美军太平洋司令部司令可能被提名出任美国驻澳大使

U.S. President Donald Trump appears to be looking to the military to fill yet another senior post in his administration, according to reports published Wednesday.

Citing three unnamed officials, The Washington Post said Admiral Harry Harris, commander of the U.S. Pacific Command, is being considered for appointment as the next U.S. ambassador to Australia.

Nominating the Pacific Command's top flag officer to be U.S. ambassador in Canberra would mean another high-profile Trump administration position likely would be held by a member of the U.S. military's most senior cadre, known as general and flag officers. Active-duty or retired generals already serve the president as defense secretary, national security adviser and White House chief of staff.

No decision has yet been made, The Post said, but Australian officials said they would be delighted to see Harris installed as the next U.S. representative in Canberra.

Australia's foreign minister, Julie Bishop, said Harris is “a very capable, competent man who knows Australia well.” Bishop said her most recent encounter with Harris was in Sydney during bilateral ministerial discussions in June.

Harris has led the U.S. Pacific Command, or USPACOM, since May 2017. USPACOM has not commented on reports of Harris's possible appointment, of course, but the command's official social media page has retweeted the admiral's thoughts last year about the alliance between the United States and Australia: “Australia-US alliance matters – it matters to our two great nations, it matters to the Indo-Asia-Pacific region, and, in my opinion, it matters to the world. No one should doubt the power of this staying alliance to maintain security, prosperity and peace."

Harris was speaking in December to the Australian think tank the Lowy Institute, which featured his remarks on the front of its website Wednesday.

Harris is widely reported to hold tough positions on China, a country key to both the United States and Australia, both strategically and economically. He is known to have described China's actions in the contested South China Sea as building a “Great Wall of Sand.”

Japan's Kyodo News reported in May that China's ambassador to the U.S. requested that Harris be removed from his command post as a condition for Beijing's help on North Korea. The Washington Post reported that a similar request was made to President-elect Trump's transition team after last year's U.S. elections.

Chinese officials in Washington and Beijing have denied they made such requests.

星期三的媒体报道显示，美国总统川普似乎准备让军队将领出任政府的又一高级职务。

华盛顿邮报援引3位不具名官员的话说，美军太平洋司令部司令哈里·哈里斯可能会被任命为下一届美国驻澳大利亚大使。

提名太平洋司令部最高挂旗军官出任美国驻澳大利亚大使意味着川普政府中又一重要职务很可能将由美国军方最高指挥官之一担任。目前，美国的国防部长、国家安全顾问和白宫办公厅主任都是由现役或退役将军担任的。

华盛顿邮报说，最后决定尚未做出，但是澳大利亚官员说，哈里斯担任美国驻澳大利亚大使，他们会很高兴。

澳大利亚外长毕晓普说，哈里斯“很有能力，对澳大利亚很了解”。毕晓普说，她最近一次是6月份在悉尼举行的澳美双边部长级会谈中见到哈里斯的。

哈里斯从2017年5月来一直担任美军太平洋司令部司令。太平洋司令部尚未对哈里斯可能被提名的消息发表评论，但是其官方推特帐户上转推了哈里斯去年对美澳联盟的看法。哈里斯认为，“澳大利亚和美国的联盟很重要，对我们两个伟大的国家很重要，对印度洋-亚洲-太平洋地区很重要，在我看来，对整个世界都很重要。没有人应该怀疑这一持久联盟在维持安全、繁荣与和平上的强大力量。”

哈里斯是去年12月对澳大利亚智库罗维国际政策研究所发表这番讲话的，该研究所的网站上星期三也特别刊登了他的讲话。

大量报道显示，哈里斯对中国立场强硬，中国无论是在战略上还是在经济上，都对美国和澳大利亚很重要。哈里斯曾形容中国在有争议的南中国海的行为是修筑“沙造的长城”。

日本共同社5月份的时候报道说，中国驻美大使曾要求美国撤换哈里斯作为太平洋司令部司令的职务，做为北京协助解决朝鲜问题的条件。华盛顿邮报也报道了去年美国大选后川普过渡团队收到的类似要求。

北京和驻华盛顿的中国官员否认曾提出过这种要求。