澳大利亚反对派领袖艾伯特访华

While economic relations between Australia and China grow stronger, Australia's prime ministers have struggled to manage the political side of the relationship in recent years. Despite a seemingly good start by Kevin Rudd after his election in 2007 when he promised - in Mandarin - to be the sort of good friend who tells Beijing the truth, he was criticized for both micromanaging and under-managing the relationship before being ousted by his party in 2010.

尽管澳大利亚与中国的经贸关系日趋紧密，但最近这些年澳大利亚的几任总理在处理两国间政治层面的分歧时都曾遇到不少磕绊。陆克文(Kevin Rudd)2007年当选后似乎开了个好头，当时，他曾用汉语做出承诺，他希望成为中国的“诤友，但2010年被所在政党罢免之前，他就因为在对华关系上畏首畏尾、毫无作为而饱受批评。

By contrast, her critics say, current Prime Minister Julia Gillard has largely neglected the relationship despite indications that Beijing is ready for something more.

相比之下，批评人士则认为，除了提到过中国希望扩大与澳大利亚的合作之外，澳大利亚现任总理吉拉德(Julia Gillard)基本上没怎么把对华关系当回事。

This week, Tony Abbott - the leader of Australia's opposition, and given the unpopularity of the current government potentially Australia's next prime minister - is visiting Beijing as part of an effort to give the Australian voting public a taste of what foreign policy might look like under his government. It follows his visit to the U.S. last week, where he spoke at the conservative Heritage Foundation in Washington D.C.

本周，澳大利亚反对党领袖艾伯特(Tony Abbott)访问北京，他的这一举动意在为澳大利亚选民提供一个提前了解其未来外交政策的机会。此前，艾伯特于上周访问了美国，并在华盛顿的保守派智库美国传统基金会(Heritage Foundation)发表了演讲。鉴于澳大利亚现任政府并不受欢迎，艾伯特有望成为澳大利亚的下一任总理。

Unlike U.S. presidential candidates who tend to have strong opinions about China during the campaign season, there was no podium-pounding from Mr. Abbott. But just as U.S. presidents tend to abandon their rhetoric once in office, it might be too early to glean too much from Mr. Abbott's pronouncements.

美国的总统候选人往往会在竞选季发表对中国持强硬立场的观点，不过艾伯特没有这么做。但是就像美国总统当选后口风陡变一样，目前对艾伯特的言论做过多解读可能为时尚早。

His overall tone at a breakfast on Tuesday sponsored by the China-Australia Chamber of Commerce was welcoming. Still, he gave Chinese officials little reason to believe that Canberra would budge on a number of contentious issues.

周二在中国澳大利亚商会(China-Australia Chamber of Commerce)举办的早餐会上，艾伯特发表了友好的讲话。不过，他也没有让中国官员有任何理由相信澳大利亚会在一些存在争议的问题上让步。

On investment, he said the door's open but don't expect China's state-owned enterprises to be allowed to buy out Australian assets. The comments were in line with what leaders from both ends of the political spectrum say in Australia.

在投资方面，艾伯特说，澳大利亚的国门是敞开的，但是不要指望中国的国企会被允许收购澳大利亚的资产。他的说法与澳大利亚各党派的立场一致。

He also alluded to China's non-democratic political system, saying that he hopes one day relations that between Australia and China could be based more on 'shared values' rather than just 'shared interests.'

艾伯特还提到了中国非民主的政治体系。他说，他希望有一天，澳中关系能建立在共同的价值观而不是共同利益这一基础之上。

'As prime minister I would hope for political reforms to match China's economic liberalization while acknowledging the government's right to maintain order, and respecting China's growing place in the world,' he said.

艾伯特说，作为总理，我承认政府有权维持秩序，我尊重中国在全球日益上升的国际地位，但我也希望看到中国能够实施与经济自由化相匹配的政治改革。

And as for the U.S. - which is now basing a contingent of Marines in northern Australia - Mr. Abbott said there's nothing to worry about.

美国目前正在澳大利亚北部驻扎应急部队。艾伯特在提到美国时说，没什么好担心的。

'Australia's strong military relationship with the U.S. should be seen more as building trust than picking sides,' he said. 'As far as Australia's concerned, our alliances are for collective peace, stability and security, not just for our alliance partners.'

他说，澳大利亚与美国间的军事关系相当牢固，但这是为了建立信任而不是站队，外界应该看到这一点；就澳大利亚而言，我们的盟友关系是为了全体国家的和平、稳定和安全，而不只是为了我们的盟友。

He also nodded to China's growing military might and the nervousness it has caused among some in the region. 'We accept the modernization of China's armed forces because that's what all countries want for their military,' he said. 'On the other hand, no one country is entitled to get its way with smaller ones just because it can.' He said that were he prime minster Australia would do whatever it can to ensure the territorial disputes in the South China Sea are managed peacefully.

他还提到了中国日益增长的军事实力，以及这一现状为该地区的一些国家带来的紧张情绪。他说，我们接受中国的武装力量现代化这一事实，因为所有的国家都希望增强自己的军事实力；但另一方面，任何国家都无权因为有能力就对弱小的国家为所欲为。他说，如果他当选澳大利亚总理，将竭尽所能确保和平处理南中国海(South China Sea, 中国称南海)的领土争端。

Beijing has rolled out the red carpet for Mr. Abbott, who met with Jia Qinglin, the Chinese Communist Party's No. 4 ranking senior official, and Commerce Minister Chen Deming. Australia is a major trading partner of China, providing much of the iron ore, coal and other resources China relies on to support its economic growth.

艾伯特的来访受到了北京方面的礼遇，与艾伯特会晤的高级官员包括中国共产党第四号人物贾庆林，以及中国商务部部长陈德铭。澳大利亚是中国重要的贸易伙伴，为中国提供了支持经济增长所需的大量的铁矿石、煤炭和其他资源。

Mr. Abbott heads Australia's major conservative party, the Liberals, which typically govern in coalition with the Nationals, a similarly conservative party focused on Australia's rural areas. He said that one of the highlights of his three day trip was a visit to Sunday mass at Beitang, one of Beijing's two main state-sanctioned Catholic churches.

艾伯特是澳大利亚主要保守派政党自由党的领袖，自由党一般与同为保守派的政党国家党组成执政联盟。国家党主要关注澳大利亚农村地区的发展。他说，他周日会去北堂做弥撒，这将是他三天行程的亮点之一。北堂是北京两座由国家批准的规模较大的天主教堂之一。

He vowed that should he become prime minister he would try to actively engage Beijing. 'I'd expect to be a regular visitor to Beijing,' he said. 'It's not the sort of relationship that you can tick a box every few years and expect that it's done.'

艾伯特承诺，如果当选总理，他将积极与中国接触。他说，我期待能经常访问北京，澳中关系不是隔几年在纸上打个勾就能完事大吉的。