“沙之長城”

美國太平洋海軍司令哈裏斯警告中國南海填島具有挑脅性（provocative），會導致區域衝突，不過哈裏斯像是不會說話，用“沙之長城”（'Great Wall of Sand'）來形容南海填島。“沙子”怎麽能建長城呢？

不過此話一出，西方媒體廣泛報道：

英國廣播公司：China building 'great wall of sand' in South China Sea
英國每日電訊報：China building a 'Great Wall of Sand' in South China Sea is 'provocative'
華爾街日報：China’s ‘Great Wall of Sand’ Raises U.S. Concerns



輿論上，中國政府常常攻擊美國政府、官員的言論，指出在其他國家填島時，美國從來不提，就是挑中國的茬兒。中國政府公開通常就當作沒聽見，就一句話：自己的領土，關你屁事兒。私下兒跟美國交談時，通常安撫為主（加下文2015.03.08華爾街日報：China’s Island Construction in South China Sea No Threat, Says Foreign Minister）。

不過，兩國間所有的言論，用什麽方式表達出來，都是有計劃的放風，讓對方知道自己的反應到了什麽地步，”公開地通訊“。不過這也不是一兩天的事兒了，怎麽說，中國也不會改主意，故此哈裏斯此言，說什麽“沙子”，倒像是給美國在亞投行上丟的臉出口氣。



【參見】
2015.03.15芝加哥論壇報社評：With the U.S. distracted, China builds 'The Mischief Islands'
2014.09.09英國廣播公司：China's Island Factory
2015.02.26華盛頓星火論壇：China Rebuffs U.S. Request to Halt S. China Sea Island Work



【附錄】
華爾街日報：China’s ‘Great Wall of Sand’ Raises U.S. Concerns
Rob Taylor, March 31, 2015

CANBERRA, Australia—Unprecedented land reclamation by China in contested islands of the South China Sea is raising serious questions over whether Beijing intends confrontation or cooperation with other regional powers, America’s top Pacific commander said.

In his most direct public criticism of Chinese construction on the contested Spratly Islands archipelago of the South China Sea, U.S. Pacific fleet Commander Admiral Harry Harris Jr. accused Beijing of building a “great wall of sand” over areas claimed by several nations.

“When one looks at China’s pattern of provocative actions towards smaller claimant states—the lack of clarity on its sweeping nine-dash line claim that is inconsistent with international law, and the deep asymmetry between China’s capabilities and those of its smaller neighbors—it’s no surprise that the scope and pace of building man-made islands raises serious questions about Chinese intentions,” Adm. Harris told a naval security conference in Australia.

Adm. Harris said China has created four square kilometers (1.5 square miles) of artificial land mass and construction is continuing.
Related

“How China proceeds will be a key indicator of whether the region is heading towards confrontation or cooperation,” he said.

China’s muscle-flexing over territorial claims is stoking apprehension in nations including the Philippines and Vietnam, which earlier this month lodged a diplomatic protest with Beijing.

Australia, a longtime U.S. ally, has also expressed concern and last year signed a deal with Japan to bolster military cooperation and exercises as a hedge against China’s fast-growing military clout.

Chinese officials couldn’t immediately be reached to comment. China claims much of the South China Sea and has said Chinese construction activity in what it considers its waters is justified and reasonable.

The U.S., Adm. Harris said, remained committed to a rebalance of forces to the Pacific and said he was on track to have 60% of the U.S. Navy based in the Pacific Fleet by 2020, including the amphibious assault ship USS America, which he said could work with large new Australian assault ships.

“Consider the powerful synergy of HMAS Canberra and USS America working together in an amphibious operation somewhere,” he said.

Rear Adm. Christopher J. Paul, the deputy commander of the U.S. Pacific surface fleet, earlier told the conference, organized by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, that the U.S. would move its latest Zumwalt stealth destroyers to the Pacific region to reassure allies. He also urged Australia’s navy to consider deploying new warships in U.S.-led “hunter-killer” patrol groups.

Adm. Paul said a new generation of Australian warships, including missile destroyers, amphibious ships and frigates, might fit into a more muscular naval doctrine called “distributed lethality,” recently announced by the U.S. Navy.

“A shift to the offensive is necessary to create more favorable conditions to project power where required,” Adm. Paul said.

Australian warships would be capable of operating as part of “hunter-killer surface action groups”, he said, in which Australian amphibious ships could be paired with U.S. destroyers or Australian antiaircraft missile destroyers linked with Zumwalt destroyers.

The Pentagon is considering a plan to regularly move warships through Australia and wants to broaden maritime exercises with India, in an expansion of security ties that risked exacerbating rivalries with China. U.S. Marines and warplanes also move regularly through Australia’s north.

Australia’s Defense Minister Kevin Andrews told the same conference that the government was considering ramping up construction of its naval fleet on a continual basis to help preserve shipbuilding jobs and respond better to regional conflicts.

Australia’s navy chief Vice Admiral Tim Barrett said in an interview that Canberra was still weighing how far it moves into the region, with a new strategic planning blueprint expected later this year. But future naval operations would become more multilateral, he said, with Australian ships mainly participating in task forces alongside allies.

2015.03.08華爾街日報：China’s Island Construction in South China Sea No Threat, Says Foreign Minister
Foreign Minister Wang Yi says work is lawful, necessary and in China’s ‘own yard’
Jeremy Page, March 8, 2015

BEIJING—China’s foreign minister defended his government’s efforts to reclaim and develop land around disputed reefs and islands in the South China Sea, saying the work was “necessary” and posed no threat to other nations.

“This construction does not target or affect anyone,” Wang Yi said at a news conference Sunday on the sidelines of an annual meeting of parliament.

“We are not like some countries who engage in illegal construction in another person’s house, and we do not accept criticism from others when we are merely building facilities in our own yard. We have every right to do things that are lawful and justified.”

Satellite images show China has significantly expanded reclamation and construction work on several reefs it controls in the disputed Spratly Islands in the past two years, raising fresh concerns in the U.S. and Asia about increasing Chinese assertiveness in the region.

U.S. officials have spoken out in recent weeks against the construction work, which defense experts say could form a network of island fortresses to help enforce Chinese control of most of the South China Sea—one of the world’s busiest shipping routes.

Vietnam publicly protested China’s reclamation work last week. Vietnam and other countries with South China Sea claims have also built infrastructure on islands and reefs they control, but on a much smaller scale than China, U.S. officials and defense experts say.

China’s claims cover almost all of the South China Sea, and overlap with those of Malaysia, Vietnam, Brunei, Taiwan and the Philippines—a U.S. treaty ally. Many of those countries have bolstered defense ties with the U.S. in recent years in response to what they see as Beijing’s enhanced efforts to enforce its claims.

In the past year, China has tried to improve relations with its neighbors by unveiling plans for massive investment in roads, pipelines, ports and other infrastructure that it says will help to build new overland and maritime trade routes between Asia and Europe.
ENLARGE

Mr. Wang said China had made progress in negotiations with India over their disputed Himalayan border, without giving details. China lodged an official protest last month when Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited one of the disputed border areas.

Mr. Wang also didn’t rule out inviting Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to a military parade in China marking the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II. Asked if Mr. Abe would come, he said all world leaders were welcome at the parade “as long as they come in sincerity.” But he reiterated China’s stance that Japan needed to reflect on its wartime aggression.

Asked if North Korean leader Kim Jong Un would attend the parade, on what would be his first visit to China since taking power in late 2011, Mr. Wang said the two sides would have to see when it was “convenient” for their leaders to meet.