2023年02月04日 VOA慢速英语：美国上空出现气球 美国高级外交官推迟中国之行

 

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has postponed a planned weekend diplomatic trip to China.
美国国务卿安东尼·布林肯推迟了原定于周末对中国进行的外交访问。
 
The decision followed the discovery of a Chinese balloon flying over sensitive areas in the United States Thursday.
该决定是在周四发现中国气球飞越美国敏感地区后做出的。
 
The U.S. described the balloon as a surveillance vehicle. But a Chinese official said it was a weather research satellite that had gone off course.
美国将气球描述为监视车辆。但一名中国官员表示，这是一颗偏离轨道的气象研究卫星。
 
The decision came just hours before Blinken was to leave for China. A U.S. official told the Associated Press that Blinken and President Joe Biden decided that it was best not to make the trip at this time.
这一决定是在布林肯启程前往中国前几个小时作出的。一名美国官员告诉美联社，布林肯和拜登总统决定最好不要在这个时候出访。
 
Blinken's meetings with senior Chinese officials had been considered a way to find common ground on a number of issues. The meetings were to begin on Sunday and go through Monday.
布林肯与中国高级官员的会面被认为是在许多问题上找到共同点的一种方式。会议原定于周日开始，一直持续到周一。
 
Balloon flying over U.S. western area
气球飞越美国西部地区
 
On Thursday, U.S. military officials said the Chinese balloon was flying over the state of Montana. The western state is home to 150 intercontinental ballistic missile silos at Malmstrom Air Force Base.
周四，美国军方官员表示，中国气球正在蒙大拿州上空飞行。这个西部州在马尔姆斯特罗姆空军基地拥有 150 个洲际弹道导弹发射井。
 
Chase Doak lives in Billings, Montana. He told Reuters that, at first, he thought the balloon was a star. "But I thought that was kind of crazy because it was broad daylight and when I looked at it, it was just too big to be a star," he said.
Chase Doak 住在蒙大拿州的比林斯。他告诉路透社，起初他以为气球是一颗星星。“但我认为这有点疯狂，因为当时是光天化日，当我看着它时，它太大了，不可能成为一颗星星，”他说。
 
A senior defense official said the U.S. prepared fighter jets to shoot down the balloon if ordered. But the U.S. chose not to act since debris from the large balloon could have put people at risk.
一位高级国防官员说，如果接到命令，美国准备了战斗机击落气球。但美国选择不采取行动，因为大型气球的碎片可能会使人们处于危险之中。
 
The official said the spy balloon was meant to fly over the Montana missile fields. The U.S. believes that the flyover would have "limited" intelligence value. The official said China could still get the information using other technologies, such as spy satellites.
这位官员说，间谍气球的目的是飞越蒙大拿州的导弹发射场。美国认为，立交桥的情报价值“有限”。这位官员说，中国仍然可以使用间谍卫星等其他技术获取信息。
 
Brigadier General Patrick Ryder is a spokesman for the U.S. Defense Department. He told reporters Thursday that the balloon was "traveling at an altitude well above commercial air traffic and does not present a military or physical threat to people on the ground."
帕特里克赖德准将是美国国防部的发言人。他周四告诉记者，该气球“在远高于商业空中交通的高度飞行，不会对地面人员构成军事或人身威胁。”
 
In a statement on Friday, the Chinese foreign ministry said that the balloon was a civilian airship used mainly for weather research. The ministry said the airship has limited "self-steering" capabilities and went "far from its planned course" because of winds.
中国外交部在周五的一份声明中表示，该气球是一艘主要用于气象研究的民用飞艇。该部表示，这艘飞艇的“自我转向”能力有限，并且由于风的原因“远离了原定航线”。