中国悄悄公布航母计划

China has launched an ambitious plan to build an aircraft carrier, the country has revealed for the first time, in a move that will heighten international scrutiny of the rapid expansion of its naval power.

中国已经启动了建造航空母舰的宏伟计划。中国首度公布的这一消息，将促使国际社会更加密切地关注中国海军力量的迅速扩张。

The decision, which has far-reaching implications for China’s defence strategy and diplomatic relations, was disclosed in a single sentence buried at the end of a lengthy book published by a government agency earlier this year.

这项决定对中国的国防战略和外交关系具有深远意义。它是今年早些时候在一家政府机构发表的长篇报告中披露的，全部内容只有一句话，且深藏在报告的结尾。

“In 2009, China put forward a plan and a programme for building an aircraft carrier,” says China’s Ocean Development Report (2010), a book published in May by the State Oceanic Administration, a body under the Ministry of Land and Resources.

“2009年，中国提出了建造航空母舰的构想和计划，”中国国土资源部国家海洋局今年5月发布的《中国海洋发展报告2010》表示。

“This shows that China has started entering a new historic era of comprehensively building itself into a great naval power. [This] is China’s historic task for the entire 21st century,” the report said.

报告说，这表明中国已开始进入全面建设海洋强国的新历史时期，是中国在整个21世纪的历史任务。

The effort to add carrier power to the increasingly potent People’s Liberation Army Navy, and the fact that official word slipped out in an obscure publication, will fuel concerns about China’s military intentions.

中国为其日益强大的海军添置航母的努力，以及在一份默默无闻的出版物上悄悄透露官方消息的做法，将加深外界对中国军事意图的顾虑。

The carrier programme confirmation was first reported by Asahi Shimbun, a Japanese newspaper, just ahead of Tokyo’s announcement of a generational refocusing of its military forces to defend southern islands, seen as threatened by Chinese naval power.

中国证实航母计划的消息，最早见于日本的《朝日新闻》(Asahi Shimbun)。日本政府紧接着宣布对国防政策进行世代性调整，把重点放在保卫被认为受到中国海军力量威胁的南方岛屿上。

Japan’s new policy highlighted China’s rapid defence build-up and ability to project force far offshore, saying the “insufficient transparency of China’s military affairs and security guarantees” was becoming an international “cause for concern”.

日本新的防卫政策强调了中国迅速增长的国防力量和在远海投射武力的能力，声称“中国在军事和安全保障方面不够透明”，已经成为国际社会的“关切的原因”。

Beijing has previously offered hints of its carrier plans; a senior Chinese defence official told the Financial Times two years ago that the world should not be surprised if China built an aircraft carrier. In March last year, Liang Guanglie, China’s minister of defence, told his Japanese counterpart that China would not remain forever the only major power without an aircraft carrier.

中国以前就暗示过建造航母的计划。两年前，中国国防部一名高官向英国《金融时报》表示，如果中国建造航母，国际社会不应感到惊讶。去年3月，中国国防部长梁光烈向日本防务大臣表示，中国不会永远都是唯一没有航母的大国。

Defence experts have also spotted, from satellite imagery, the construction of runways at two military airports suitable for training pilots for carrier landings. The Varyag, a Soviet-era aircraft carrier hull that China bought from Ukraine in 1998, has been under repair for expected service as an exercise platform. However, official confirmation of the programme is still likely to cause a stir.

另外，一些国防专家从卫星图像上发现，中国有两个军事机场铺设了适于训练飞行员进行航母着陆的跑道。中国1998年从乌克兰购买的苏式航母瓦良格号(Varyag)正在进行修复，预期将作为演练之用。尽管如此，官方证实航母计划的消息还是有可能引起轰动。

“An aircraft carrier symbolises the ambition to move far beyond your own shores. It is a tool for power projection,” said an Asian defence attache in Beijing. “China’s navy is still a dwarf compared with the US, but this makes it official that they will be rivals.”

“航母象征着向远洋进发的雄心，是武力投射的一个工具，”一位驻北京的亚洲国防武官表示。“和美国相比，中国海军仍然相形见绌，但此举正式宣告双方将成为对手。”

Beijing’s defence ministry declined to comment, but the foreign ministry dismissed the Japanese concerns, saying China’s military was purely defensive and a “threat to nobody”.

中国国防部拒绝置评，但外交部驳斥了日本的担忧，表示中国奉行防御性国防政策，“不会对任何人构成威胁”。

“Individual countries have no right to pretend to represent international society while talking irresponsible nonsense about China’s development,” spokesman Jiang Yu said.

外交部发言人姜瑜表示：“个别国家无权以国际社会的代表自居，不负责任地对中国的发展说三道四。”

Revelation of the carrier decision comes just as China is trying to repair the diplomatic damage caused by aggressive rhetoric from defence officials.

航母计划披露之际，中国正试图修补因国防官员的激烈言辞而受损的外交形象。

Beijing has recently silenced several military officers who had raised hackles earlier this year with belligerent comments and has resumed military-to-military dialogue with the US ahead of official exchanges including a visit by Hu Jintao, China’s president, to Washington next month.

今年早些时候，中国一些军官相继发表好战言论，引起了外界的激烈反响。北京最近已经让这些军官闭口，并恢复了与美国的军事对话。双方还将举行一些官方交流活动，包括中国国家主席胡锦涛将于下月访美。

The US navy complained last year that its vessels had been harassed by Chinese ships in international waters. Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the US joint chiefs of staff, said earlier this year he had “gone from being curious about where China is headed to being concerned about it”.

美国海军去年抱怨其舰船在公海遭到中国船只骚扰。美国参谋长联席会议主席麦克•马伦(Mike Mullen)今年早些时候表示：“对于中国的发展方向，我已经从好奇变成了担忧。”

译者/杨远