US Urges China Transparency on Military Buildup

By Luis Ramirez Beijing 04 March 2007

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John Negroponte

The United States is calling on China to be more transparent on its military buildup. U.S. Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte made the call in Beijing Sunday after Chinese officials announced they plan to boost their military spending by nearly 18 percent to $45 billion this year. VOA's Luis Ramirez has more from Beijing.

U.S. Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte met with Chinese officials as part of a three-nation Asian tour that began Friday in Japan. On the agenda have been discussions on ensuring that North Korea meets an upcoming deadline on declaring its nuclear activities as it agreed to do in negotiations last month.

美国副国务卿约翰·内格罗蓬特与中国官员会见是他星期五从日本开始的亚洲三国之行的一部份。他的主要议程是讨论确保北韩能够在即将到来的最后期限之前落实它在上月作出的终止核活动的承诺。

Overshadowing Negroponte's stop in Beijing was China's announcement that it plans to boost its defense budget by 17.8 percent this year. The U.S. official voiced Washington's concern over what he said is China's lack of transparency as it upgrades its military.

然而，中国的一项宣布却给内格罗蓬特在北京的逗留蒙上一层阴影。北京宣布说，它计划把今年的国防预算提高17.8%。内格罗蓬特在北京表达了华盛顿对中国在军费开支问题上缺乏透明度的关注。

"It is not so much the budget and the increases, as much as it is understanding those questions better through dialogue and transparency," he said.

他说：“与对中国军队预算和军费开支增加的关注相比，美国更为关注的是，通过对话和增加透明度来使美国更好地了解这些问题。”

Negroponte said more discussions are needed between Pentagon officials and Chinese military authorities.

内格罗蓬特说，五角大楼官员和中国军事当局需要进行更多的讨论。

"We would like to see those intensified so that we can have a better grasp of what exactly the Chinese have in mind," added Negroponte.

他说：“美国希望看到两国在这个问题上进行深入细致的讨论，以便更好地了解中国方面究竟是怎么想的。”

China has pointed hundreds of missiles at democratically ruled Taiwan, which the Communist government in Beijing claims as part of its territory. Washington has expressed concern over China's threats to reunite Taiwan by force if necessary.

中国有数百枚导弹瞄准着（“democratically ruled”这个感觉不好翻出来。。。）台湾，中方宣称台湾是中国领土的一部分。华盛顿一直关注中国必要时会以武力统一台湾的威胁。

China on Sunday warned the United States not to allow a deal to sell missiles to Taiwan, saying Washington should not signal support for those on the island who want formal independence.

中国于周日敦促美国不要向台湾出售导弹，给台独份子发出错误信号。

Negroponte said the provision of defensive weapons to Taiwan is consistent with Washington's accords with China.

内格罗蓬特声称提供防御性武器给台湾符合华府与中方之间的协定。

The Deputy Secretary of State later heads to South Korea, where discussions are expected to focus on the North Korean nuclear issue.

在此之后，副国务卿前往韩国，预计集中讨论朝鲜核问题。

PoEnglish声明：

以上翻译基本参照VOA中文网信息及其它相关报道，不代表PoEnglish政治观点，仅供英语翻译学习。

台湾是中国不可分割的一部分。