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新聞對照:槓上美國防部長 范長龍巡視南海人造島
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Chinese General Visits Disputed Spratly Islands in South China Sea
By CHRIS BUCKLEY

BEIJING — China’s most senior uniformed military commander paid a visit in recent days to the disputed Spratly Islands in the South China Sea, the country’s Ministry of National Defense said on Friday.

The commander, Gen. Fan Changlong, appears to have been the highest-ranking People’s Liberation Army officer ever to visit the Spratly group, a sprawling collection of islands that extends close to the Philippines.

Although the details made public about General Fan’s visit were sparse, his tour appeared intended to show China’s determination to ward off any challenges to its claims over the islands, which are also the subject of claims by the Philippines, Malaysia, Vietnam, Brunei and Taiwan. China calls them the Nansha Islands.

General Fan led a delegation to the “relevant Nansha Islands to offer good wishes to officers and personnel stationed there, and also to understand the construction of facilities on the islands,” said a brief statement from the Ministry of National Defense.

General Fan is a vice chairman of the Central Military Commission, the council that runs the People’s Liberation Army forces. He is outranked only by the chairman, Xi Jinping, who is also president of China and head of the country’s Communist Party. Under Mr. Xi, the Chinese military has accelerated efforts to secure domination of islands also claimed by Southeast Asian countries.

The growing reach of the Chinese Navy, and the rival claims of other Asian powers, have turned the Spratlys and other islands across the South China Sea into a volatile mosaic of disputes. In past decades, Chinese military and civilian leaders have visited the Paracel Islands, which are closer to the Chinese mainland.

China claims sovereignty over much of the sea, but it faces not only rival claims from Southeast Asian countries but also growing wariness from Washington and its allies. They say that Beijing is risking a dangerous escalation of regional tensions by expanding barren reefs and outcrops into artificial islands and by installing military outposts, lighthouses, airstrips and other infrastructure on islands under its control.

On Friday, the United States secretary of defense, Ashton B. Carter, visited an American Navy aircraft carrier in the South China Sea, a gesture that seemed likely to draw ire from Beijing. The Chinese government says that Washington should play no part in trying to settle the territorial disputes in the South China Sea, and it has criticized operations by United States Navy ships that have passed close by islands controlled by China.

The Obama administration has said those operations are to show that China cannot deny other nations freedom of navigation through waters near islands under its control. China says that its island facilities, including lighthouses and weather stations, serve valuable civilian functions for all countries.

槓上美國防部長 范長龍巡視南海人造島

中共中央軍事委員會副主席范長龍近日率高級別代表團赴南海,巡視中國的人造島礁。在華爾街日報率先報導這一消息後,中國國防部15日予以證實。

過去兩年,中國在南海的造島行動引起美國和亞洲不安,認為北京可能利用人造島來強化其南海主權要求。

范長龍是在美國國防部長卡特訪問菲律賓、並且親臨一艘位於南海的航空母艦視察期間,巡視南沙,對抗意味濃厚。

中國國防部發表聲明說,范長龍率領軍隊和地方人員赴南沙群島,視察和慰問了駐軍和建築工人。中國在南海建設了氣象站、海洋研究設施和五個燈塔,其中四個燈塔已經用。但中國國防部並未說明范長龍巡視南沙的確切時間。

五角大廈認為范長龍是在上個周末抵達永暑礁,但拒絕做出評論,美方也沒說他們是如何知道范長龍的行程,和他在永暑礁停留多久,現在是否仍在南海,但華爾街日報報導說,美軍在太平洋地區有許多種偵察管道。

美方官員稱,中國許多架飛機8日和10日在永暑礁往返飛行,其中包括一架空中巴士和一架龐巴迪飛機,機型符合中國高層乘坐的規格。

在南海緊張局勢升高之際,卡特在他的亞洲之行中取消了對北京的訪問,但美方官員表示,卡特是因為行程原因而推遲訪問中國。假如訪問如期進行,卡特會在北京與范長龍見面。

卡特在菲律賓宣布,美國本周開始在菲國部署戰機,上月已開始與菲律賓在南海聯合巡邏。

永暑礁是過去兩年中國在南海建造的七個人工島之一,但中國保證,不在人工島實行軍事化。

原文參照:
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/16/world/asia/china-south-china-sea-spratly-islands.html

2016-04-17 世界日報 編譯中心


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