Efforts by south-east Asian leaders to agree a united front in their disputes with China have collapsed for a second consecutive summit, highlighting an increasingly assertive stance by Beijing.
东南亚各国领导人建立统一战线解决它们与中国纠纷的努力,在连续第二场峰会上无果而终,这突显出北京方面日趋强硬的姿态。
Benigno Aquino, the president of the Philippines, dismissed a statement by Cambodia, the chair of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and an important China ally, which said the bloc had agreed not to raise the South China Sea disputes in international forums.
菲律宾总统贝尼尼奥·阿基诺(Benigno Aquino)对东南亚国家联盟(ASEAN)轮值主席国、中国重要盟友柬埔寨的一项声明不以为然。那份声明称,东盟已同意不在国际论坛上提出南中国海纠纷问题。
“There were several views expressed yesterday on Asean unity which we did not realise would be translated into an Asean consensus, Mr Aquino said at a meeting between Japanese and Asean leaders in Phnom Penh, the Cambodian capital, on Monday. “For the record, this was not our understanding. The Asean route is not the only route for us. As a sovereign state, it is our right to defend our national interests.
“各方昨日在东盟团结问题上表达了几种观点,我方没有意识到,这些变成了东盟的一个共识。阿基诺周一在日本领导人同东盟领导人在柬埔寨首都金边举行的会议上表示,“我郑重声明,那不是我方的理解。东盟途径并不是我国唯一能走的途径。作为一个主权国家,我们有权捍卫自己的国家利益。
China claims almost the entire South China Sea, which contains vast oil and gas reserves, sizeable fish stocks and important global trade routes. The clashes in the South and East China Seas have escalated significantly over the past two years, with Japan, the Philippines and Vietnam accusing Beijing of upsetting regional stability by aggressively claiming disputed territories.
中国宣称其对几乎整个南海拥有主权。南海蕴藏着巨大的石油和天然气储量,还拥有庞大的渔业资源和关键的全球贸易航道。过去两年来,南海和东中国海发生的冲突显著升级,日本、菲律宾和越南都指控中国咄咄逼人地强调自己对有争议领土的主权,破坏了地区稳定。
Barack Obama, the US president, is likely to raise the issue of regional maritime security at a meeting of 18 Asia-Pacific leaders that is tacked on to the Asean summits, in a move likely to anger Beijing further.
美国总统巴拉克·奥巴马(Barack Obama)很可能会在伴随东盟峰会举行的一个亚太18国领导人会议上提到地区海上安全问题,此举可能进一步激怒北京方面。
China has long argued that its disputes with Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam in the South China Sea, and with Japan in the East China Sea, should only be discussed on a bilateral basis.
中国一贯主张,中国与文莱、马来西亚、菲律宾、台湾和越南在南海的纠纷,以及与日本在东海的纠纷,只应当在双边基础上进行探讨。
“From a Chinese perspective, they’re much happier dealing with individual states rather than organisations and some in Beijing see Asean as part of an anti-Chinese conspiracy to limit China, said Odd Arne Westad, an expert on Chinese foreign policy at the London School of Economics. “But the more pressure China brings to bear, the more likely there will be a backlash leading to increased regional cohesion.
“从中国的视角看,他们更乐意与单个国家(而不是组织)打交道。在北京有些人眼里,东盟是旨在遏制中国的反华阴谋的一部分,伦敦政治经济学院(London School of Economics)中国外交政策专家文安立(Odd Arne Westad)表示,“但是,中国施加的压力越大,就越有可能遭遇反弹,导致该地区各国加强凝聚力。
Diplomats have argued that Asean must present a united front if it is to prevent the region becoming a battlefield for great powers as China rapidly expands its military and becomes more assertive in a region it views as its backyard.
外交官们指出,随着中国快速扩充军力,并在其视为后院的地区变得更加强硬,要防止东南亚成为大国之间的一个战场,东盟就必须展现出统一战线。
Cambodia, a major recipient of Chinese aid, seems to have shattered regional consensus for the second time during its yearlong rotational chairmanship of Asean.
得到中国大量援助的柬埔寨,似乎在东盟轮值主席国的一年任期内第二次破坏了地区共识。
In a closing statement after Sunday’s meeting, Cambodia said that southeast Asian leaders had agreed “that they would not internationalise the South China Sea from now on, a move that diplomats said was a clear sop to Beijing.
在上周日会议后发表的一份闭幕声明中,柬埔寨表示,东盟领导人决定“从现在起他们将不把南海问题国际化。外交官们表示,此举显然是要讨好北京方面。
But the Philippines hit back on Monday, insisting that it reserved the right to raise the issue as and when it saw fit.
但菲律宾在周一发起回击,坚称该国保留在任何时候、任何场合提出这个问题的权利。
At the same time, the Philippines and other southeast Asian nations are eager not to push Beijing too far at a sensitive time, when the Communist party’s leadership transition had just taken place.
与此同时,菲律宾和其他东南亚国家很注意在中共领导层刚刚完成换届的敏感时刻避免得罪北京方面。
A spokesman for Indonesia’s president, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, said that the strength of the Asean and associated summits was to “put co-operation above the other issues such as the South China Sea. But he added that countries were free to raise any particular issues of interest, including the maritime disputes.
印尼总统苏西洛·班邦·尤多约诺(Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono)的一名发言人表示,东盟峰会及其相关峰会的力量在于“将合作置于其他问题(如南海纠纷)之上。但他补充说,各国可自由提出任何感兴趣的具体议题,包括海上纠纷问题。
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