【英國每日電訊】中國在東方的再度崛起

【 英國每日電訊】中國在東方的再度崛起


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China on the rise once more across the East


If any more evidence of China\'s steady ascent towards Asian regional dominance was needed, the climax of Sri Lanka\'s war has provided the proof.
如果要尋找中國對亞洲的支配一步步加強的更多佐證，斯裏蘭卡激戰就是其中之一。

An ally of Beijing has fought a bitterly controversial conflict to a final victory, while shrugging off international protests along the way. India, the other Asian giant, is only 50 miles from Sri Lanka across the waters of the Palk Straits, yet it has been shown to have far less influence on its neighbour than China.
這個北京的盟友無視國際抗議，剛打完一場頗有爭議的戰爭，獲得了最終勝利。作為另一個亞洲大國，印度從保克海峽(Palk Straits)至斯裏蘭卡僅有50英裏的距離，但是印度對這個鄰國的影響卻遠不如中國。

Through a combination of strategic investments in seaports and pipelines, along with direct financial and military support for friendly governments, China is building a web of influence across South Asia. Many of Beijing\'s immensely ambitious projects are years away from fruition, yet the repercussions of these ventures are already being felt.
通過港口及管道的一係列戰略投資，加上向友好政府提供的直接的金融及軍事援助，中國正在南亞編織一張影響力輻射網。雖然北京許多野心勃勃的項目尚需多年才能完工，但是已經可以覺察到其造成的影響。


In Sri Lanka, Beijing began constructing a port in Hambantota in 2007 and the scheme is scheduled for completion in 2022. This forms the basis of China\'s alliance with President Mahinda Rajapaksa\'s government and helps explain the diplomatic support Beijing gave Sri Lanka during the war against the Tamil Tigers.
2007年北京開始在斯裏蘭卡建設漢班托塔（Hambantota）港口，這項工程計劃於2022年完工。它奠定了中國與馬欣達·拉賈帕克塞（Mahinda Rajapaksa）政府結盟的基礎，也有助於理解為什麽北京會在斯裏蘭卡打擊猛虎組織的戰爭中為其提供外交支持。

The official line is that Hambantota is only a commercial trading venture and the facility will handle civilian shipping and nothing else. Any attempt to distort the facts would be invalid, said Ma Zhaoxu, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesman.
官方的說法是漢班托塔隻是一個“商業”貿易項目，設備僅用於民航。外交部一位發言人馬朝旭說：“任何歪曲事實的企圖都是荒謬的。”


But the appearance of a new Chinese port on Sri Lanka\'s southern coast would allow Beijing the option of using the facility as a naval base in the future. Other projects under way at strategic points across the Indian Ocean raise the same possibility.
但是這個在斯裏蘭卡東海岸新崛起的中國港口在將來可以作為北京的海軍基地。其它在印度洋戰略要地興建中的項目也為北京提供了這種可能性。

China is building another port at Gwadar on the Pakistani coast and at Kyauk Phyu on Burma\'s island of Ramree. Taken together, these and other facilities may allow China to extend its growing naval strength well beyond its traditional coastal waters and into the Indian Ocean. It would mark a crucial stage in the country\'s rise to become Asia\'s hegemonic power.
在巴基斯坦海岸瓜達爾港（Gwadar）和緬甸的蘭裏島（Ramree），中國也在建設港口。通過所有這些港口以及其它設備，中國可以將

China is marching towards regional dominance and that brings it into conflict with India on one flank and Japan on the other, said Kerry Brown, a senior fellow at the Asian programme of the Chatham House think tank. It will at some point become much more active as a military power in the region.
“中國正在向區域主導地位邁進，將會引發與兩邊的鄰國印度及日本的衝突”，英國皇家國際關係研究所（Chatham House）亞洲項目高級官員凱利·布朗說，“在未來某個時候，它作為區域軍事強國更要比現在積極得多。”

China\'s ambitions are of deep concern to its Asian rivals, especially India which shares a 2,100-mile disputed border with its neighbour. Countries as far away as Australia have also shown they are worried. Kevin Rudd\'s government in Canberra is hugely expanding the Australian navy with the unspoken aim of balancing China\'s growing strength.
中國的雄心引起了亞洲競爭對手們的極大關注，尤其是與中國有著2100英裏爭議邊界線的印度。遠至澳大利亞這樣的國家也表示了擔心。澳大利亞陸克文政府正迅速擴張海軍，目標不言而喻---與中國不斷增長的軍事力量抗衡。

These fears may, however, be exaggerated. China is bidding to become Asia\'s foremost power, but not a global behemoth to rival the United States. Moreover, all the evidence suggests that its prime aim is securing its economic growth and domestic stability.
但是這些擔憂可能太誇大了。中國誌在成為亞洲頭號強國，而不是匹敵美國的全球霸主。而且，所有證據表明中國主要目的在於確保經濟發展及國內穩定。


The Chinese are not seeking conflict. They are seeking a stable international environment within which they can continue their economic development, said Mr Brown. The key imperative is to preserve internal security within China.
“中國人可不想找麻煩。他們要的是能夠確保經濟持續增長的穩定的國際環境”，布朗說，“最關鍵的一條是維護國內安定。”


There is no sign of China becoming an overtly threatening, expansionist power. Far from having designs on other countries\' territory, China has resolved all border disputes with 12 of its 14 neighbours. In the case of Russia, where the People\'s Liberation Army fought bloody frontier skirmishes in the 1960s, and Vietnam, where Chinese forces waged a full scale border war in 1979, Beijing chose to make big concessions and give away large areas it had previously claimed.
沒有跡象顯示中國已經走上公然威脅他國的擴主義強國之路。在14個鄰國中，中國與12個國家解決了邊界爭端。在中國解放軍在上世紀60年代與俄羅斯進行的血腥的邊界戰役以及中國1979對越大規模邊界戰爭中，北京選擇作出重大讓步，放棄了之前主張的廣大的區域。


If a future Chinese government decides to use the string of new ports as naval bases, this does not necessarily mean Beijing is out to intimidate its neighbours and overawe the region.
如果未來的中國政府決定利用新建的港口作為海軍基地，不一定意味著北京要威脅鄰國或稱霸一方。


Instead, China\'s economy is largely dependent on energy supplies brought from the Middle East and Africa along vital Indian Ocean shipping lanes. Guaranteeing the safety of these arteries is an understandable aim and does not, of itself, show an aggressive intention.
而是因為中國經濟很大程度依靠來自中東及非洲的能源供應，這些能源經由印度洋航線輸送，中國保護這些生命線的安全情有可原，這本身並不是一種擴張意圖。

In particular, China imports about 80 per cent of its oil through the Strait of Malacca, where the Indian Ocean joins the Pacific. President Hu Jintao has called this dependence the Malacca Dilemma and China\'s naval planning seems geared towards ensuring this passage remains open, while developing alternative routes where possible.
特別是中國進口所需石油的80%要通過連接印度洋和太平洋的馬六甲，胡錦濤主席把這種依賴性稱為“馬六甲困局”。中國海軍部署要確保這條航道的暢通，同時開發其它可能的線路。


Whatever the motives behind the inexorable extension of China\'s influence in Asia, however, the balance of global power has already changed dramatically.
不論中國擴大對在亞洲的影響力動機何在，國際格局都已經發生了重大的變化。



http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/china/5350478/China-on-the-rise-once-more-across-the-East.html