【英语国际】中美军事领导交锋 凸显双方关系冷淡

The wary relationship between the militaries of the U.S. and China flared openly -- though courteously -- at a conference here over the weekend, a brief flash of the longstanding tension that's centered on Taiwan but extends to their broader alliances and differing world views.

Beijing cut off military ties earlier this year to protest American arms sales to Taiwan and decided not to invite U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates to visit while he was in Asia for the annual security summit in Singapore called the IISS Shangri-La Dialogue.

That move came as something of a surprise to U.S. officials, who just last month were touting the impending trip as a potential breakthrough. And in his speech at the conference and in remarks to reporters on his way to Singapore, Mr. Gates said he was disappointed by China's decision.

Mr. Gates said there's a 'real cost' to not holding high-level meetings between the two militaries and said that he couldn't understand why China chose a cut-off of the meetings to protest the U.S. arms sales weapons to Taiwan. He described the sales as a longstanding practice, defensive in nature and said the U.S. doesn't support independence for Taiwan.

Chinese military officers poked back at the conference. Maj, Gen. Zhu Chenghu, director-general at China's National Defense University, said he viewed the U.S.'s willingness to sell arms to Taiwan as a legitimate reason for the two countries' militaries not to talk with each other. He said the sole purpose of selling weapons to Taiwan is to prevent the reunification of China.

'This sort of arms sale sends to the Chinese one signal, that Chinese are taking the Americans as partners and friends while you Americans are taking the Chinese as enemies,' Maj. Gen. Zhu said as Mr. Gates sat on the dais.

Mr. Gates responded, 'The U.S. does not consider China as an enemy but as a partner in many areas, and there a growing number of areas where we are working together, which makes the lack of progress on the military side stand out all the more.'

At the end of his appearance, Mr. Gates walked into the audience and shook hands with the senior Chinese official on hand, Maj. Gen.Ma Xiaotian. But unlike in previous years, the U.S. held no bilateral meetings at the conference with the Chinese.

Mr. Ma spoke to the conference later and didn't touch on the U.S-Taiwan arms-sale dispute in his speech. But in response to a questioner, Mr. Ma said, 'U.S. arms sales to Taiwan are not something normal. They have been interfering in U.S.-China relations for 30 years.'

He said China doesn't expect to force the U.S. to halt its sales to Taiwan, but added China has a right to make a 'due reaction.'

'The United States said that it does not support independence for Taiwan,' Mr. Ma said. 'We hope this is not what the United States says but also what it does.'

Another exchange between Messrs. Gates and Zhu made clear the differing alliances of the two countries. In his questions to Mr. Gates, Maj. Gen. Zhu asked how the U.S. could criticize North Korea for attacking a South Korean warship in March and not Israel for raiding a Turkish-led flotilla trying to reach the Gaza strip last week.

China has refused to criticize North Korea but sharply criticized Israel. Meanwhile, the U.S. condemned North Korea but has said more needs to be learned about the Israeli raid.

Mr. Gates said the two situations differed because North Korea carried out a surprise attack on South Korea but Israel had warned organizers of the flotilla that it shouldn't approach Gaza.

'I won't make judgments on responsibility or fault' on the Israeli raid, Mr. Gates said. 'I think there is value in an investigation that has international credibility in terms of responsibility in that case. But there was no surprise associated with it.'

周末在新加坡召开的会议上，中美之间显现出相互警惕但有礼有节的军事关系。这是两国长期紧张关系一次短暂爆发。这种紧张关系以台湾问题为核心，但已扩展到双方更广泛的盟国及不同的世界观等其它方面。

今年早些时候，北京方面切断了与美国的军事关系以抗议美国对台军售，并决定不邀请美国国防部长盖茨(Robert Gates)访华，尽管后者正在新加坡参加名为“英国国际战略研究所(IISS) 香格里拉”对话的年度安全峰会。

中方此举令美国官员大吃一惊，美方上个月还试图以此行作为双方军事交流的可能性突破点。盖茨在大会发言时以及在赴新加坡途中接受记者采访时均对中国的决定表示失望。

盖茨说两军之间不举行高级别的会谈会造成“真正的损失”，并表示无法理解为什么中国选择通过切断军事交流抗议美国对台军售。他形容军售是长期惯例，纯属防御性质，并说美国不支持台湾独立 。

中国军方官员在会议上对此进行了反驳。中国国防大学少将朱成虎说他认为两国军方互不交流的真正原因在于美国愿意对台军售。他说，对台军售的唯一目的是防止中国统一。

朱成虎说，此类军售向中方发出一个信号，在中国视美国为合作伙伴和朋友时，你们美国人却视中国为敌人。当时盖茨也在讲台上就座。

盖茨回应说，美国并未视中国为敌人，中国在许多领域都是美国的伙伴，双方正在越来越多的领域进行合作，因此军事合作缺乏进展便显得更为突出。

离开之前，盖茨走到观众席与在场的中国高级官员马晓天将军握手。但与前几年不同，中美双方并未在会议期间举行双边会谈。

马晓天后来在会议上发表讲话，并未提及美国对台军售问题。但在回答问题时，马晓天说，美国对台军售并不正常，它已困扰中美关系30年。

他说中国将不会强迫美国终止对台军售，但补充道，中国有权做出适当的反应。

马晓天说，美国说不支持台湾独立，我们希望这不仅仅是嘴上说说而已。

盖茨与朱成虎之间的另一次对话凸显了两国的盟友各不相同。朱成虎问盖茨道，美国在3月指责朝鲜袭击韩国战舰，却未指责以色列上周袭击由土耳其带领的试图抵达加沙地带的小型船队。美国怎么能这样做？

中国拒绝批评朝鲜却严厉批评以色列。与此同时，美国谴责朝鲜，但说需要了解更多的有关以色列袭击事件的情况。

盖茨说两次事件的情况不同，因为朝鲜对韩国进行了突然袭击，但以色列曾警告船队的组织者不要靠近加沙。

盖茨说，我不愿对以色列的责任或过失进行评判，我认为对此次事件的责任进行调查是有价值的，并且这一调查需要得到国际社会的认可。但此次袭击并非突袭。