The administration of Barack Obama has significantly sharpened its rhetoric about China’s territorial claims in the South China Sea in the last week amid growing pressure from allies in the region for the US to take a firmer line.
巴拉克•奥巴马(Barack Obama)政府过去一周对中国在南中国海的领土主张显著提高了分贝，原因是该地区的盟友对美国施加越来越大的压力，要求美国采取更坚定的立场。In public statements in recent days, senior US officials placed the blame for tensions in the region solely on China and warned that the US could move more forces to the western Pacific if Beijing were to declare a new air defence zone in the South China Sea.
在最近一些日子发表的公开声明中，美国政府高级官员将南中国海紧张局势完全归咎于中国，并警告称，如果北京方面在南中国海划设一个新的防空识别区，美国可能将更多部队部署到西太平洋。Although Mr Obama is due to visit the region in April, several Asia governments have complained privately that the administration has become distracted in the Middle East and has left the way open for China to pursue its claims with greater confidence.
虽然奥巴马定于4月访问亚洲，但几个亚洲国家的政府私下抱怨称，奥巴马政府被中东事务搞得分心，听任中国以更大信心追求自己的主张。
“They [the administration] are definitely trying to turn up the volume about China,” said Bonnie Glaser, a China expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. “This is as close as the Obama administration has come to saying that the nine-dash line is illegal. It is quite significant because they previously danced around the issue.” The nine-dash line is a map produced by China that appears to claim that the bulk of the South China Sea is under Chinese control.
“他们（指奥巴马政府）肯定在试图调高有关中国的音量，”华盛顿国际战略研究中心(Center for Strategic and International Studies)中国问题专家葛莱仪(Bonnie Glaser)表示。“这是奥巴马政府在尽可能明确地说，‘九段线’是非法的。这个表态意义重大，因为以往他们在这个问题上闪烁其词。”中国出版的地图上的“九段线”似乎把南中国海大部分区域划入了中国版图。China is involved in a series of tense territorial disputes in the East China Sea with Japan and in the South China Sea with Vietnam and the Philippines. The US, along with several governments in the region, believes that China is pushing these claims as part of a broader strategy to exert greater control over large areas of the western Pacific.
中国与邻国之间存在一系列紧张的领土争端，包括在东中国海与日本的纠纷，在南中国海与越南和菲律宾的纠纷。美国和亚洲多个国家的政府相信，中国推动自己的主张是一项整体战略的一部分，目的是在更大程度上控制浩瀚的西太平洋。“There are growing concerns that this pattern of behaviour in the South China Sea reflects incremental efforts by China to assert control over the area,” Danny Russel, assistant secretary of state for East Asia, said last week. China had “created uncertainty, insecurity and instability in the region”. Mr Russel urged China to “clarify or adjust its nine-dash line claim to bring it in accordance with the international law of the sea”.
“各方越来越担忧的是，在南中国海的这种行为模式反映了中国掌控该地区的渐进努力，”美国国务院亚太事务助理国务卿丹尼•罗素(Danny Russel)上周表示。中国“在该地区制造了不确定性、不安全和不稳定”。罗素敦促中国“澄清或调整其九段线主张，使其符合国际海洋法”。Separately, Evan Medeiros, the Asia director at the White House national security council, warned China against declaring an air defence identification zone for the South China Sea, following its announcement in December of new rules for East China Sea airspace.
另外，白宫的国家安全委员会亚洲事务主任麦艾文(Evan Medeiros)警告中国不要在南中国海划设防空识别区。此前中国在去年12月在东中国海划设了防空识别区。“We have been very clear with the Chinese that we would see that [the establishment of a new air zone] as a provocative and destabilising development that would result in changes in our presence and military posture in the region.”
“我们对中方的态度一直非常明确，我们将把此举（划设新的防空识别区）视为一种挑衅和破坏稳定的动态，将导致我方相应改变在该地区的存在和军事姿态。”Speaking at a congressional hearing, Mr Russel made a series of statements that represent a hardening of the US position over the various territorial disputes. While the US claims to be neutral on the territorial disputes, he said China was responsible for increased tension in the region.
美国国务院的罗素在国会听证会上所做的一系列陈述，均突显美国在各项领土争端上态度转硬。尽管美国宣称在相关领土争端上立场中立，但他表示，中国要对该地区紧张加剧负责。Mr Russel said any claims to the seas must be based on genuine land features, rather than just rocks that can be covered at high tide. Under the UN convention on the law of the sea, a country can claim a 200km economic zone around islands.
罗素表示，对海上领土的任何主权主张，都必须建立在真正陆地的基础上，而不包括在涨潮时可能被覆盖的岛礁。根据《联合国海洋法公约》(UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, UNCLOS)，一个国家可以在海岛周围主张200海里的专属经济区。One of the difficulties for the Obama administration is that while it bases some of its arguments on the UN convention on the law of the sea, the US Senate has refused to ratify the same treaty.
奥巴马政府面对的一个难题是，虽然它将《联合国海洋法公约》用作自己某些论点的依据，但美国参议院迄今拒绝批准该公约。