China and America
Military misunderstandings
For the sake of global peace, the armed forces of the world’s two superpowers must learn to communicate.
ex: 1.For the sake of the bad weather,I can't go out.
2.He must be patient for the sake of peace.
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 symbolizes 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.
be intent on doing sth 热衷于.....
bay 海湾 at bay 陷入困境
collision 碰撞 冲突
escalate 逐步升级
twitchy 焦虑不安的
strained 紧张的
sparring 争吵
sake 缘故
sober 清醒的
obsolete 废旧的 旧式的
dialogue 对话
oeuvre 全部作品
So could a misunderstanding by either side of the other’s military movements.[倒装句]
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.
over the years 多年来
gulf 鸿沟
superficial 肤浅的
barbarian 野蛮的
appointees 被任命者
polished 圆滑
crumple 皱
muddy 泥泞的
The Americans are sometimes led around empty Potemkin bases and entertained with Kung Fu shows rather than genuine drills. They wonder why they should waste their time on such junkets, which offer little insight into Chinese intentions or how the two sides might defuse a crisis. When senior officers of the two sides meet, the Chinese tend to spend much of the time lambasting American foreign policy rather than discussing how to build trust.
drill 操练 军事训练
junket 公费旅行
lambast 鞭打 指责
defuse 缓和 拆除
defuse 洞察力 眼光
In recent years China has forged ever-closer military ties with Russia. In September China sent thousands of troops to join Russia’s largest manoeuvres since the cold war. But when invited to take part in American exercises, China has behaved boorishly. In 2014 America, to its credit, allowed the Chinese navy to join RIMPAC, the world’s largest multinational war games at sea. Instead of responding with camaraderie, China demanded plum roles, sent spy ships to snoop on the manoeuvres and barred Japanese officers from the traditional shipboard cocktail party. America excluded China from RIMPAC this year in protest against China’s deployment of missiles on artificial islands it has built in the South China Sea. That upset the Chinese navy, but the Americans rightly felt no loss. Even when given an opportunity to build bridges, Chinese officers have chosen to ignore it.
forged 伪造 打造
ties 关系
manoeuvres 演习
boorishly 粗俗
multinational 多国的
camaraderie 友情
plum 称心如意的
spy 间谍
snoop 探听
barred 被禁止的
cocktail 鸡尾酒
excluded 排除
protest 反对
protest against 反对 拒绝
The two armed forces do not just use faxes to communicate. A channel called the Defence Telephone Link was set up a decade ago. A whizzier video link between the chairman of America’s joint chiefs of staff and his Chinese counterpart was established more recently. The problem is not a lack of channels. It is how they are used. American officials have made clear that if China were to call during a crisis, they would pick up the phone. They are not sure whether China would do the same.
Defence 防卫
whizzier
joint 公共的
chiefs 首领
counterpart 同行 匹配物
established 建立
pick up 接
sb. have made clear that... 某人明确表明... ...
Part of the problem is the way that China’s armed forces work. The Communist Party is present throughout the military hierarchy. Its political commissars often wield as much power as commanders who are genuine soldiers. Especially at higher levels, Chinese officers can move only at the speed of a committee. But that is no excuse for China’s habit of unplugging the phone. Swift communication may not end a crisis, but it can certainly reduce the danger of tensions flaring up over a misunderstanding.
The Communist Party 党
hierarchy 层级 等级制度
commissars 人民委员
wield 运用
commanders 指挥官
committee 委员会
excuse 借口
unplugging 拔去插头
plugging 插入插头 以塞住
Swift 迅速的
flaring up 突然烧起来
flare 闪耀
Going ballistic
Mercifully, when Barack Obama was president, the two countries managed to establish some rules for managing close encounters between their ships and planes. That has led to fewer near collisions in the air and at sea. But that still falls short. China’s relentless beefing up of its military forces has created an urgent need for wider-ranging agreements. Pentagon officials say China is arming its air force with nuclear weapons. That would give China a complete “triad” of nuclear weaponry, launchable from the air, land and sea. Yet the two armed forces have not held nuclear talks in over ten years. Even the Soviet Union agreed to give warnings about ballistic-missile tests. The Chinese refuse to consider such a confidence-building measure,despite the growing importance of missiles to both countries.
ballistic 弹道学的
Mercifully 幸运的是
encounters 冲突 对抗 接触
despite 尽管
relentless 不懈的
beefing up 增加
weapons 武器
triad 三位一体
On a visit to Washington, DC, in November China’s defence minister, Wei Fenghe, said that communication must be strengthened. It is good that China recognises this. But all too often the country lets pique over unconnected business disrupt military contacts. In 2018 it cancelled multiple high-level talks, including an embryonic dialogue between senior military officers. Not since the cold war has it been so crucial for global peace for two defence establishments to talk.
recognises 喝彩并赞扬
pique 愤怒
disrupt 破坏
embryonic 胚芽的 初期的
all too often 总是
establishments 企业 当权者
Not since the cold war has it been so crucial for global peace for two defence establishments to talk. not引导倒装句