希拉里对华施展“后院”外交.docVIP

Hillary Clinton slipped across the border between Hong Kong and Shenzhen this week for a meeting with Dai Bingguo, her Chinese counterpart. One can make too much of these things. But there was something almost symbolic about the US secretary of state’s back-door entrance into the world’s second most important country.　　美国国务卿希拉里?克林顿 Hillary Clinton 本周跨越香港和深圳的边境，与中国国务委员戴秉国会晤。人们对此的解读可能过多。但这位美国国务卿通过“后门”进入这个全球第二重要的国家，似乎具有某种象征意义。　　Washington is seeking to re-establish a stronger presence in the Asia Pacific region, a part of the world relatively neglected by the former administration of George W. Bush. The US wants the region’s trade and diplomatic relations to be run along international – the cynic might say American – lines. But times have changed. Business is increasingly conducted on China’s terms. When, for example, Mrs Clinton told an Asian security gathering in Vietnam last year that the US was happy to mediate in disputes between China and its neighbours in the South China Sea, Beijing pushed back angrily. The US, though still a huge military, diplomatic and economic presence in the region, cannot assert its interests as forthrightly as it once could.　　美国正寻求在亚太地区重建更为强大的影响力，这一地区在乔治?W·布什 George W. Bush 主政时期遭到相对忽视。美国希望该地区的贸易和外交关系符合国际准则（爱挖苦的人可能会说是美国准则）。但时代已变。该地区事务在越来越大程度上正按照中国的条件开展。例如，希拉里去年在越南的一次亚洲安全会议上表示，美国乐于在中国及其南海邻国之间的争议中担任调停角色，对此中国政府作出愤怒反弹。尽管美国在亚太地区的军事、外交和经济方面仍具有重大影响力，但美国无法像以前那样直截了当地维护其利益。　　Washington’s strategy is to try to slip back stealthily into the heart of Asia Pacific without ruffling Chinese feathers. It is a tall order. A hint of this delicate policy objective was on display in a speech Mrs Clinton gave in Hong Kong this week just before she poked her toe gingerly into mainland China. Entitled “Principles for Prosperity in the Asia-Pacific”, the address masterfully avoided almost any mention of Beijing even though China lurked in the shadows. In apparent deference to Beijing, she even trod carefully in her remarks about Hong Kong, avoiding any refe