奥巴马对手言论未在中国引发强烈反响

U.S. President Barack Obama called China an 'adversary' in his debate with Republican challenger Mitt Romney on Monday, a reversal of U.S. efforts to avoid that label when dealing with the world's No. 2 economy.

周一在与共和党总统候选人罗姆尼(Mitt Romney)辩论时，美国总统奥巴马(Barack Obama)将中国称为“对手(adversary)，而这是美国在与世界第二大经济体打交道时一直避免使用的一个词汇。

A day later, China appears to have shrugged it off.

一天之后，中国似乎已经一笑置之了。

The thoughts of China's top leaders remain their own, of course, and it's unclear whether Mr. Obama's comments stirred discussion in the Zhongnanhai leadership compound in central Beijing. But state-run media downplayed the comment -- a result, experts said, of the belief that Washington has long felt this way.

当然谁也不知道中国高层领导人到底是什么想法，也不清楚奥巴马的言论有没有在中南海大院引起讨论。但官方媒体对这一言论做了淡化处理。据专家说，这是因为中方相信华盛顿很久以来就一直视中国为对手。

'We're not surprised, because prior to the debate he'd already taken a firm line with China,' said Shi Yinhong, an expert on U.S.-China relations at Renmin University.

中国人民大学中美关系专家时殷弘说，我们不觉得奇怪，因为辩论之前他已经采取了强硬的对华立常

'Yes, he mentioned rivalry, but a rival is not an enemy,' Mr. Shi said, adding, 'Obama has taken maybe a tougher line against China recently, but this is due partly to the political requirements of the campaign.'

时殷弘说，是的，奥巴马提到了对抗，但对手不是敌人。他说，最近奥巴马的对华态度可能是强硬了些，但这在一定程度上是出于竞选的政治需要。

During Monday night's debate, which focused on foreign policy, Mr. Obama said China is 'both an adversary, but also a potential partner, in the international community if it's following the rules. So my attitude coming into office was that we are going to insist that China plays by the same rules as everybody else.'

奥巴马在周一夜间那场主要讨论对外政策的辩论中说，中国在国际社会中既是对手，也是潜在的伙伴，如果中国遵守规则的话；所以我上任时的态度就是，我们要坚持要求中国遵守其他国家同样遵守的规则。

Mr. Romney also used the A word, though in a context that also left room for cooperation. 'We can be a partner with China. We don't have to be an adversary in any way, shape or form. We can work with them, we can collaborate with them, if they're willing to be responsible.'

罗姆尼也用了“对手一词，而使用这个词的上下文同样为合作留下了空间。他说，我们可以成为中国的伙伴，我们不一定非要成为任何方式、模样或形式的对手；如果他们愿意负起责任，我们可以跟他们共事，我们可以跟他们合作。

Chinese media largely focused on the cooperation aspect. The English-language version of the Global Times, a tabloid owned by the Communist Party mouthpiece People's Daily, led with the adversary comment in a three-column headline on its front page. But the much more widely read Chinese version led with a four-column headline saying the tenor of their China rhetoric had eased, though it mentioned the word 'adversary' (which it and others translated as duishou, or , which can mean 'adversary' or 'opponent') near the top of its article on the debate.

中国媒体基本都是侧重谈合作一面。《人民日报》旗下小报《环球时报》(Global Times)的英文版在分成三栏的头版文章中，开篇就说到“对手言论。但在读者数量远超英文版的中文版上，分成四栏的头版文章说，美国大选放缓攻击中国，但开篇过后不久也提到了“对手一词。

The People's Daily itself both gave the story similar treatment. The comments also appeared to generate little reaction on Sina Corp.'s voluble Weibo microblogging service.

《人民日报》本身也是做同样的处理。在新浪微博上，“对手言论似乎也没有引起多大反响。

At a daily press briefing on Tuesday, Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei declined to comment on the 'adversary' wording, referring to his comments on Monday. On that day Mr. Hong didn't mention the wording, saying only that healthy U.S.-China relations are 'beneficial to the peace, stability and prosperity of the region and the world. Any U.S. party should objectively view China's development and do more good things that will benefit China-U.S. cooperation and mutual trust with a responsible attitude.'

周三的例行资讯发布会上，外交部发言人洪磊拒绝评论“对手措辞，建议记者关注他在周二的言论。洪磊周二没有提到“对手一词，只说“保持中美关系持续健康稳定发展符合两国和两国人民的根本利益，有利于亚太地区乃至世界的和平、稳定、繁荣。美国政治家无论哪个党派，都应客观、理性看待中国的发展，以负责任的方式多做促进中美互信与合作的事。

In the past, the U.S. has avoided using the word 'adversary' when referring to China, despite disagreements on everything from territorial claims in the South China Sea to China's regulations involving its exports of key minerals called rare earths. In 2010, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told the Asia Society that 'some believe that China on the rise is, by definition, an adversary. To the contrary, we believe that the United States and China can benefit from and contribute to each other's successes.'

尽管在南中国海(South China Sea, 中国称南海)领土争端、中国稀土出口管制等很多问题上两国都存在分歧，但过去美国在提到中国时一直避免使用“对手一词。2010年，美国国务卿克林顿(Hillary Clinton)对亚洲协会(Asia Society)说，有些人认为崛起中的中国就是对手；恰恰相反，我们认为美国和中国可以相互受益于对方的成功，互相帮助对方获得成功。

But China may now feel it enjoys a certain level of respect from the U.S. no matter what label it uses. 'Maybe Obama might take a harder line on trade and the renminbi than he did in his first term, but it seems highly unlikely that there will be a trade war,' Mr. Shi said.

但中国现在可能觉得它获得了美国某种程度的尊重，而不管美国使用的是什么标签。时殷弘说，奥巴马在贸易和人民币汇率问题上的立场，或许会比第一届任期更加强硬，但发生贸易战的可能性看起来很低。