当意大利警方、消防队员和各路稽查员砸响工厂大门，对普拉托的非法中国血汗工厂发起最新一轮突击检查时，住在工厂没有窗户的潮湿小隔间里的工人们惊得不知所措，大多数人仍穿着睡衣。
短短几个小时，警方又查封了Lazzeretto大街上的四家服装厂，没收了大量缝纫机，拖走两名非法移民，并命令剩下的几十名工人搬走。
这座托斯卡纳古城的居民多年来一直忍受着（也受益于）中国的移民浪潮，如今他们感到受够了。在欧洲，这里如今已是中国经营产业最集中的地区。
普拉托工业联合会主席里卡多•马利尼(Riccardo Marini)宣称：“过满则溢。普拉托不能再这样继续下去了。中国人在法国和英国可能会遵守法律，但在这儿却不会，因为过去的政商体制允许他们这样。情况已不可收拾了。”
在去年6月的市政选举中，普拉托一反63年的传统，不再支持左翼党，转向支持仇外的中右党北方联盟(Northern League)。
普 拉托新任市长罗贝尔托•切尼(Roberto Cenni)也是一位纺织服装企业家，他对低收入中国劳工所忍受的“奴隶般的生活环境”进行了公开谴责。在北方联盟强硬派人士、意大利内政部长罗贝尔托• 马洛尼(Roberto Maroni)的支持下，警方上月发动了打击非法工厂的行动，并出动了直升飞机，在空中传递信息。
普拉托陷入一片震惊，据报纸报道，中国驻佛罗伦萨领事将突袭检查比作纳粹党卫军。
普拉托为自己拥有数百年历史的纺织业感到骄傲，但随着该行业日渐衰落，普拉托认为自己成了边境开放和全球化失控的受害者。
马利尼仍记得1989年首批38名中国人来到这里的纺织厂工作的情形。今天，这一数字估计已升至4万人，其中许多为非法移民。该城18万居民中，有三分之一不是意大利人，而全国平均水平为6%。
随着普拉托纺织业工作岗位的大量流失——无法与中国生产的更低廉布料竞争——普拉托的华人开始利用自己习得的技能，生产“快速时尚”，闯出自己的一片天地。
几年前，许多中国人以非法手段进入意大利，现如今，他们只需持有3个月的旅游签证抵达法兰克福机场，但不离开就行了。普拉托的中国人大多来自同一个城市——浙江省沿海城市温州。历史上，这里的企业家总是喜欢飘洋过海。
普拉托市城墙外的Via Pistoiese，现在已变成一座温州中国城，遍地是餐馆、夜总会（非中国人禁止入内）和堆满中国商品的超市。
当 地记者、《中国围城》(Chinese Siege)一书作者Silvia Pieraccini表示，中国人成功的关键来自两方面。首先是速度。中国的工厂需要2个月时间，才能仿制米兰引领的最新时尚，将廉价产品销往欧洲市场。 但在普拉托，这一过程只需两周，还能贴上“意大利制造”的标签。
其次，中国人熟悉整个生产链。他们进口廉价的中国布料，再染色，印上图案。纽扣、拉链和珠粒都在当地生产，成品卖给涌入批发店的欧洲各地采购商。
一件普通女式棉衬衣起价1.7欧元（合2.3美元）。普拉托估计有3500家中国工厂，在满负荷的情况下，每天能生产100万件。在设计、营销和会计方面，中国人依赖有创造力的意大利专门技能。
但在经济衰退和打击行动的双重作用下，那些不纳税、不缴纳工会会费或市政服务费的非法中国工厂成了众矢之的。但未来会怎样仍不明朗。
切尼希望普拉托的中国制造商能采用该城自己的优质纺织品，而非进口布料，甚至回销到中国。切尼本人的Sasch服装连锁企业在中国制造和销售。
目前尚不确定，中国的工厂主是会转为合法经营，从而降低竞争力，还是将生产挪至其它地区。
意大利警方赶到极为沮丧的一点是：他们无法将没有任何证明文件的非法移民驱逐出境，因为中国拒绝接收。去年仅有两人被驱逐。马利尼表示：“我们正在和一个没有边境的中国打交道。”
Sangallo's
Santa Maria delle Carceri.
Prato 
listen (help·info) is a city and comune in Tuscany, Italy, the capital of the Province of Prato.
Historically, Prato's economy has been based on the textile industry. The renowned Datini archives are a significant collection of late medieval documents produced between 1363 and 1410. The Textile Museum also reflects this history.
Prato is also a centre of the slow food movement, with many local specialities, including cantucci, a type of biscotti, sold by local speciality bakers.
Since the late 1950s, the city has experienced significant immigration, firstly from southern Italy, then from other nationalities, the most notable being a large Chinese community which first arrived in the late 1980s. With more than 180,000 inhabitants, Prato is Tuscany's second largest city and the third largest in Central Italy, after Rome and Florence.
History
Ancient age
Archaeological findings have proved that Prato's surrounding hills were inhabited since Paleolithic times. The plain was later colonized by the Etruscans. In 1998 remains of a previously unknown city from that civilization was discovered in the neighbourhood, near Campi Bisenzio: it was of medium size and it was already a centre for wool and textile industry. According to some scholars, it could be the mythical Camars. The Etruscan city was inhabited until the 5th century BC, when, for undisclosed reasons, it decayed; control of the area was later shifted to the Romans, who had their Via Cassia pass from here, but did not build any settlement.
Middle Ages
In the early Middle Ages the Byzantine and Lombard dominations followed. The history of Prato itself begins from the 10th century, when two distinct villages, Borgo al Cornio and Castrum Prati (Prato's Castle), are known. In the following century the two settlements were united under the lords of the castle, the Alberti family, who received the imperial title of Counts of Prato. In the same period the plain was dried and a hydraulic system regulating and exploiting the waters of the Bisenzio River was created to feed the gualchierae (pre-industrial textile machines).
After a siege in 1107 by the troops of Matilde of Canossa, the Alberti retreated to their family fortresses in the Bisenzio Valley: Prato could therefore develop as a free commune. Within two centuries it reached the number of 15,000 inhabitants, spurred in by the flourishing textile industry and by the presence of the Holy Belt relic. Two new lines of walls had to be built in the mid-12th century and, respectively, from the early 14th century. In 1326, in order to counter the expansionism of Florence, Prato submitted voluntarily under the seigniory of Robert of Anjou, King of Naples. However, on February 23, 1351 Joanna I of Naples sold the city to Florence in exchange of 17,500 golden florins. Prato's history therefore followed that of the former in the following centuries.
Modern age
In 1512, during the War of the League of Cambrai, the city was sacked by Spanish troops assembled by Pope Julius II and emperor Charles V to recover the nearby city of Florence for the Medici family. The severity of the sack of Prato led to the surrender of the Florentine Republic, and to the restoration of the Medici rule. The army slaughtered some 50,000 Pratesi in the streets.
In 1653 Prato obtained the status of city and became seat of a Catholic diocese. The city was embellished in particular during the 18th century.
After the unification of Italy in the 19th century, Prato became a primary industrial centre, especially in the textile sector (Italian historian Emanuele Repetti described it as the "Italian Manchester"), and population grew up to 50,000 in 1901 and to 180,000 in 2001. The town experienced a significant internal immigration; Previously part of the province of Florence, in 1992 Prato became the capital of the eponymous province.
Chinese immigration
The city of Prato has the second largest Chinese immigrant population in Italy. Legal Chinese residents in Prato on 31 December 2008 were 9,927[1]. Local authorities estimate the number of Chinese citizens living in Prato to be around 45.000, illegal immigrants included[2]. Most overseas Chinese come from the city of Wenzhou in the region of Zhejiang. Some of them have moved from Chinatown in Paris. The first Chinese people came to Prato in the early 1990s. The majority of Chinese work in the garment industry and ready-to-wear. Chinatown is located in the west part of the city, spreading to Porta Pistoiese in the historical centre. The local Chamber of Commerce registered over 3100 Chinese businesses by September 2008[3]. Most of them are located in an industrial park named Macrolotto di Iolo.
Main sights
Prato is home to many museums and other cultural monuments, including the Filippo Lippi frescoes in the Cathedral of Santo Stefano, recently restored. The Cathedral has an external pulpit by Donatello.
Palazzo Pretorio was built from the 13th century in red bricks. The part in white stone is from late-Gothic era. In the 16th century an external staircase and a watch were added. Also notable is the Palazzo Datini, built from 1383 for the merchant Francesco Datini. It has decorations by Florentine artists like Agnolo Gaddi and Niccolò Gerini. In 1409 it housed Pope Alexander V and Louis of Anjou. The Palazzo degli Alberti (12th century) is home to an art gallery with works by Filippo Lippi (Prato Madonna), Giovanni Bellini (Crucifix with Jew Cemetery) and Caravaggio (The Crowning with Thorns).
The Castello dell'Imperatore is the northernmost castle built by Frederick II of Hohenstaufen in Italy. A further major attraction of the city is the Centro per l'arte contemporanea Luigi Pecci a museum and education centre concerned with contemporary arts.
Other churches include:
在中国，此次打击行动基本没有报道，官方媒体接到指令不得前往普拉托。中国驻意大利大使孙玉玺强调中国人对普拉托“财富”的贡献，坚称仅有一小部分工人为非法移民。
警方突击检查血汗工厂Lola时，一名23岁的女工身穿睡衣，孤立无助地坐在一旁。她说经济衰退太严重了，自去年10月以来，他们就没怎么工作过。她愿意回家，但不能空手回去。
译者/陈云飞
路西的獨柱塔(右圖)始建於1049年，1954年法國撤出河內時被毀，之後重建。向外鋪展開來的瓦屋頂，顯然是受到中國的影響。中國統治越南一千多年。公元938年越南獲得獨立後，依然是中國的附庸國。直到19世紀中葉法國接管了越南，中國的統治才告結束。與中國的對抗關係，在一定程度上造就了越南人的性格，尤其是那種淡泊和兇猛——他們正是憑藉後一種性格特徵，擊敗了法國人和美國人。
◄當時懂得法文的翻譯信件人員都已辭世，老翁是郵政總局裡這份職業僅剩的人，就算視力已退化，每天他都還是帶著微笑寫信。（圖／記者陳姿吟攝）
