哈里斯 美军将继续在南海展开行动

The US will continue to conduct “routine” operations in the South China Sea, the head of the US Pacific Command told a Chinese audience on Tuesday, even as he cAlled for closer ties between the American and Chinese militaries.

周二，美国太平洋司令部司令海军上将哈里哈里斯(Admiral Harry Harris)对中国听众表示，美国将继续在南中国海展开“例行”行动，尽管他同时也呼吁美中两国军队加强联系。

Admiral Harry Harris said US naval operations near territory claimed by China were not “a threat to any nation” but were designed to defend freedom of navigation in international waters.

哈里斯说，美国海军在靠近中国声称拥有主权的地方展开的行动“不对任何国家构成威胁”，而是旨在捍卫国际水域的航行自由。

“We are making it clear that... will continue to fly, sail and operate whenever and wherever international law allows,” he said in a speech at Peking University’s Stanford Center. “The South China Sea is not — and will not — be an exception.”

“我们明确指出……美军将继续在国际法允许的一切时段和地方飞行、航行和展开行动，”他在北京大学斯坦福中心致辞称，“南中国海现在不是例外，以后也不会是。”

Adm Harris was speaking in Beijing a week after a US destroyer sailed within 12 nautical miles of an artificial island in the South China Sea that is claimed by China and where it is constructing an airfield that could have military use. China reacted angrily to the US exercise, accusing the US of interfering in territorial disputes.

哈里斯在北京发表此番言论的一周前，一艘美国驱逐舰驶入了南中国海一座人工岛周边12海里水域内。中国声称拥有该岛的主权，并正在岛上修建一座可能具有军事用途的机场。中国对美国的行动报以愤怒的回应，谴责美国干涉领土争端。

The US navy says the mission, which it insists was a “freedom of navigation operation”, was not designed to challenge China’s land claims in the South China Sea, where five other countries also contest many of the islands and land features. Instead, the US says it wanted to show that artificial islands — such as the reclaimed land at Subi Reef where the USS Lassen sailed — do not confer rights to the seas surrounding them.

美国海军坚称这是一次“航行自由行动”，不是为了挑战中国在南中国海的领土声索。除了中国，还有五个国家声称对南中国海的许多岛屿和地物拥有主权。美国表示，它其实是想表明，人工岛——比如中国在渚碧礁(Subi Reef)填海造出的岛——不会使造岛方在岛屿周边水域拥有任何权利。美国拉森号(USS Lassen)驱逐舰驶近的就是渚碧礁。

Behind the sparring over international law is a broader contest between the US and China in the western Pacific. China’s ambitious programme of land reclamation in the South China Sea is one element of a strategy to slowly shift the balance of power in a region that has been dominated for seven decades by the US Navy.

在这场围绕国际法展开的争吵的背后，是美中在西太平洋的一场更大的较量。中国雄心勃勃的南中国海填海造岛计划，是它缓慢改变西太平洋力量平衡的战略的一部分。美国海军主宰西太平洋已有70年之久。

Although Adm Harris, who earlier this year accused China of trying to create a “great wall of sand” in the South China Sea, issued a strong defence of the US operation last week, his remarks in Beijing were relatively restrained. He said it was important for US and Chinese military leaders to have “personal and candid conversations”.

今年早些时候，哈里斯曾指责中国企图在南中国海构筑一道“沙长城”。尽管哈里斯上周对美国的行动进行了强烈辩护，但他在北京的讲话较为克制。他表示，美中两军领导人展开“私下的坦诚对话”很重要。

Ashton Carter, US defence secretary, is expected to meet his Chinese counterpart General Chang Wanquan later on Tuesday on the sidelines of a meeting of Southeast Asian defence ministers in Kuala Lumpur and where the South China Sea will figure high on the agenda.

周二晚些时候，预计美国国防部长阿什顿愠祓(Ashton Carter)将利用在吉隆坡举行的东盟防长会议的间隙会晤中国国防部长常万全上将。南中国海问题将在此次会议议程中占据重要位置。