【英语中国】中美在天安舰事件上紧张关系加剧

China brushed aside criticism by U.S. President Barack Obama over its refusal to blame its close ally North Korea for the sinking of a South Korean warship, as tensions between China and the U.S. over the incident escalated.

Mr. Obama said on Sunday that he raised the issue with Chinese President Hu Jintao at a meeting of world leaders in Toronto over the weekend. 'I think there's a difference between restraint and willful blindness to consistent problems,' Mr. Obama said.

Asked about those comments, Chinese foreign-ministry spokesman Qin Gang told a news briefing on Tuesday: 'China borders on the Korean peninsula, and we have our own feeling on the issue, different from that of the countries tens of thousands miles away . . . . We have more direct and intense concerns.'

In response to the sinking of the Cheonan in March, in which 46 sailors died, the U.S. is planning joint naval exercises with South Korea designed to signal strong support for its ally. China, North Korea's chief international supporter, has condemned the exercises as destabilizing to the region.

A U.S. military spokesman said on Tuesday that the drills could take place next month. U.S. Navy spokesman Cmdr. Jeff A. Davis said the drills weren't meant to intimidate China or destabilize the region, but 'are designed to ensure we have the ability to maintain peace and defeat aggression on the Korean peninsula.'

China has announced it will conduct its own drills in the East China Sea beginning Wednesday. Chinese state media have suggested those exercises are a direct response to the planned U.S. operations. Mr. Qin denied this, saying the Chinese drills have 'nothing to do with the situation on the Korean peninsula.'

South Korea, the U.S. and Japan are pushing for the United Nations Security Council to recognize North Korea's culpability in the ship sinking. Such a move would need the support of China, a permanent council member.

Some defense experts suggest the U.S.-South Korea exercises are partly intended to reassert the U.S. military's presence in the Pacific even as its forces appear heavily committed in Afghanistan and Iraq.

'Given recent economic problems and U.S. disarray in Afghanistan, it is necessary to show the world in general, and China in particular, that the U.S. is an active and committed Pacific power,' said Nancy Bernkopf Tucker, a professor at Georgetown University and a former State Department official in Beijing.

China froze military relations with the U.S. earlier this year following President Obama's decision to go ahead with $6.4 billion in weapons sales to Taiwan.

Tensions flared openly at a conference of senior defense officials in Singapore last month after Secretary of Defense Robert Gates pointedly criticized China for its continued objection to Taiwan arms sales.

'Only in the military-to-military arena has progress on critical mutual security issues been held hostage over something that is, quite frankly, old news,' Mr. Gates said in a speech.

Many analysts say military friction between the U.S. and China will be contained. They note that relations in other areas have improved markedly, particularly since a high-level dialogue in Beijing last month in which both sides tempered their rhetoric.

'Let's face it, the balance of power remains where it is,' said Brad Glosserman, executive director of the Pacific Forum Center for Strategic and International Studies. 'China needs the United States on so many levels, just as the United States needs China.'

Another source of tension -- China's currency policy -- has eased somewhat since China announced earlier this month that it would ease the yuan's peg to the dollar and allow greater exchange-rate flexibility. The yuan has since edged higher against the dollar.

Some scholars in China see the planned U.S.-South Korean naval exercises as an act of disrespect toward a rising power. Shi Yinhong, an expert on international relations at Renmin University in Beijing, said the drills are a 'slap in the face' for the Chinese government. 'The United States has not treated China as a great power,' he said.

Cmdr. Davis, the U.S. Navy spokesman, noted that joint naval exercises between the U.S. and South Korea aren't out of the ordinary and U.S. Navy ships routinely patrol the Yellow Sea.

美国总统奥巴马(Barack Obama)批评中国拒绝就韩国军舰沉没一事谴责其亲密盟友朝鲜，中国对此置之不理。中美就天安舰事件的紧张关系升级。

奥巴马周日说，他在周末多伦多首脑峰会上对中国国家主席胡锦涛提出这一问题。他认为对于一直出现的问题采取克制态度与有意视而不见是不一样的。

Associated Press人们在查看3月份沉没的韩国天安舰当被问及对这些评论有何看法时，中国外交部发言人秦刚在周二的记者会上说，“中国是朝鲜半岛的近邻，在这个问题上，我们的感受和远在十万八千里外的国家的感受是不一样的，我们有着更直接、更严重的关切。”

3月份韩国天安舰沉没，46名水手丧生。作为对此事件的回应，美国计划与韩国一起进行海军联合演习，以示对其盟友的坚决支持。作为朝鲜主要国际支持者的中国，谴责说这一海军演习方案影响该地区的稳定。

美国军方发言人周二说，联合演习将在下月进行。美国海军发言人戴维斯(Cmdr. Jeff A. Davis)说，此次演习并非是为震慑中国，也不会造成该地区不稳定，而是为了确保其有能力在朝鲜半岛维持和平、击退挑衅性行为。

中国已宣布周三开始在东海进行实弹训练。中国官方媒体报道暗示，这次训练是直接针对美国计划军演之举。秦刚对此予以否认，他说，中国人民解放军进行的这次军事训练“与朝鲜半岛局势没有关系”。

韩国、美国与日本正向联合国安理会施压以确认朝鲜对韩国军舰沉没事件负有责任。而要通过这样的决议，需要得到安理会常任理事国成员之一中国的支持。

某些国防专家认为，美韩联合军演在一定程度上意欲重新显示美国在太平洋地区的军事力量，虽然目前美国的军力主要集结在阿富汗与伊拉克地区。

前美国国务院驻北京官员、乔治敦大学(Georgetown University) 教授唐耐心(Nancy Bernkopf Tucker)说，鉴于近期的经济问题，以及美国在阿富汗的无序状态，向全球特别是中国显示美国作为太平洋地区一个坚定积极的大国的实力是必要的。

今年初，继奥巴马批准对台出售价值64亿美元的武器后，中国冻结了与美国的军事关系。

上月在新加坡举行的一个高层国防官员会议上，美国国防部长盖茨(Robert Gates)尖锐批评中国持续反对美国对台出售武器，中美紧张关系骤然公开化。

盖茨在发言中说，只有在军事对军事领域，（中美）关键的共同安全事宜进程一直受某些东西的挟持，坦白说，这些东西就是过时的新闻。

许多分析人士认为中美两国的军事磨擦将受到控制，并着重强调，在其它领域的中美关系已有明显改善，特别是上月在北京举行了一次高层对话后，当时中美两国的言辞均有所缓和。

美国智库太平洋论坛(Pacific Forum Center for Strategic and International Studies)执行董事格罗斯曼(Brad Glosserman)认为需正视这一问题，大国权力平衡仍旧。在许多层面上，中国需要美国，正如美国也需要中国一样。

中美关系紧张的另一来源中国的货币政策问题已有所缓解。本月早些时候，中国宣布放弃人民币盯住美元，并增加人民币汇率的弹性，人民币兑美元随后上涨。

中国的某些学者将美韩计划联合军演视为对正在崛起的中国的一种不敬。中国人民大学国际关系专家时殷弘说，此次联合军演无疑是对中国政府扇了一记耳光，美国并未视中国为一个大国。

美国海军发言人戴维斯强调，美韩联合军演并非不同寻常之举，美国军舰在黄海一直有例行巡视。