole. Nearby streets are lined with flower pots, ginkgo trees and propaganda signs exhorting citizens to love their nation.

每周一早晨，中国国歌激昂的旋律都会从街对面的小学飘进我在北京的公寓。身着校服的小学生们在新铺了草皮的操场上排成整齐的方阵，注视着国旗缓缓升起。附近的街道两旁摆放着花盆，种着银杏树，还有号召公民热爱祖国的宣传标牌。

For much of my life that directive had felt superfluous. China’s economy boomed and we were proud of our country.

在我人生的大部分时间里，这样的号召都显得多余。中国经济腾飞，我们为祖国感到骄傲。

That pride is harder for many of us to summon today. Behind the orderliness of everyday life, a quiet desperation simmers. On social media and in private conversations, there is a common refrain: worry over joblessness, wage cuts and making ends meet.

如今，对许多人来说，这种骄傲已难以唤起。在日常生活井然有序的表象下，一股悄无声息的绝望在暗流涌动。社交媒体和私下交谈中反复出现一个主题是：对失业、降薪和生计艰难的担忧。

Chinese people today live with a strange paradox.

当今中国人正生活在一种奇怪的悖论之中。

Internationally, China looks strong. It is America’s only rival in terms of the power to shape the world. The recent meeting between President Trump and President Xi Jinping of China, in which the leaders announced a trade-war truce, has fed this narrative — one that Beijing is only too happy to promote — a resilient nation united in the face of external challenges.

在国际上，中国看似强大。它是美国在塑造世界的能力方面唯一的对手。最近特朗普总统与中国国家主席习近平的会晤——两国领导人宣布贸易战休战——进一步强化了这一叙事，而北京也乐于推动它：一个在外部挑战面前坚韧不拔、团结一致的国家。

That muscular facade is punctured here in China, where despair about dimming economic and personal prospects is pervasive. This contrast between a confident state and its weary population is captured in a phrase Chinese people are using to describe their country: “wai qiang, zhong gan,” roughly translated as “outwardly strong, inwardly brittle.”

这种强硬的外表在中国国内却被戳破，人们对经济和个人前景黯淡的绝望感无处不在。对于这种国家自信与民众疲惫之间的反差，中国人用“外强中干”这个词来概括。

Many now feel the very state policies that have made China appear strong overseas are hurting them. They see a government more concerned with building global influence and dominating export markets than in addressing the challenges of their households. A state crackdown launched several years ago on the private sector is widely blamed for undermining middle-class livelihoods, even as financial resources are channeled into industries that the government deems more strategically important, such as electric vehicles, solar power and shipbuilding. Meanwhile, the global chokehold China has secured on the supply and processing of rare earth elements has caused air and soil pollution at home.

许多人现在感到，正是那些让中国在海外显得强大的国家政策正在伤害他们自己。他们看到政府更关心建立全球影响力、主导出口市场，而非解决民生挑战。几年前针对私营部门的打压行动被普遍认为是中产生计受损的根源，同时财政资源被引导至那些政府认为更具战略意义的行业，如电动汽车、太阳能和造船业。与此同时，中国在稀土供应链和加工领域的全球垄断在国内造成了空气和土壤污染。

These days, there is a sense of bitter anger among the people at being the voiceless victims of the state’s obsession with world power and beating the United States. That sentiment is likely to grow. The latest five-year plan — the government’s blueprint of economic priorities — that was released last month makes clear it plans to double down on prioritizing national power over the common good.

如今，人们感到一种苦涩的愤怒，他们成了一个痴迷于世界大国地位和击败美国的国家的牺牲品，无从发声。这种情绪很可能还会加剧。上个月发布的最新五年计划——政府的经济优先级蓝图——明确表示，将愈发侧重国家实力而非民生福祉。

In April, as the tariff war with the United States intensified, a People’s Daily editorial argued that Beijing can resist American bullying thanks to systemic advantages such as China’s ability to centralize resources and pour them into accomplishing national goals. The backlash on the Chinese internet was swift. While the government boasts, a viral social media post pointed out, everyday struggles like finding work, putting food on the table and educating children are “fraught with difficulty.” Winning the trade war with the United States means “preparing to sacrifice some of the people,” the author wrote. Censors soon blocked the post and others like it.

今年4月，随着中美关税战升级，《人民日报》的一篇社论宣称，北京能够抵御美国霸凌，凭借的是制度优势，如集中资源实现国家目标的能力。中国互联网上的反弹迅猛。一篇热转的社交媒体帖子指出，政府在自夸时，普通人的日常挣扎——找工作、填饱肚子、教育子女——却“困难重重”。作者写道，与美国打赢贸易战意味着“准备牺牲一部分人民”。审查机构很快屏蔽了这篇帖子及类似内容。

Years ago, Chinese people would have cheered a People’s Daily editorial like that out of the reflexive nationalism that the government has instilled for decades. That patriotism is nearly drowned out today by those who vent over the problems they face.

多年前，中国人会出于政府几十年来灌输的条件反射式民族主义，为上文提到的那种《人民日报》社论欢呼。如今，这种爱国情怀几乎被反映民生困境的声音所淹没。

Youth unemployment is so high that last year the government changed its calculation methodology in a way that produced a lower number. Even the new figure remains alarmingly high. An estimated 200 million people get by in precarious careers in a gig economy. Consumers, many of whom have seen their net worth shrink in an intractable housing market crash, are cutting back on spending, trapping the economy in a deflationary spiral.

青年失业率高到去年政府修改了统计方法，以得出更低的数字。即使新数字也高得惊人。据估计，约2亿人在零工经济中勉强维持生计。消费者中许多人因房地产市场崩盘导致净资产缩水，而不得不削减开支，使经济陷入通缩漩涡。

The sense of economic insecurity is leading people to forego marriage and starting families, worsening a national decline in population. Popular frustration also is sharpening the divide between the haves and the have-nots — hardening public resentment against those who are perceived as parlaying economic or political connections into opportunity while most people face dwindling prospects. And mental health problems are believed to be rising, as evidenced by a spate of indiscriminate stabbing sprees and other violent attacks in the past couple of years.

经济不安全感正导致人们放弃结婚和生育，加剧全国人口下降的趋势。民众不满也在拉大贫富差距——当多数人面临日益黯淡的前景时，公众对那些被认为利用经济或政治关系获取机会的既得利益者愈发怨恨。心理健康问题据信也在上升，过去几年一连串无差别持刀袭击和其他暴力事件便是佐证。

It seems clear that Beijing can no longer count on knee-jerk patriotism to underwrite its increasingly assertive stance abroad. In September, when the Chinese Communist Party staged a lavish military parade to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II, many people wondered aloud why that money wasn’t instead spent on addressing the difficulties of ordinary people.

北京显然无法再指望条件反射式的爱国主义为其日益强势的外交立场背书。9月，中国共产党为纪念二战结束80周年举行盛大阅兵时，许多人公开质疑为什么不把这些钱用来改善民生。

The government recently began cracking down on social media content it considered “excessively pessimistic” — a clear sign it is concerned about this public unease undercutting its agenda. But suppressing criticism instead of addressing its causes will only deepen the disconnect with the people and strain the balancing act that the state has tried to strike between its foreign policy priorities and the domestic support it craves.

政府最近开始打击社交媒体上所谓“过度悲观”的内容——这清楚表明，它担心公众的不安会削弱自己的议程。但压制批评而非解决问题根源只会加深与人民的隔阂，使国家在对外政策重点与所需国内支持之间谋求平衡的努力面临更大压力。

China has long thrived under an unspoken social contract: The Communist Party granted the people more freedom to improve their livelihoods in return for political obedience. To many Chinese, the government is no longer holding up its end of the bargain.

长久以来，中国在一种心照不宣的社会契约下取得繁荣：共产党给予人民更多改善生计的自由，以换取政治服从。对许多中国人来说，政府不再履行其契约义务。

When Mr. Xi took power in 2012, he gave China’s people hope with his oft-repeated mantra “the Chinese Dream”: a pledge of shared prosperity through national strength. That phrase has been less prominent in government messaging in recent years.

2012年习近平上台时，他以反复提及的“中国梦”——通过国家强大实现共同繁荣的承诺——给了人民希望。近年来，在政府宣传中已不再那么突出这一口号。

The state might say that’s because much of its vision has become reality. More likely, the Communist Party understands that such rhetoric now rings hollow among a population that is watching its dreams fade.

国家或许会说，那是因为其愿景已大半实现。更可能的是，共产党明白，在目睹梦想日渐黯淡的民众听来，这样的说辞已言不由衷。