中美防长会谈，马蒂斯试图淡化两国紧张关系

SINGAPORE — Defense Secretary Jim Mattis tried to lower the temperature on the array of hostilities between Washington and Beijing on Thursday, saying it is up to the militaries of the two competing global superpowers to act as a stabilizing force amid rising political tensions.

新加坡——周四，美国国防部长吉姆·马蒂斯(Jim Mattis)试图为华盛顿与北京间的一系列敌意降温，他表示在不断升级的政治紧张关系中，两个相互竞争的全球大国能否成为一股稳定力量，要取决于两国的军方。

During an hour-and-a-half meeting with his Chinese counterpart, Mr. Mattis sanded down some of the sharp edges from Vice President Mike Pence’s pointed critique of China this month. Mr. Mattis urged the two militaries to talk through their many differences and even repeated an invitation for Wei Fenghe, China’s defense minister, to visit the United States, according to a senior Defense Department official who was in the meeting.

据一名在场的国务院高级官员透露，在与中国国防部长魏凤和的一个半小时的会晤中，马蒂斯弱化了副总统迈克·彭斯(Mike Pence)本月对中国的尖锐批评。马蒂斯敦促两国军方充分讨论双方的差异，甚至再次邀请魏凤和访问美国。

But the cordial tone belied deep tensions that showed no signs of abating on Thursday. China, as it usually does, brushed off Mr. Mattis’s complaints about Beijing’s continued militarization of disputed islands in the South China Sea.

但周四这种诚恳语气的背后，是两国根深蒂固、毫无缓和迹象的紧张关系。正如往常一样，中国对马蒂斯关于北京在南海争议岛屿持续进行军事化的抱怨置之不理。

Meanwhile, other countries present at a meeting in Singapore of Southeast Asian nations continued to resist American entreaties to add their voices to the American challenge of China’s claims in the disputed area. And two of those countries — Malaysia and Thailand — prepared for a joint naval exercise with China that American officials worry is part of a larger effort by Beijing to peel away American allies.

与此同时，在新加坡的这场东南亚国家会议中，其他出席国家依然拒绝美国的呼吁，不愿意与美国一同挑战中国在南海争议地区的主张。其中两个国家——马来西亚和泰国——准备了一场与中国的联合海军军演，美国官员担忧该军演是北京离间美国盟友的总体行动的一部分。

Mr. Mattis, for his part, was hampered by the continued fallout and speculation from President Trump’s questioning on Sunday whether the defense chief would remain on the job, calling Mr. Mattis “sort of a Democrat, if you want to know the truth,” during in interview with CBS’s “60 Minutes. ” Mr. Mattis later told reporters that Mr. Trump had called him to reassure him that he was “100 percent” behind the defense secretary, but in Asia there has been speculation about how long Mr. Mattis will be around.

而就马蒂斯而言，特朗普总统周日接受CBS《60分钟》(60 Minutes)采访时对他的质疑所带来的影响及猜测，仍然令他备受困扰，特朗普在节目中对这位美国防部长是否还能担任该职位表示怀疑，并在采访中称马蒂斯“算是个民主党人，如果你听真话的话”。马蒂斯后来告诉记者，特朗普已经致电给他，向他保证自己“百分之百”支持国防部长，但在亚洲，有人在猜测马蒂斯还能担任该职位多久。

The Mattis-Wei meeting comes as the United States and China continue to lurch from one crisis to the next. Mr. Trump accused China last month of meddling in the American midterm elections, an accusation Beijing rejected.

马蒂斯和魏凤和的会晤举行之际，美中两国仍然危机不断。特朗普指控中国上个月干预美国中期选举，中国对此予以否认。

Mr. Pence’s Oct. 4 speech has been widely viewed as foreshadowing a new Cold War between the United States and China, and except for Mr. Mattis, the Trump administration has only turned up the volume since.

彭斯10月4日的讲话被广泛视为预示美中两国将出现一场新冷战，并且特朗普政府此后在这方面语气愈发加重，只有马蒂斯是例外。

On Wednesday the White House said it planned to withdraw from a 144-year old postal treaty that has allowed Chinese companies to ship small packages to the United States at a discounted rate, part of a concerted push by Mr. Trump to counter China’s dominance and punish it for what the administration says is a pattern of unfair trade practices.

周三，白宫表示计划从有着144年历史的万国邮政联盟退出，该联盟允许中国公司以折扣价将小型包裹运到美国，退出计划属于特朗普的一项统一行动的一部分，其目的是制衡中国的主导地位，并且对美国政府所说的一贯不公正的贸易做法予以惩罚。

The military relationship that Mr. Mattis is pushing as an island of stability is also taking hits. Mr. Mattis was supposed to begin his trip to Asia this week with a stop in Beijing for talks with Mr. Wei, but China canceled the visit, citing annoyance over sanctions Mr. Trump imposed on a Chinese state military company for buying weapons from Russia, and Washington’s plans to sell $330 million in military equipment to Taiwan, the self-governing island that Beijing claims as its own.

被马蒂斯誉为稳定支柱的两国军方关系也受到重创。马蒂斯原本应该在北京停留，与魏凤和谈话，以此开启他本周的亚洲之行，但由于特朗普对一家向俄罗斯购买武器的中国军工国企实施制裁，加之华盛顿计划向被中国视为领土的自治岛屿台湾出售价值3.3亿美元军备，对此深感不满的中国取消了该访问。

The biggest source of tension between the Pentagon and Beijing continues to be the South China Sea. China claims almost all the South China Sea and strongly protests American military patrols there. The United States, for its part, considers the sea to be international waters and sends bombers and warships through every so often to make that point.

五角大楼与北京的紧张关系最大源头仍是南海。中国主张南海几乎所有地区都为该国领土，并且强烈抗议美国军方在该地区的巡逻。美国则将这片海域视为国际水域，并且为了阐明其主张，常常派战斗机及战舰穿越该区域。

During his talk with Mr. Wei, Mr. Mattis introduced a new dynamic into the standard talking points over the South China Sea issue, according to Randall G. Schriver, the Pentagon’s top official for Asia and the Pacific, who was in the meeting. Mr. Mattis sought to convey what he said were concerns of other Asia-Pacific countries over Chinese claims on the South China Sea.

据与会的五角大楼亚太最高官员兰德尔·G·施赖弗(Randall G. Schriver)透露，在与魏凤和的谈话中，马蒂斯在南海问题上的标准谈话要点中引入了一种新态势。马蒂斯力图传达他所说的其他国家对中国南海主张的担忧。

“He talked about the reactions that he hears from other countries and their concern and confusion over China’s actions not necessarily matching their words,” Mr. Schriver said.

“他谈到了从其他国家那里听到的，这些国家对中国言行不符的反应，他们的担忧及困惑，”施赖弗说。

American officials have recently started complaining privately that the United States does the bulk of the naval work when it comes to overtly challenging China in the South China Sea, with numerous so-called Freedom of Navigation trips, during which American warships sail within 12 miles of the disputed islands.

美国官员近期开始私下抱怨称，涉及在南海公开挑战中国方面，美国承担了大部分的海军行动，进行了大量所谓的航行自由任务，在这些航行中，美国战舰进入到了争议岛屿的12英里范围之内。

China always objects to the trips — last month a Chinese warship came within 45 yards of the American naval destroyer Decatur as it conducted a Freedom of Navigation operation in the South China Sea. The Pentagon characterized the maneuver as unsafe and unprofessional.

中国一向反对此类航行——上个月，美国海军迪凯特号(Decatur)驱逐舰在南海执行自由航行任务时，一艘中国战舰离该驱逐舰只有45码(约合40米)。五角大楼认为这种行为不安全且不专业。

“When the Chinese ships are putting bumpers over the side,” Mr. Mattis told reporters on the plane at the beginning of his Asia trip, “you don’t do that when you’re out in the middle of the ocean, unless you’re intending to run into something.”

“当中国舰船在船身侧面装上了保险杠时，”亚洲行开始时，马蒂斯在飞机上告诉记者，“在大海中你是不会做这种事的，除非你的意图是撞上什么东西。”

He vowed that American ships would continue to traverse what the United States views as international waters.

他誓言称美国舰船会继续穿越在美国看来是国际水域的地区。

But it is one thing for an American warship to challenge a Chinese one; it is a far bigger challenge for a smaller navy to do so. Britain conducted a Freedom of Navigation operation in August — China complained about that, too — but China’s smaller Asian neighbors have been loath to follow suit.

但美国战舰挑战中国战舰是一回事，一个要小得多的海军这么做就是要大得多的挑战了。英国于八月执行了自由航行任务——中国对该任务也作出了抱怨——但中国那些小一些的亚洲邻国在效仿该行为方面很是勉强。

During the meeting, Mr. Mattis brought up the other countries.

在会晤中，马蒂斯提到了其他国家。

“I think his point was that in some instances, other countries may not have the confidence, given China’s strength, to always speak up,” Mr. Schriver told reporters after the meeting. “But he wanted to let minister Wei know that he hears about it a great deal from other countries.”

“我认为他的意思是，在某些情况里，鉴于中国的实力，其他国家可能没有这种总是能站出来说话的自信，”施赖弗在会后告诉记者。“但他想让魏部长知道，他常常会从其他国家那里听到这些话。”

Mr. Schriver acknowledged though, that for individual countries, “it’s sovereign decisions on how they approach China bilaterally.”

但施赖弗也承认，对于具体一个国家，“如何与中国进行双边接触是它们主权范围内的事。”