【英语国际】中美国防部长将在越南举行会晤

China said its defense minister will meet with U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates in Vietnam next week, in the clearest signal yet that military relations are returning to normal after Beijing suspended them in January.

But the meeting, on the sidelines of a regional security forum in Hanoi, could be overshadowed by an escalating territorial dispute between China and Vietnam, which has drawn increasingly close to the U.S. in recent months.

The row over China's alleged detention of Vietnamese fishermen in the South China Sea raises similar issues to a dispute last month between China and Japan over the detention of a Chinese fishing vessel in the East China Sea.

As well as fueling local concerns about China's military power, it could lead to fresh tensions between China and the U.S., which angered Beijing this year by asserting its own interests in the South China Sea and by shoring up ties with Southeast Asia.

Mr. Gates will meet his counterpart, Defense Minister Liang Guanglie, at a gathering of defense chiefs from the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or Asean, and eight other countries, China's state-run Xinhua news agency said Wednesday. The meeting will be 'short but significant,' Xinhua quoted Rear Admiral Guan Youfei, deputy director of the Foreign Affairs Office of China's Defense Ministry, as saying.

The announcement follows talks between senior Chinese and U.S. defense officials in Beijing last week aimed at reopening military exchanges that China suspended in January over U.S. arms sales to Taiwan.

Geoff Morrell, the Pentagon press secretary, said Tuesday that the Hanoi meeting was likely and that the two countries were looking for a mutually convenient time for Mr. Gates to make a visit to China.

Although both sides appear ready to repair military relations, analysts say the recent progress could be undermined by the territorial row between Beijing and Hanoi. Vietnam has asked China to release unconditionally nine fishermen detained Sept. 11 near the Paracel Islands, the Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Wednesday. It said the fishermen were fishing in Vietnamese waters.

There was no immediate Chinese comment about the fishermen, but Xinhua quoted Rear Adm. Guan dismissing speculation that the Hanoi conference would address territorial disputes in the South China Sea, most of which is claimed by Beijing.

Tensions between China and Vietnam have increased since 2009, when Hanoi accused Chinese military personnel of beating and robbing Vietnamese fishermen seeking shelter from a typhoon in the South China Sea.

Vietnam has responded by strengthening military ties with the U.S., and the two countries held their first defense talks in August, 15 years after normalizing relations. Vietnam also has allowed several U.S. navy ships to visit in the past few years.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton infuriated China in July when she told an Asean conference the U.S. had a national interest in freedom of navigation in the South China Sea.

Vietnam, Taiwan, China, the Philippines, Malaysia and Brunei each claim all or a part of the Spratly Islands and the nearby Paracels.

中国说，其国防部长下周将在越南会晤美国国防部长罗伯特•盖茨(Robert Gates)，这是迄今为止显示中美军事关系正在恢复正常的最清晰迹象，此前北京曾于今年1月份暂停了中美军事交流。

Agence France-Presse/Getty Images今年八月，越南海军军官与来访的美国水兵会面。但中美国防部长在河内出席一个地区安全论坛间隙将举行的此次会谈，却有可能因中越领土争端不断升级而被蒙上阴影，越南近几个月来与美国的关系日益密切。

中越两国围绕中国被控在南中国海拘捕几名越南渔民一事发生的争执，类似于中日两国上月因中国一艘渔船在东中国海被日本扣留一事而产生的纷争。

此次事件除了会加剧亚洲国家对中国军事力量的担忧外，还有可能为中美关系增添新的紧张因素，美国今年由于其宣称在南中国海有自己的利益并且不断加强与东南亚国家的关系而惹怒了北京。

中国官方媒体新华社周三说，美国国防部长盖茨和中国国防部长梁光烈此次将借东盟十国及其他八个国家的国防事务负责人聚会之机举行会晤。新华社援引中国国防部外事办公室副主任关友飞少将的话说，此次会晤简短但却重要。

在宣布这一消息之前，中美两国的高级防务官员上周已经在北京举行了会谈，这些会晤旨在重启中国今年1月份因美国向台湾出售武器而暂停的中美军事交流。

美国国防部发言人莫瑞尔(Geoff Morrell)周二说，美中两国国防部长可能会在河内举行会晤，两国都期待着在双方都方便的时间安排盖茨访问中国。

虽然中美双方似乎都期待着修复两国军事关系，但分析人士说，两国军事关系最近的好转进程有可能因中国与越南的领土争端而受到损害。越南外交部周三称，越南已要求中国无条件释放9月11日在西沙群岛附近拘留的九名越南渔民。越南说这些渔民当时正在越方水域捕鱼。

虽然中国方面目前尚未对这些渔民的情况发表评论，但新华社援引关友飞的话说，此次在河内举行的会议将不会讨论南中国海领土争端问题，中国宣称对南中国海大多数地区拥有领土主权。

中越两国的紧张关系自2009年以来一直在加剧，当时越方指责中国军事人员殴打并抢劫在南中国海寻求躲避台风的越南渔民。

作为回应，越南加强了与美国的军事关系，两国在实现关系正常化15年后于今年八月举行了首次防务会谈。过去几年中越南已先后允许数艘美国军舰访越。

美国国务卿希拉里•克林顿(Hillary Clinton)今年七月的一番言论激怒了中国，当时她在与东盟国家举行的一次会议上说，美国在南中国海航行自由问题上拥有国家利益。

越南、台湾、中国、菲律宾、马来西亚和文莱都宣称对南沙群岛及其附近的西沙群岛拥有全部或部分主权。