经济学人下载:中美军事误解(1)

Leaders
社论

China and America
中国和美国

Military misunderstandings
军事误解

For the sake of global peace, the armed forces of the world’s two superpowers must learn to communicate
为了全球和平，世界两个超级大国的军队必须学会沟通

IT IS A sobering thought that official military communication between America and China is still conducted by fax machine. The use of this obsolete technology symbolises a worrying lack of effective dialogue between the two countries’ armed forces. The giants jostle for space in the western Pacific; their ships and jets man oeuvre close to each other every day. Neither side wants war, but China is intent on keeping America at bay. It is easy to imagine how a collision in the air or at sea could escalate. Casualties could fan nationalist flames on either side and cause twitchy officers, or political leaders, to respond in ways that lead rapidly to disaster. So could a misunderstanding by either side of the other’s military movements. Relations between China and America are already strained over trade and a host of other matters. So it is only common sense to try to reduce the risk that their cold-war style sparring might turn hot.
中美之间官方军事交流仍通过传真机进行，发人深省。使用这种过时的技术意味着两国军队之间缺乏有效的对话，这令人担忧。两个大国在西太平洋争夺空间；两国的船只和喷气机每天都在彼此的附近工作。双方都不希望战争，但中国决意牵制美国。不难想象，空中或海上的碰撞会如何升级。伤亡可能会在任何一方激起民族主义的火焰，并导致焦躁不安的官员或政治领导人以迅速导致灾难的方式做出反应。双方军事行动中的任何一方的误解也可能是如此。中美关系已经因为贸易和许多其他问题而变得紧张。因此，按常识来讲，要试图降低他们冷战式争吵可能激化的风险。

American and Chinese officers are getting to know each other better. Exchanges between their military academies, port calls and high-level visits to each other’s countries have multiplied over the years. But there is still a huge gulf. Much of the interaction is superficial. American officers often describe the Chinese who talk to them as “barbarian handlers”: polished, English-speaking political appointees, usually intelligence officers, whose uniforms have never been crumpled or muddied.
美国和中国的官员正在更好地了解彼此。近年来，两国军事院校之间的交流、港口互访和高层互访成倍增加。但巨大鸿沟仍然存在。很多互动都是流于表面。美国官员经常把和他们交谈的中国人描述为“野蛮的操纵者”: 圆滑、精通英语的政治任命官员，通常是情报官员，制服从来都是整洁干净。