China and America
中国和美国
Not exactly eye to eye
意见并非完全一致
They did not agree about North Korea, or much else. But at least they avoided a row
两国并未在朝鲜及很多其他问题上取得一致意见。但是，至少他们避免了争端。
May 27th 2010 | BEIJING | From The Economist print edition
AS AMERICAN officials saw it, simply holding such a large, high-level and broad-ranging meeting with their Chinese counterparts as the one in Beijing this week was worth cheering. Amid unease in America over China’s growing muscle, both governments hoped to demonstrate a reassuring bonhomie. American smiles, however, might have been broader had they persuaded the Chinese to use their clout to rein in a belligerent North Korea.
正如美国的官员认为的，仅仅是和其中国对手，举行一次像本周北京所举行的这样大规模、高级别并且广泛的会议，就是可喜可贺的了。尽管美国对中国的日渐强大感到忧虑，两国政府都希望能表露出令人感到安慰的友好。然而，如果美国劝说了中国利用自己的影响力来控制好战的朝鲜，那么美国的微笑会让人觉得更加从容淡定。
It was one of the biggest-ever gatherings of cabinet-level American officials in China. Some 200 Americans, including the secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, and the treasury secretary, Timothy Geithner, took part in the “Strategic and Economic Dialogue” on May 24th and 25th. The dialogue was launched in Washington last July as an annual chance to ensure that the wide range of bureaucracies involved in the relationship work in harmony.
这是有史以来美国内阁官员前往中国出席的、规模最大的会议之一。约200名美国官员，包括国务卿希拉里•克林顿，以及财政部长盖特纳，参加了5月24日和25日举行的“战略与经济对话”会议。该对话由美国于去年七月发起，作为一年一度的、用以确保两国广泛领域的政府机构间合作更加和谐的会议。
Since the first meeting, discord has been on the rise. American officials were frustrated by what they saw as Chinese obduracy at the United Nations climate-change negotiations in Copenhagen in December. In January China suspended high-level military exchanges with America in response to President Barack Obama’s decision to proceed with long-discussed arms sales to Taiwan. It fumed over a meeting in February between Mr Obama and the Dalai Lama, even though the president had delayed it in deference to China. Disagreements over China’s rigid exchange rate and signs of protectionism in both countries have exacerbated strains.
自从第一次会议以来，就有纷争。去年12月，看到中国在哥本哈根举行的联合国气候会议上的执拗，美国官员感到很沮丧。今年1月，就长期以来所讨论的对台军售问题，奥巴马总统决定继续如此；作为回应，中国暂停了同美国的高端军事交流。2月份，奥巴马会见达赖喇嘛——尽管考虑到中国的原因、他已经推迟了会面日期，但仍激起了中国更大的愤怒。而中国坚挺的汇率和两国的贸易保护主义迹象所引起的分歧，亦使两国间紧张的关系进一步恶化。
In recent weeks China has been trying to show that it still values the relationship. After much procrastination, Hu Jintao, the president, attended a 47-nation nuclear-security summit in Washington in April. The same month, perhaps not coincidentally, America’s treasury department delayed a report which might have accused China of manipulating its currency. (Mr Geithner believes quiet diplomacy is more likely to help relax China’s grip on the yuan.) Earlier this month China indicated it would back tougher UN sanctions against Iran, though details have yet to be worked out.
最近几周，中国已在试着表明自己仍然珍视两国关系。在很多延搁之后，胡锦涛总书记于四月份出席了在华盛顿举行的47国核安全峰会。同一个月，可能并非同一时刻，美国财政部推迟了一项可能谴责中国控制其汇率的报道。（盖特纳认为，平和低调的外交更有利于放松中国对人民币的控制。）本月早些时候，尽管细节尚未出台，中国已表明其会支持联合国对伊朗更为坚决的制裁。
But recent tensions on the Korean peninsula have demonstrated how reluctant China remains to form a true strategic partnership with America. Just as the Chinese and American teams were beginning talks in Beijing, South Korea’s president, Lee Myung-bak, announced a range of retaliatory measures against the North because of a murderous torpedo attack in March on the Cheonan, a South Korean patrol ship. Mrs Clinton declared the situation on the peninsula “highly precarious” and said China and America should “work together” to deal with the crisis. Chinese officials also talked vaguely of working together, but showed little evidence of solidarity.
但是，近来朝鲜半鸟的紧张局势已经表明，中国留下来充当美国实际上的战略伙伴，是多么勉强。就在中美两国与会人员在北京的会谈开始的时候，由于三月份发生在韩国的一艘巡逻船天安舰上的一起鱼雷袭击杀人事件，韩国总统李明博宣布了一系列对朝鲜的报复措施。克林顿夫人称该半岛局势极度“不确定”，并说中美两国应该“通力合作”以解决危机。中国官员也含糊其辞地谈及合作，但并未流露出多少团结。
From Beijing, Mrs Clinton went to Seoul and then home, where on May 27th the administration was to unveil its new national-security strategy. She travelled with no assurance—at least in public—of Chinese backing for attempts to put further pressure on North Korea. Chinese officials merely repeated the stock phrases they trot out whenever trouble occurs on the peninsula, about the need for restraint from both sides. China has neither openly backed assertions that the North sank the ship, nor so much as hinted at disapproval of North Korean behaviour.
克林顿夫人从北京到达首尔，之后辗转回国，5月27日，其政府已将新的国家安全策略公之于众。在尝试对朝鲜施加更多压力的问题上，有关得到中国的帮助方面，她争取了但并没什么把握——至少在公开场合的时候。中国官员只不过是在重复那些需要双边遏制的陈词滥调而已——无论什么时候该半岛发生麻烦，它都会拿这些话出来炫耀。中国从未公开支持朝鲜打沉了天安舰的观点，甚至于也不暗示对朝鲜所为的反对。
In fact, China has painted itself into a diplomatic corner. Early in May it hosted a rare foreign visit by North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong Il. It received him courteously despite the suspicions about the Cheonan incident. China even kept President Lee, who visited Shanghai for the World Expo at the end of April, in the dark about Mr Kim’s forthcoming trip. It cannot have foreseen that, a week after Mr Kim’s departure, pieces of the incriminating torpedo would be dredged up from the seabed.
事实上，中国已然让自己陷入了外交困境。五月份早些时候，它做东接受了次罕见的朝鲜领导人金正日的外事访问。尽管有天安舰事件的嫌疑，朝鲜还是受到了中国的亲切接见。中国甚至还让四月末参观了上海世博会的韩国总统对金主席即将到来的访问蒙在鼓里。它没料到，金主席离开一周后之后，罪恶的鱼雷碎片会被从海床上打捞上来。
Much has changed since 2006, when North Korea conducted its first claimed nuclear test. Then China was far more willing to criticise its ally. It supported a UN resolution imposing economic sanctions. But it drew comfort from the South’s continued eagerness to engage the North, and felt it still had cover for keeping close ties. Victor Cha, an Asia expert in America’s National Security Council in the previous administration, says China’s response to the Cheonan affair suggests that its Korea strategy is stuck in “cold war communist-ally days”. He says it also indicates that, despite China’s greater swagger on the world stage recently, it is “not ready for prime time”.
自从2006年朝鲜声称进行首次核试验以后，有很多变化。之后，中国就越来越愿意批评其盟国。它支持了联合国强迫实施经济制裁的决定。但是，韩国继续热衷于参与朝鲜事务，中国也从中得到了安慰，并以为自己仍和朝鲜保持着密切关系。位于美国的联合国安理会前任管理人员中的亚洲专家，维克多•查，说道，中国对天安舰事件的反应，意味着其朝鲜策略还停留在“冷战期间的共产主义联盟时代”。他说道，这也表明，尽管最近中国在世界舞台大模大样、自鸣得意，它“尚不成熟，没到黄金时间”。
Chinese officials, however, are aware of the potential dangers ahead in North Korea, even if they are loth to discuss them openly. A Chinese participant in the talks with America privately accepts that concerns about the transition from Mr Kim to his successor are “understandable”. China is also anxious to avoid confrontation with America. During the talks, senior Chinese military officials held their first meetings with American counterparts since the spat over arms sales to Taiwan in January. On North Korea, the Americans have the impression that China will agree, if not to a resolution from the UN Security Council, then at least to a critical statement from its president—a slap on the wrist, in diplomatic terms, but better than nothing.
然而，即使中国官员不愿意公开讨论朝鲜问题，但他们知道该问题上潜在的危险。一位参加了与美方会谈的中国官员，私下里认为朝鲜从金主席到其继任的过渡的担忧是“可以理解的”。中国也急于避免与美国的对抗。会谈期间，中国高级军官举行了自一月份的对台军售口角后、与美国对手的第一次会议。美国已经感觉到，在朝鲜问题上，中国将赞同联合国安理会的正式决议、或至少其总书记会发表关键性声明——尽管不过是一点点外交辞令而已，但总好过什么都不表示。
Chinese officials were at pains to reassure their guests that they understood their concerns about the Chinese currency and new “indigenous innovation” policies that foreign companies fear could lose them business. Mr Geithner said China’s response on this had not fully allayed American worries, but was “progress”.
中国官员为消除美国客人的疑虑煞费苦心，美国人为中国坚挺的货币而烦恼、担心外国企业所害怕的新“土生土长的改革”政策可能会使他们失去生意，中国对这些表示理解。盖特纳说道，中国的回应并未完全缓解美国的困扰，但正在有所减轻。
Much more reassurance will be needed from both sides in the America-China relationship. Mr Obama’s line in his state-of-the-union speech in January that “I don’t accept second place for the United States of America” caused quite a few ears in China to prick up. Unspectacular though the fruits of this week’s dialogue were, a senior Treasury official defends the need for such meetings. They will, he says, raise the chance that China will decide to operate within the global system rather than build its own alternative way of pursuing its interests. The Americans live in hope.
美中关系，有待彼此做出更多努力、以恢复双方的信心。一月份，奥巴马在其“联邦之州”的演讲中，说道 “我不接受美国第二的位置”，引得很多中国人纷纷竖起耳朵。尽管，本周对话的结果并不引人注目，但一位高级财政官员辩解道，必须召开这样的会议。他说，这些会议将提供机会以便中国参与到全球体系运作的决定中来，而不是顾着独辟蹊径来追逐自己的利益。美国人对此满怀希望。
http://www.economist.com/world/asia/displaystory.cfm?story_id=16216247
————————————————————————————————————————————————————
注：译文尽量确切、完整地传递原文的信息，但并不代表译者本身的政治观点和感情色彩。
博文正文
返回顶部
发布评论:
