澳大利亚大幅增加国防开支

Australia will boost its annual defence spending by 80 per cent within a decade as it upgrades its armed forces partly to counteract Chinese assertiveness in the Asia-Pacific region.

澳大利亚将在今后十年里把年度国防开支提高80%。目前，该国正在对其武装力量进行升级，此举在一定程度上是为了反制中国在亚太地区的强硬态势。

A defence white paper published on Thursday lays out plans to increase expenditure to A$59bn (US$42bn) by 2026, compared with A$32bn this year. Almost half of a total budget of A$447bn forecast for 2016-2026 will be spent on military hardware and infrastructure over the period.

澳大利亚周四发布的国防白皮书列出的计划是，到2026年时将国防开支增加到590亿澳元（合420亿美元），而今年澳大利亚的军费为320亿澳元。2016-26年的总预算预计为4470亿澳元，其中近一半将花在军事装备和国防基础设施上。

“This is a massive investment in securing the peace and prosperity of our region,” said Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull.

澳大利亚总理马尔科姆特恩布尔(Malcolm Turnbull)表示：“这一大规模投入是为了确保我们地区的和平与繁荣。”

The paper also commits Canberra to raise defence spending to 2 per cent of gross domestic product by 2020-21. The proposal marks a significant expansion of earlier plans to boost defence spending and comes despite budget pressures after the end of a decade-long mining investment boom.

白皮书还承诺，到2020-21年度，澳大利亚政府将把国防开支提高到国内生产总值(GDP)的2%。该方案是对之前提高军费的计划的显著扩展，而且是在历时十年之久的矿业投资热潮结束后澳大利亚预算承压的情况下提出的。

The big spending increase, will be welcomed by the US, which wants its allies to shoulder more of the burden of dealing with international problems and provide for their own defence.

澳大利亚大幅提高军费之举将受到美国的欢迎。美国希望其盟国能担负起更多处理国际问题的责任、并为它们自身的防务出钱出力。

It marks the latest stage of a developing arms race in Asia, where many countries are strengthening their militaries on concerns about the actions of China, which has begun to militarise a series of contested reefs and islands in the South China Sea.

这标志着亚洲不断发展的军备竞赛进入最新阶段。中国已开始对南中国海上一系列存在争议的岛、礁展开军事化。出于对中方此类行动的担心，很多亚洲国家都在它们的军备。

“Australia is particularly concerned by the unprecedented pace and scale of China’s land reclamation activities,” says the white paper, which warns that territorial disputes in the East and South China Seas have “created uncertainty and tension” across the region.

白皮书称，“澳大利亚对中国填海造岛行动的空前速度和规模格外感到担忧”。它还警告称，东中国海和南中国海上的领土争端给整个地区“造成了不确定性和紧张”。

The paper commits the government to buying a fleet of 12 submarines, rather than the 8 vessels envisaged by some analysts. This would double the fleet and comes on top of commitments to build 9 frigates, 3 destroyers and 12 offshore patrol vessels.

白皮书承诺，澳大利亚政府将购买12艘潜艇，而并非此前一些分析人士预计的8艘。这将使澳大利亚拥有的潜艇数量翻一番。此外，澳大利亚政府还将建造9艘护卫舰、3艘驱逐舰以及12艘近海巡逻舰。

The shift in strategy “reflects significant concern in government about developments in regional security, including China’s aggressive actions in the South China Sea,” said Peter Jennings, director of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute.

这种战略转变“反映出政府对地区安全动态、包括对中国在南中国海上咄咄逼人行动的严重担忧”，澳大利亚战略政策研究所(Australian Strategic Policy Institute)主任彼得詹宁斯(Peter Jennings)称。