中国推迟向马来西亚租借大熊猫
Malaysia appears to be discovering the limits of China's panda diplomacy as the search for missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 rumbles on.
1月27日，吉隆坡，马来西亚国家动物园，一名女子走出一家售卖熊猫样式帽子及各种纪念品的商店。在马来西亚航空(Malaysia Airlines)失联370航班搜索工作仍在持续之际，马来西亚似乎触及了中国“熊猫外交”的底线，
Beijing has made a point of lending out pairs of pandas to various countries around the world to help develop both diplomatic ties and fuzzier, if not furrier, bonds of friendship. The practice dates back to the 7 century, when Empress Wu Zetian delivered a pair of pandas to the emperor of Japan. Today, Chinese-born pandas reside in locales as far-flung as San Diego, Edinburgh and Chiang Mai.
中国非常看重向其他国家出借大熊猫的工作；在中国看来，此举不仅可以帮助发展外交关系，还有利于增进双边友谊。这一外交手段可追溯至公元七世纪，当时中国唐朝的女皇帝武则天将一对大熊猫赠予了日本天皇。时至今日，无论是在圣地亚哥、爱丁堡，还是清迈，全球很多国家和地区都可以见到中国大熊猫的身影。
Malaysia hoped to receive a pair of pandas this month. The bears, Feng Yi and Fu Wa, are scheduled to be on loan to Malaysia for 10 years and preparations were already being made to house them at a special $7.7 million complex at the national zoo, some 50 kilometers from the capital Kuala Lumpur.
马来西亚原本希望本月就可以迎来一对大熊猫贵客“凤仪”和“福娃”，此次出借的期限为10年。马来西亚方面已经专门拨款770万美元在该国的国家动物园为大熊猫修建了栖息居所，该动物园距首都吉隆坡约50公里。
But strained relations over the search for Flight 370, which disappeared on March 8 on a seemingly routine flight to Beijing, seem to have put paid to the plan, at least for now. G. Palanivel, Malaysia's natural resources and environment minister, said the arrival of the pandas had been postponed as a mark of respect for the feelings of family members of passengers on the missing plane as the search for it continues in the southern Indian Ocean.
但因370航班搜索工作而导致的中马关系紧张状态似乎已令这一熊猫出借计划搁浅，至少目前来看是这样。3月8日，这架从吉隆坡起飞的普通航班在飞往北京的途中消失。马来西亚自然资源和环境部长帕拉尼韦尔(G. Palanivel)表示，在南印度洋的搜索工作仍在继续的情况下，为尊重失联航班乘客家属的感受，大熊猫的移交工作已被推迟。More than 150 of the 239 people on board Flight 370 are Chinese nationals, and Beijing at times has angrily complained about Malaysia's handling of the search and recovery effort. In one harrowing incident, relatives of Chinese passengers were dragged howling from a Malaysian government press conference as they sought out answers as to what happened to the plane.
在马航370航班上的239人中，有超过150人为中国公民，中国政府已数次就马来西亚对该航班搜救工作的处理表达了不满。曾发生过颇为令人揪心的一幕：在一次马来西亚政府举行的新闻发布会上，由于失联航班中国乘客的家属向马方官员追问该航班失联真相，马方工作人员不顾部分家属的哭喊将他们架出发布会现场。Malaysian officials have said some delays were inevitable because they wanted to verify and corroborate information before releasing it and they're doing all they care to care for the families of the passengers.
马来西亚官员已表示，由于他们需要在信息发布前对信息进行核实和确认，出现一些延误在所难免，并称，他们正竭尽全力为乘客家属提供照顾。'During this difficult time, it seems inappropriate to arrange for the sending off and arrival of the pandas in Malaysia,' the Associated Press reported Mr. Palanivel as saying Friday. He did say, however, that the bears are expected to arrive in Malaysia before May 31, when the two countries are scheduled to celebrate their 40 anniversary of diplomatic ties.
美联社(Associated Press)周五援引帕拉尼韦尔的话称，在当前这样困难的局势下，似乎不太适宜安排将熊猫运送到马来西亚的事宜。不过他也表示，预计熊猫将在5月31日之前运至马来西亚，中国和马来西亚已安排届时就两国建交40周年举行庆祝活动。Officials at China's embassy in Kuala Lumpur couldn't immediately be reached for comment.
记者未能立即采访到驻吉隆坡中国大使馆的官员就此置评。
