马英九：永远不会要求美国为台湾而战

台海网5月2日讯 马英九日前接受美国“有线电视新闻网”（CNN）卫星连线专访，在记者三度追问下，说出“我们永远不会要求美国为台湾而战。”

据台湾《中国时报》报道，马英九受访时以英文回答“we will never ask the Americans to fight for Taiwan”，他所使用的“never”一字，“‘永不’要求美国为台湾而战”的意旨，比“总统府”网站公布的译文“‘不会’要求美国为台湾而战”更强烈。

台湾历任领导人于因应美国是否对台海局势出兵的议题上，未曾如此公开且明确地使用“never”的字眼。

一旦台海发生战事，美国是否介入，一直是中国大陆、台湾、美国三角关系里的敏感议题，CNN在专访马后，随即成为CNN网站首页的头条新闻，并以“Ma：Taiwan won’t ask U.S. to fight China”为标题报导。

根据“总统府”网站译文，CNN记者问及马英九，“您提到中国大陆对台瞄准导弹，让我问您一个问题，如果可以的话，请您立即回应这个在美国时而被问到的问题：美国为何要为台湾冒这么大的险？”

马英九回答，“目前美国承受的风险为六十年来最低，过去的风险远远超过现在，因为我们采取与中国大陆和解政策的努力结果，紧张情势已大幅舒缓，这就是为何如同过去的政府，现任政府对过去两年达到的成果感到非常满意，我们将持续降低风险并向美国军购，但我们不会要求美国为台湾而战，这是非常清楚的事。”

其中，在关键部份，根据CNN引述的英文原文是：“We will continue to reduce the risks so that we will purchase arms from the United States, but we will never ask the Americans to fight for Taiwan. This is something that is very, very clear.”“我们会持续降低（台海冲突）风险，因此我们将向美国购买武器，但我们永远不会要求美国为台湾打仗，这是很清楚的事。”

马英九又称，军售案对维持台海的和平与稳定至关重要，“如果美国将对台军售减到现有水准以下，将会降低此一区域的信心。台湾需要这些武器保卫‘国家’及其民主”。

(CNN) -- Taiwan will never ask the United States to fight against China on its behalf, Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou said in a CNN interview.

"We will continue to reduce the risks so that we will purchase arms from the United States, but we will never ask the Americans to fight for Taiwan," Ma told CNN's Christiane Amanpour in an exclusive interview that aired Friday. "This is something that is very, very clear."

He added that the risk to the United States of a conflict between China and Taiwan is the lowest in 60 years as a result of his government's efforts to build a rapprochement with Beijing.

Ma said his government has concluded 12 agreements with China on flights, food safety, opening Taiwan to mainland tourists and mutual judicial assistance in the past two years.

"All these agreements contribute to prosperity and stability in Taiwan and nothing in these agreements compromised Taiwan's sovereignty or autonomy," he added.

Taiwan's relationship with the United States remains a tender issue for China, however.

China expressed outrage at a U.S. decision in January to sell Taiwan more than $6 billion worth of weapons, including Patriot air defense missiles, Black Hawk helicopters, and mine-sweeping ships. The package did not include new F-16 fighter jets that the Taiwanese government has been seeking from the United States.

Beijing, which considers Taiwan part of its sovereign territory, said the arms sales damage China's national security. It demanded that the United States respect what it called China's core interests and rescind the decision.

Ma, however, said the arms sale is very important to the maintenance of peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait.

"If the U.S. reduces arms sales to Taiwan below the current level, it will reduce confidence in this part of the world. Taiwan needs the arms to defend this country and its democracy," he said.