Vietnam has quietly extended a runway on Spratly Island to enable the deployment of maritime spy planes as Hanoi bolsters its defences against China in the disputed South China Sea.
越南悄悄延长了其在斯普拉特利岛（Spratly Island，中国称南威岛）的一条飞机跑道，以便有能力部署海上侦察机。目前越南正在有争议的南中国海加强对中国的防御。
Satellite images obtained by the Financial Times show Vietnam has expanded the runway from less than 2,500ft to about 3,300ft.
英国《金融时报》获得的卫星图片显示，越南将这条跑道从不到2500英尺延长到了3300英尺左右。
The extension allows the deployment of maritime surveillance aircraft from Spratly for the first time, a move that comes as China builds up its own military facilities on and around nearby islands.
这令越南得以首次从斯普拉特利岛部署海上侦察机，目前中国在邻近岛屿以及周边海域兴建了自己的军事设施。
This is a familiar pattern for Hanoi, said Gregory Poling, director of the Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative, who supplied the images, taken over the past 22 months.
对于越南而言，这是一种司空见惯的做法，亚洲海事透明倡议(Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative)主任格雷格.波林(Greg Poling)表示，越南正继续推进军事现代化，并寻求与日本、美国和印度建立更密切安全联系，以应对中国未来在争议海域的强势行为。
Vietnam continues to modernise its military and seek closer security ties with Japan, the US and India in preparation for future Chinese assertiveness in disputed waters.
该组织提供了上述卫星图片，图片是在过去22个月期间拍摄的。
The revelation comes as the US pivot to Asia faces severe strain following the election of Rodrigo Duterte, the Philippines president who has burnt bridges with Washington while moving towards rapprochement with China.
在菲律宾总统罗德里戈.杜特尔特(Rodrigo Duterte)当选后，美国转向亚洲的战略面临巨大压力，杜特尔特与美国分道扬镳，转而与中国修好。
American allies in Asia, including Japan and South Korea, are also nervous about the election of Donald Trump, who campaigned on an isolationist foreign policy, talked about walking away from trade deals and suggested he might downgrade the US role in key alliances.
此外，美国在亚洲的盟友（包括日本和韩国）对唐纳德.特朗普(Donald Trump)当选感到担忧，特朗普在竞选中曾打出孤立主义外交政策的旗号，谈论退出贸易协议，并暗示他可能会降低美国在重要同盟中的作用。
The satellite images show that Vietnam is also building two large hangars on Spratly, one of 14 islands that along with more than 100 reefs make up the Spratly chain, which is claimed by China, Vietnam, Taiwan, Malaysia, Brunei and the Philippines.
卫星图片显示，越南还正在斯普拉特利岛建造两个大型飞机库，斯普拉特利群岛（Spratly Islands，中国称南沙群岛）是由14个这样的岛屿再加上100多个岛礁构成的。中国、越南、台湾、马来西亚、文莱和菲律宾都宣称拥有该群岛主权。