英语原文

China wants improved military ties with US

China greeted the inauguration of Barack Obama as US president with an appeal for better bilateral military relations, signalling Beijing's hopes of fully restoring military dialogue partly suspended last year over US arms sales to Taiwan.

The gesture accompanied the presentation of the biannual white paper on China's National Defense, whose release some analysts said had been timed for the inauguration.

“A few hours from now, Mr Obama will be inaugurated. In the new era, we hope that both sides can make joint efforts to create favourable conditions for the continued improvement and development of military relations,” said Hu Changming, spokesman of the ministry of national defence.

The softer tone contrasts with the uncompromising line Beijing has taken towards the outgoing Bush administration over military matters. For two months, the defence ministry has demanded that Washington reverse its October decision to sell $6.5bn in arms to Taiwan.

China's last three defence white papers had December release dates. “This one was delayed to wait for the Obama inauguration,” said Andrew Yang, secretary of the Chinese Council of Advanced Policy Studies in Taiwan. He added that recent improvements in cross-Strait relations and the military's need to reflect those in the document also contributed to the delay.

中文翻译

中国呼吁改善中美双边军事关系，以此欢迎巴拉克•奥巴马(Barack Obama)就任美国总统，这表明北京希望全面恢复双方的军事对话。去年因美国对台军售，中美军事对话部分中断。

中国是在发表每两年一次的国防白皮书之际作出上述姿态的。部分分析师表示，中方将白皮书的发表安排在奥巴马就职的时候。

国防部新闻发言人胡昌明表示：“奥巴马先生再过几个小时就要宣布就职。在新的时期，我们希望中美双方共同努力，创造有利条件，推动两军关系不断改善和发展。”

这一温和论调，与北京对离任前的布什政府在军事问题上毫不妥协的立场形成对比。两个月来，中国国防部一直要求华盛顿取消去年10月做出的向台湾出售65亿美元武器的决定。

中国前三部国防白皮书都是在12月份发表的。“这部白皮书被推迟，以等待奥巴马就职。”台湾的中国高等政策研究会(Chinese Council of Advanced Policy Studies)秘书长杨念祖(Andrew Yang)表示。他补充说，近期两岸关系改善，以及军方在白皮书中反映这一情况的需要，也是中方推迟发表白皮书的原因。