【英语国际】美国担心中国军力增长

While the U.S. and China seem to have by and large reached a compromise over naval operations in the Western Pacific, American military leaders remain concerned about China's buildup.

'I have moved from being curious about what (the Chinese) are doing to being concerned about what they are doing,' Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told troops at a town hall meeting in South Korea Wednesday.

Mullen said the military is concerned that it doesn't have a clear picture of China's intentions. The country suspended military-to-military relations with the U.S. earlier this year after the U.S. said it would sell $6.4 billion worth of weapons to Taiwan.

The comments on Wednesday came on the same day Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced a new round of sanctions against North Korea.

'It is the transparency piece with respect to China that is probably most vexing, because it is difficult to figure out where they are headed,' Mullen said. 'I'd like to have a conversation to see where they are going, and right now I can't do that.'

He added that the U.S. has noticed China's shift in building up air and naval forces, and moving away from traditional ground forces. China's air force is known to be rapidly modernizing, and its navy has become more assertive, operating far from China's shores. A recent Foreign Policy article said the country had successfully tested using missiles to destroy satellites, which many experts have described as a sign of its growing technological capabilities.

The source of the most recent tension between the militaries spurred from planned U.S.-South Korea joint naval exercises in the Yellow Sea, which China opposed, arguing the drills would take place too close to its shores. In an apparent conciliatory move to China, the U.S. said recently that at least some the planned exercises would take place in the Sea of Japan instead, further from China's coast.

It remains to be seen whether this compromise will precipitate a warming of military relations, but Mullen's comments suggest that concerns for the U.S. about China's military run deeper than a single incident.

尽管美中两国似乎已经大体上就西太平洋的海上演习问题达成妥协，但美国军方领导人仍然对中国的军力增长感到担忧。

Associated Press美军参谋长联席会议主席马伦对中国的军力增强表示担忧周三，美军参谋长联席会议(Joint Chiefs of Staff)主席马伦(Mike Mullen)在韩国举行的士兵见面会上说，我原先对中国的所作所为只是好奇，但现在已经变为担心。

马伦说美国军方担心未能清楚了解中国的意图。在美国说将向台湾出售价值64亿美元的武器之后，中国于今年初中断了与美国的军事交流。

同样在周三，美国国务卿克林顿(Hillary Clinton)宣布对朝鲜实施新一轮制裁。

马伦说，或许中国最令人恼火的是其透明度问题，因为很难确定他们的方向。我希望和他们谈一谈他们目前的方向，但现在我却没办法谈。

他又说，美国注意到中国正逐步加强空军和海军的力量，逐渐减少对传统地面力量的依赖。外界都知道中国空军正在迅速进行现代化，中国海军也已变得更加自信，能在远离中国海岸的地区展开军事行动。美国《外交政策》(Foreign Policy)杂志近期刊登的文章称，中国用导弹摧毁卫星的试验已经成功。许多专家将这视为中国技术能力增强的信号。

中美两军关系最近出现的紧张，源于美韩计划在黄海举行的联合军演。中国反对此次演习，称演习地点距离中国海岸过近。美国最近表示，至少有一部分拟议中的军演科目会放到离中国较远的日本海进行。此举明显是为了安抚中国。

这种妥协是否将促使两国军事关系升温还有待观察，但马伦的言论表明，美国对中国军事力量的担忧已非一日之寒。