Most people in Hong Kong and the mainland know about China’s Belt and Road Initiative, a global infrastructure plan that links many countries. The US has so-called Belts too, such as the Rust Belt, Sun Belt, and Bible Belt that mostly Americans are familiar with. These are regions in the US, not infrastructure plans. There are 13 such Belts in the US. The Rust Belt is a politically important region during presidential elections. This region includes parts of New York, Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin. The Rust Belt gets its name from the abandoned factories and urban decay after factory jobs were outsourced to places like China and Vietnam.

It used to be called the Steel Belt when factories thrived by producing steel and iron decades ago. It’s an important political region because states such as Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin are among the seven swing states that mostly decide who is elected president. A swing state, as I explained previously, is a state where Republicans and Democrats have similar voter support. Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump will be slugging it out in the swing states. To slug it out means to fight, argue, or compete until one side wins.

The Sun Belt stretches across the entire southern part of the US, including California, Florida, and Texas where the weather is mostly sunny and warm. Unlike the Rust Belt, the Sun Belt is a thriving region. The Bible Belt, in the Southeastern US, gets its name from the Protestants and Evangelicals who dominate the region. Most of the Bible Belt states, such as Mississippi, Arkansas, and Louisiana, strongly support the Republican Party.

香港和內地許多人都會知道中國的「一帶一路」倡議——一個連繫許多國家的全球基礎設施發展計劃。美國也有所謂的「帶」，例如 Rust Belt、Sun Belt和Bible Belt，都是大多數美國人相當熟悉的。這些帶卻並非基建的計劃，而是美國的不同地區。在美國，有十三條這樣的「帶」。The Rust Belt是鏽帶，為總統大選期間一個政治上很重要的地帶。它包括了位於紐約、賓夕凡尼亞州、密芝根州以及威斯康辛州的部分地區。由於工廠工作都外包至中國及越南等地，以致出現廢棄工廠以及城市衰落，「鏽帶」（Rust Belt）因而得名。

幾十年前當它製造鋼鐵，工業發展相當興旺之時，這個地區就曾被稱為 the Steel Belt。它是一個重要的政治地區，因為像賓夕凡尼亞州、密芝根州和威斯康辛州這些州分，都是在七個搖擺州分（swing states）之中，大多決定由誰當選總統。正如我之前解釋過的，swing state就是共和黨和民主黨的候選人在這些州分中有相近的票數支持。副總統賀錦麗和前總統唐納德‧特朗普都將會在這些搖擺州分（swing states）中決一雌雄（slugging it out）。To slug it out 是指去對決、爭拗或比併，直至分出勝負。

太陽帶（Sun Belt）則於整個美國南部鋪展開，它包括了加州、佛羅里達州及德薩斯州，當地天氣多是陽光充沛及和暖。不像鏽帶（Rust Belt），太陽帶（Sun Belt）是個繁榮的地帶。位於美國東南部的聖經帶（Bible Belt），則是由於基督新教及福音派教徒主宰這個地區而得名。大部分的聖經帶（Bible Belt）州分，例如密西西比州、阿肯色州以及路易斯安那州，都是強烈支持共和黨的。

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Michael Chugani褚簡寧
中譯：七刻