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Only 10 days ago, US defence officials described their dialogue with China as a love- fest. The two sides had just had their “best ever” talks, said David Sedney, the Pentagon's top official for China.
僅10多天前，美國國防官員還將與中國的對話形容為是“友好和值得稱贊的”。五角大樓(Pentagon)中國事務負責人謝偉森(David Sedney)表示，雙方進行了“有史以來最好的”一次對話。
This week, a Chinese military leader called the US “villains” in response to accusations from the Pentagon that Chinese ships had harassed Impeccable, a US Navy survey vessel, in the South China Sea last weekend. Dennis Blair, the national intelligence director and former head of US Pacific Command, said the incident was the “most serious” since the collision of a US spy plane and a Chinese fighter jet over Hainan island in 2001.
然而上周，在回應五角大樓指責中國船只于3月9號在南中國海騷擾了美國海軍監測船“無瑕號”(Impeccable)時，中國軍方一位領導人把美國稱為“ 惡人”。美國國家情報總監、美太平洋司令部前總司令丹尼斯•布萊爾(Dennis Blair)則表示，自美國偵察機于2001年與中國戰斗機在海南島上空發生碰撞以來，此次沖突是中美雙方“最嚴重”的一次事件。
After initial bursts of outrage, both sides seem determined not to allow the incident to damage broader relations. But it serves as a chilling reminder of the reality in military ties between the world's only superpower and the nation most likely to become its main challenger.
在最初的義憤填膺之后，中美雙方似乎都決心不讓此次事件的損害牽連更廣。然而，它再次提醒我們，讓我們冷靜地認識到中美軍事關系的現實（美國是世界上唯一的超級大國，而中國則最有可能成為其主要挑戰者）。
These ties have a history of cautious steps forward intermingled with stalling and shock disruptions. Mr Sedney's meetings with People's Liberation Army leaders in Beijing last month were, in fact, aimed at bringing bilateral military dialogue back on track after a partial suspension late last year after Washington confirmed its intention to go ahead with certain weapons sales to Taiwan.
一向以來，中美軍事關在謹慎地往前發展，其間還會出現停滯和突然性的中斷。事實上，謝偉森與中國人民解放軍領導人上個月在北京的會晤，就是為了將雙方軍事對話重新帶回正軌。在美國政府證實將繼續向臺灣出售某些武器的意向之后，該對話于去年晚些時候被部分中止。
There was, and still is, much reason for optimism that dialogue can become more frequent and meaningful and cover a wider range of topics, say defence officials and scholars.
國防官員和學者表示，無論是過去，還是現在，就雙方對話變得更加頻繁、更加有意義，以及夠覆蓋更多議題而言，我們有很多理由保持樂觀。
One is the fact the two sides have started discussing security conditions in Pakistan and Afghanistan, China's backyard, something unheard of earlier. Another is the intensive and detailed bilateral exchanges between a PLA naval anti-piracy mission to the Gulf of Aden and its US counterparts.
其中一個理由是，雙方已經開始探討中國后院巴基斯坦和阿富汗安全狀況的事實，這是以前沒有過的事情。另一個理由是，中國人民解放軍在打擊亞丁灣(Gulf of Aden) 海盜時，與美國海軍進行了密集而詳細的雙邊交流。
