Military Leaders Warn U.S.-China Divide Threatens to Bring Down ‘Iron Curtain’ in Asia


在美国和中国就双方紧张关系相互指责之际，亚太地区一些防务官员纷纷发声，敦促这两个大国增加对话，并警告这种紧张关系演变成一场直接冲突的风险加剧。


新加坡国防部长黄永宏在新加坡i香格里拉对话会上发表讲话。

在美国和中国就双方紧张关系相互指责之际，亚太地区一些防务官员纷纷发声，敦促这两个大国增加对话，并警告这种紧张关系演变成一场直接冲突的风险加剧。 6park.com
With the U.S. and China trading accusations over strained ties, Asia-Pacific defense officials found a common voice urging the two powers to talk more and warning of the heightened risks of the strained relationship spiraling into a direct conflict. 6park.com
   
菲律宾一位高级国防官员警告称，美中之间的紧张关系若不加以控制，恐怕会在整个亚洲拉下一道“铁幕”。 6park.com
A senior defense official from the Philippines warned that the great power tension—if left unchecked—could bring down an “Iron Curtain” across Asia. 6park.com
   
菲律宾国防部高级副部长Carlito Galvez Jr.在新加坡举行的国防官员年会香格里拉对话会(Shangri-La Dialogue)上发表演讲时说：“鉴于冲突的风险近在咫尺，现在是时候增加对话、而不是减少对话。” 6park.com
“While the risk of conflict looms, it is time for more dialogue, not less,” Carlito Galvez Jr., senior undersecretary at the Philippines’ defense department, said in a speech at the Shangri-La Dialogue, an annual meeting of defense officials in Singapore. 6park.com
   
他们的呼吁没有得到回应。美国国防部长奥斯汀(Lloyd Austin)和中国国防部长李尚福的互动仅限于上周五晚宴前的握手，他们同桌而坐，但距离没有近到可以交谈的程度。 6park.com
Their appeals went unanswered. The U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Chinese Defense Minister Li Shangfu limited their interaction to a handshake before dinner on Friday evening, where they sat at the same table but not close enough to speak to one another. 6park.com
   
奥斯汀和李尚福还发表了针锋相对的讲话，指责对方政府造成了沟通的中断；上周六，一艘中国驱逐舰在台湾海峡从一艘美国军舰前面横穿，当时距离美方军舰舰首150码。 6park.com
Instead, Austin and Li delivered dueling speeches that blamed each other’s governments for the communication breakdown, while on Saturday a Chinese destroyer crossed in front of a U.S. warship—150 yards from the bow—in the Taiwan Strait.


中国国防部长李尚福指责美国的一些行为扰乱了该地区的和平。

这种近距离接触引发冲突的风险激发了会议期间的讨论，一些与会者回顾了过去由意外冲突引发的美中外交危机，如2001年一架中国喷气式战斗机和一架美国侦察机在中国海南岛附近相撞，导致架机的中国飞行员丧生。 6park.com
The risk of such close encounters sparking conflict animated discussions during the conference, where some attendees recalled past U.S.-China diplomatic crises triggered by accidental clashes—such as the 2001 collision between a Chinese jet fighter and an American spy plane off China’s island province of Hainan, which left the Chinese pilot dead. 6park.com
   
新加坡国防部长黄永宏(Ng Eng Hen)说，国与国之间必须有正式和非正式的沟通渠道，才能在发生意外时，用以降温和防止冲突。他说，国与国之间建立沟通渠道需要时间，如果到了出现危机才来启动，为时过晚。 6park.com
“Channels of communication—both formal and informal—must exist so that when these unplanned incidents occur, those channels can be used to de-escalate and avoid conflict,” said Singapore Defense Minister Ng Eng Hen. “Such channels of communications must be built over time, it will be too late to start or activate them only in moments of crisis.” 6park.com
   
“单靠言语怎么能阻止钢铁和火焰，”黄永宏说。“但我们除了言语还有什么呢？” 6park.com
“How can mere words stop steel and fire,” Ng said. “But what else do we have, if not words.” 6park.com
   
澳大利亚总理阿尔巴尼斯(Anthony Albanese)呼吁印太地区国家建立更多沟通渠道，为确保和平与稳定起到“护栏”作用。他上周五表示：“外交深度冻结的沉默只会滋生猜疑，只会让各国更容易将动机归因于误解，对彼此做最坏的揣测。” 6park.com
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese called on countries in the Indo-Pacific region to set up more communication channels that can serve as “guardrails” for ensuring peace and stability. “The silence of the diplomatic deep freeze only breeds suspicion, only makes it easier for nations to attribute motive to misunderstanding, to assume the worst of one another,” he said Friday. 6park.com
   
美国官员说，中国拒绝了让国防部长李尚福与美国防长奥斯汀会面的邀请。中国政府则重申，如果美方不取消2018年对李尚福的制裁，就不会同意进行此类会晤。李尚福当时负责中国军队装备发展，他批准购买俄罗斯喷气式战斗机和导弹后，遭到美国制裁。 6park.com
U.S. officials said the Chinese declined an invitation to meet with Austin, while Beijing reiterated that it wouldn’t agree to such a meeting until Washington lifted sanctions it placed on Li in 2018. The U.S. imposed the sanctions after Li, who was overseeing the equipment development for the Chinese military at the time, approved the purchase of Russian jet fighters and missiles. 6park.com
   
在上周六的一次演讲中，奥斯汀批评中国没有更好地与美国军方沟通。李尚福周日作出回应，指责美国的一些行为扰乱了该地区的和平。他说，外国应该停止在中国附近进行侦察，他指责这些行动造成了危险的军事接触。他说，美方需要拿出诚意，并采取实际行动稳定两国关系。 6park.com
In a Saturday speech, Austin criticized China for not communicating better with the U.S. military. Li responded Sunday by rebuking the U.S. for actions he said were disturbing peace in the region. He said foreign countries should stop conducting reconnaissance near China—operations that he blamed for causing risky military encounters. He said Washington needed to act with sincerity and take steps to stabilize the relationship. 6park.com
   
在此次香格里拉对话会期间，一些会议的气氛紧张。中国军方官员频频对那些表示支持美国以及北约(NATO)等西方主导机构的发言者提出质疑。 6park.com
Tensions colored some of the sessions during the security conference. Chinese military officials frequently challenged speakers who expressed support for the U.S. and Western-led institutions such as the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. 6park.com
   
爱沙尼亚总理卡拉斯(Kaja Kallas)在一次会议上称赞北约后，中国军方的赵小卓大校称北约是一个人为树敌的军事联盟。赵小卓说，北约的目的不是和平稳定，而是分裂对抗。 6park.com
After Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas praised NATO during one session, Zhao Xiaozhuo, a senior colonel in the Chinese military, called it a military alliance looking for enemies. The goal of NATO “was not peace and stability, but division and confrontation,” Zhao said.


上周六，在新加坡举行的国防官员年度会议上，菲律宾国防部高级副部长Carlito Galvez Jr.与美国国防部长奥斯汀坐在一起。

卡拉斯反击说，北约的目的是防御，认为北约征服一个国家并在成员国中间瓜分其领土的想法是荒谬的。 6park.com
Kallas said the alliance was designed to be defensive, and that it was absurd to think of NATO conquering a country and dividing up the territory among its members. 6park.com
   
参加香格里拉对话会的一些代表说，美中军方之间的僵局虽然令人担忧，但不应削弱美国和中国继续保持的其他沟通渠道。 6park.com
Some delegates at the Shangri-La Dialogue said the impasse between the U.S. and Chinese militaries, while concerning, shouldn’t detract from the other lines of communication that the U.S. and China continue to maintain. 6park.com
   
出席此次会议的新加坡退休外交官Bilahari Kausikan表示，奥斯汀和李尚福没有会晤不是什么好事，但也算不上是一场灾难。他称，美中国防部长之间的会晤主要关乎大众观感。他指出，其他高级官员仍在会面以及在北京和华盛顿之间往返。 6park.com
“It’s not great, but it’s also not a disaster” that Austin and Li didn’t meet, said Bilahari Kausikan, a retired Singapore diplomat who attended the conference. “A meeting between the top U.S. and Chinese defense officials is mainly about optics,” he said, noting that other senior officials are still meeting and traveling between Beijing and Washington. 6park.com
  
无论人们认为的美中发生冲突的风险是否被夸大，该地区许多国家都已被卷入了这场纷争，正试图平衡与美国和中国的关系。 6park.com
Whether or not the perceived risks of a U.S.-China conflagration are overblown, many countries in the region have been caught in the middle of the rivalry, trying to balance relationships with both the U.S. and China. 6park.com
   
新加坡副总理黄循财(Lawrence Wong)最近发表演讲时说，东南亚国家不希望被迫选边站队。他说：“我们希望加强与美国和中国的联系。任何遏制中国崛起或限制美国在亚洲存在的企图，在本区域都不会有多少人接受。没有人希望看到一场新的冷战。” 6park.com
Southeast Asian countries “do not want to be forced to choose sides,” Singapore’s deputy prime minister, Lawrence Wong, said in a recent speech. “We want to grow our links with both the U.S. and China. Any attempt either to contain China’s rise or to limit America’s presence in the region will have few takers. Nobody wants to see a new Cold War.” 6park.com
   
一些国家表示已感受到美中关系动荡的影响。斐济内政部长Pio Tikoduadua哀叹，大国无法合作应对安全和气候变化等重大全球挑战，对许多太平洋小岛国构成生死存亡的威胁。他上周六在新加坡表示：“俗话说，城门失火，殃及池鱼。” 6park.com
Some countries say they are already feeling the consequences of the turbulent U.S.-China relationship. Fiji’s minister for home affairs, Pio Tikoduadua, bemoaned the inability of the great powers to work together to address major global challenges such as security and climate change, an existential threat for many small Pacific island states. “As they say, when elephants make love or fight, the grass still dies,” he said on Saturday in Singapore. 6park.com
  
印度尼西亚国防部长Prabowo Subianto上周六说：“当一个正在崛起的大国遇到一个卓越的强国时，确实会出现紧张局势，历史记录显示，许多这样的冲突都会导致公开冲突。”Subianto说：“任何武力对抗都可能很快导致危险的灾难。” 6park.com
“When a rising great power meets a pre-eminent global power, tensions do arise and the historical record shows many of these conflicts result in open conflict,” Indonesian Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto said on Saturday. “Any confrontation of force can very quickly result in a dangerous descent into disaster.” 6park.com
  
即便如此，Subianto还是乐观地认为，美中两个大国之间“伟大的政治家风范将占上风”。他说：“除了乐观看法，只有另外一种可能，是我不敢想象的。” 6park.com
Even so, Prabowo expressed optimism that “great statesmanship will prevail” between the two powers. “The only alternative to an optimistic view is one that I do not dare to consider,” he said. 6park.com