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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.
仅10多天前，美国国防官员还将与中国的对话形容为是“友好和值得称赞的”。五角大楼(Pentagon)中国事务负责人谢伟森(David Sedney)表示，双方进行了“有史以来最好的”一次对话。
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，在回应五角大楼指责中国船只于3月9号在南中国海骚扰了美国海军监测船“无瑕号”(Impeccable)时，中国军方一位领导人把美国称为“ 恶人”。美国国家情报总监、美太平洋司令部前总司令丹尼斯•布莱尔(Dennis Blair)则表示，自美国侦察机于2001年与中国战斗机在海南岛上空发生碰撞以来，此次冲突是中美双方“最严重”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.
在最初的义愤填膺之后，中美双方似乎都决心不让此次事件的损害牵连更广。然而，它再次提醒我们，让我们冷静地认识到中美军事关系的现实（美国是世界上唯一的超级大国，而中国则最有可能成为其主要挑战者）。
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.
一向以来，中美军事关在谨慎地往前发展，其间还会出现停滞和突然性的中断。事实上，谢伟森与中国人民解放军领导人上个月在北京的会晤，就是为了将双方军事对话重新带回正轨。在美国政府证实将继续向台湾出售某些武器的意向之后，该对话于去年晚些时候被部分中止。
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.
国防官员和学者表示，无论是过去，还是现在，就双方对话变得更加频繁、更加有意义，以及够覆盖更多议题而言，我们有很多理由保持乐观。
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.
其中一个理由是，双方已经开始探讨中国后院巴基斯坦和阿富汗安全状况的事实，这是以前没有过的事情。另一个理由是，中国人民解放军在打击亚丁湾(Gulf of Aden) 海盗时，与美国海军进行了密集而详细的双边交流。
