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China on the rise once more across the East
If any more evidence of China\'s steady ascent towards Asian regional dominance was needed, the climax of Sri Lanka\'s war has provided the proof.
如果要寻找中国对亚洲的支配一步步加强的更多佐证，斯里兰卡激战就是其中之一。
An ally of Beijing has fought a bitterly controversial conflict to a final victory, while shrugging off international protests along the way. India, the other Asian giant, is only 50 miles from Sri Lanka across the waters of the Palk Straits, yet it has been shown to have far less influence on its neighbour than China.
这个北京的盟友无视国际抗议，刚打完一场颇有争议的战争，获得了最终胜利。作为另一个亚洲大国，印度从保克海峡(Palk Straits)至斯里兰卡仅有50英里的距离，但是印度对这个邻国的影响却远不如中国。
Through a combination of strategic investments in seaports and pipelines, along with direct financial and military support for friendly governments, China is building a web of influence across South Asia. Many of Beijing\'s immensely ambitious projects are years away from fruition, yet the repercussions of these ventures are already being felt.
通过港口及管道的一系列战略投资，加上向友好政府提供的直接的金融及军事援助，中国正在南亚编织一张影响力辐射网。虽然北京许多野心勃勃的项目尚需多年才能完工，但是已经可以觉察到其造成的影响。
In Sri Lanka, Beijing began constructing a port in Hambantota in 2007 and the scheme is scheduled for completion in 2022. This forms the basis of China\'s alliance with President Mahinda Rajapaksa\'s government and helps explain the diplomatic support Beijing gave Sri Lanka during the war against the Tamil Tigers.
2007年北京开始在斯里兰卡建设汉班托塔（Hambantota）港口，这项工程计划于2022年完工。它奠定了中国与马欣达·拉贾帕克塞（Mahinda Rajapaksa）政府结盟的基础，也有助于理解为什么北京会在斯里兰卡打击猛虎组织的战争中为其提供外交支持。
The official line is that Hambantota is only a commercial trading venture and the facility will handle civilian shipping and nothing else. Any attempt to distort the facts would be invalid, said Ma Zhaoxu, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesman.
官方的说法是汉班托塔只是一个“商业”贸易项目，设备仅用于民航。外交部一位发言人马朝旭说：“任何歪曲事实的企图都是荒谬的。”
But the appearance of a new Chinese port on Sri Lanka\'s southern coast would allow Beijing the option of using the facility as a naval base in the future. Other projects under way at strategic points across the Indian Ocean raise the same possibility.
但是这个在斯里兰卡东海岸新崛起的中国港口在将来可以作为北京的海军基地。其它在印度洋战略要地兴建中的项目也为北京提供了这种可能性。
China is building another port at Gwadar on the Pakistani coast and at Kyauk Phyu on Burma\'s island of Ramree. Taken together, these and other facilities may allow China to extend its growing naval strength well beyond its traditional coastal waters and into the Indian Ocean. It would mark a crucial stage in the country\'s rise to become Asia\'s hegemonic power.
在巴基斯坦海岸瓜达尔港（Gwadar）和缅甸的兰里岛（Ramree），中国也在建设港口。通过所有这些港口以及其它设备，中国可以将
China is marching towards regional dominance and that brings it into conflict with India on one flank and Japan on the other, said Kerry Brown, a senior fellow at the Asian programme of the Chatham House think tank. It will at some point become much more active as a military power in the region.
“中国正在向区域主导地位迈进，将会引发与两边的邻国印度及日本的冲突”，英国皇家国际关系研究所（Chatham House）亚洲项目高级官员凯利·布朗说，“在未来某个时候，它作为区域军事强国更要比现在积极得多。”
China\'s ambitions are of deep concern to its Asian rivals, especially India which shares a 2,100-mile disputed border with its neighbour. Countries as far away as Australia have also shown they are worried. Kevin Rudd\'s government in Canberra is hugely expanding the Australian navy with the unspoken aim of balancing China\'s growing strength.
中国的雄心引起了亚洲竞争对手们的极大关注，尤其是与中国有着2100英里争议边界线的印度。远至澳大利亚这样的国家也表示了担心。澳大利亚陆克文政府正迅速扩张海军，目标不言而喻---与中国不断增长的军事力量抗衡。
These fears may, however, be exaggerated. China is bidding to become Asia\'s foremost power, but not a global behemoth to rival the United States. Moreover, all the evidence suggests that its prime aim is securing its economic growth and domestic stability.
但是这些担忧可能太夸大了。中国志在成为亚洲头号强国，而不是匹敌美国的全球霸主。而且，所有证据表明中国主要目的在于确保经济发展及国内稳定。
The Chinese are not seeking conflict. They are seeking a stable international environment within which they can continue their economic development, said Mr Brown. The key imperative is to preserve internal security within China.
“中国人可不想找麻烦。他们要的是能够确保经济持续增长的稳定的国际环境”，布朗说，“最关键的一条是维护国内安定。”
There is no sign of China becoming an overtly threatening, expansionist power. Far from having designs on other countries\' territory, China has resolved all border disputes with 12 of its 14 neighbours. In the case of Russia, where the People\'s Liberation Army fought bloody frontier skirmishes in the 1960s, and Vietnam, where Chinese forces waged a full scale border war in 1979, Beijing chose to make big concessions and give away large areas it had previously claimed.
没有迹象显示中国已经走上公然威胁他国的扩主义强国之路。在14个邻国中，中国与12个国家解决了边界争端。在中国解放军在上世纪60年代与俄罗斯进行的血腥的边界战役以及中国1979对越大规模边界战争中，北京选择作出重大让步，放弃了之前主张的广大的区域。
If a future Chinese government decides to use the string of new ports as naval bases, this does not necessarily mean Beijing is out to intimidate its neighbours and overawe the region.
如果未来的中国政府决定利用新建的港口作为海军基地，不一定意味着北京要威胁邻国或称霸一方。
Instead, China\'s economy is largely dependent on energy supplies brought from the Middle East and Africa along vital Indian Ocean shipping lanes. Guaranteeing the safety of these arteries is an understandable aim and does not, of itself, show an aggressive intention.
而是因为中国经济很大程度依靠来自中东及非洲的能源供应，这些能源经由印度洋航线输送，中国保护这些生命线的安全情有可原，这本身并不是一种扩张意图。
In particular, China imports about 80 per cent of its oil through the Strait of Malacca, where the Indian Ocean joins the Pacific. President Hu Jintao has called this dependence the Malacca Dilemma and China\'s naval planning seems geared towards ensuring this passage remains open, while developing alternative routes where possible.
特别是中国进口所需石油的80%要通过连接印度洋和太平洋的马六甲，胡锦涛主席把这种依赖性称为“马六甲困局”。中国海军部署要确保这条航道的畅通，同时开发其它可能的线路。
Whatever the motives behind the inexorable extension of China\'s influence in Asia, however, the balance of global power has already changed dramatically.
不论中国扩大对在亚洲的影响力动机何在，国际格局都已经发生了重大的变化。
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/china/5350478/China-on-the-rise-once-more-across-the-East.html
