Russia and China
An uneasy friendship不稳定的关系
The crisis in Ukraine is drawing Russia closerto China. But the relationship is far fromequal在乌克兰的危机正在使得俄罗斯与中国更加紧密。但是关系远非平等
THE celebrations in Moscow on May 9th to commemorate thecapitulation(有条件投降, 条件, 投降书) of Nazi Germany 70 years ago willspeakvolumes(很有意义) about today’s geopolitics. WhileWestern leaders are staying away in protest against Russia’saggression in Ukraine (and the first annexation(附加; 并吞; 合并; 附加物) ofsovereign territory in Europe since the second world war), China’spresident, Xi Jinping, will be the guest of honour of his friend,Vladimir Putin. Western sanctions over Ukraine, and what looks setto be a long-term chilling of relations with America and Europe,has given Russia no option other than to embrace China as tightlyas itcan.在5月9日在莫斯科庆祝纪念纳粹德国70年前的投降将对今天的地缘政治很有意义。当西方领导人正与俄罗斯保持距离以抗议俄罗斯对乌克兰的入侵(自从二战以来第一个发生在欧洲的领土主权吞并),中国的国家主席习近平先生,将成为他的朋友普京先生的荣誉贵宾。西方对乌克兰的制裁,以及看起来将是一个长期的与美国和欧洲的冷战关系,使俄罗斯别无选择地尽可能地笼络中国。
Next week, in a further symbol of the growing strategicpartnership between the two countries, three or four Chinese andsix Russian naval vessels will meetup to conduct live-fire(实弹射击)drills in the eastern Mediterranean. The exercise, whichfollows several similar ones in the Pacific since 2013, aims tosend a clear message to America and its allies. For Russia themanoeuvres signal that it has a powerful friend and a militaryrelationship with a growing geographic reach. For China even asmall-scale exercise of this kind (its ships are coming fromanti-piracy duty in the Gulf of Aden) speaks of increasing globalambition in line with Mr Xi’s slogan about a “Chinese dream”, whichhe says includes a “dream of a strongarmed-forces”.下周,作为两个国家之间正在增进的战略伙伴关系的象征信号,3艘或4艘中国海军战舰和6艘俄罗斯战舰将在东部地中海进行联合实弹射击演习。 这次演习,与2013年以来在太平洋几次类似的演习一样,目的是向美国及其盟友发出清晰的信号。对于俄罗斯,演练信号就是它有一个强有力的朋友,而且与不断增长的地理级力量有军事合作关系。对于中国,甚至一个这种小范围的演习(中国船只来自于执行亚丁湾反海盗任务的部队)表与习先生关于“中国梦”的口号一致的全球化雄心,他说的“中国梦”也包含一个“强大的军事武装之梦”。