By Hu Bo
胡波
In 2022, the US instigated some countries to keep hyping up the “maritime threats from China”, trying to use that as an excuse to maintain its hegemony on the sea. First, the US, Japan, India and Australia launched the Indo-Pacific Partnership for Maritime Domain Awareness (IPMDA) at the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (QSD), commonly known as the Quad, held in Tokyo in May. The IPMDA claimed to crack down on illegal fishing, share maritime information, and enhance the ability to monitor the waters in the Pacific Ocean, Southeast Asia and the Indian Ocean. Tony Radakin, Britain’s Chief of the Defence Staff, went to great lengths to exaggerate the “maritime threats from China” in an address at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) in mid-December, claiming that “surely China’s military forces will start to reach into the Atlantic”, and the melting of the polar ice caps would halve the time it takes for shipping to travel between Europe and Asia, making it easier for Beijing to flex its military muscles in the Atlantic.
2022年美国鼓动一些国家持续炒作“中国海上威胁”，试图以此为借口来维持自己的海洋霸权。先是美日印澳5月在东京召开“四方安全对话”峰会期间推出“印太海域态势感知伙伴关系”（IPMDA）。该倡议宣称以打击“非法捕捞”为目标，实现海上信息共享，提升太平洋、东南亚和印度洋地区各国的海域监控能力。12月中旬，英国国防参谋长拉达金则在英国皇家联合军事研究所（RUSI）的演讲中大肆渲染“中国海上威胁”，甚至宣称“中国军力将长驱大西洋”，“一旦北极冰层融化大幅缩短欧亚之间的航行时间，中国军力将更容易投射到大西洋”。
Ironically, the US military is sending aircraft and ships to carry out maritime and air activities in waters around China thousands of times, nearly 2,000 ship-days every year along with high-intensity close-in reconnaissance, while Britain has also been enhancing its presence in those waters over recent years. Yet they have consistently asserted those military activities were aimed to defend the freedom of navigation in the region.
但讽刺的是，目前美军每年在中国周边海域维持着数千架次军机、近2000个舰日的海空活动和高强度的抵近侦察；英国近年来也在这些海域强化力量的存在。对于这些军事活动，美国和英国一贯声称他们“是为了捍卫该地区的航行自由”。
If they follow this logic, why are Britain and the US so concerned even before the Chinese forces have ever been to the Atlantic? Their concern exposes the underlying logic guiding their actions. The remarks by Radakin and others once again proved the hypocrisy, double standards and contradiction in their maritime narratives, which is that only their armed forces are for “justice”, “freedom” and “peace”.
按照这个说法，为什么中国军队都还没去大西洋，英美就如此担心呢？他们的担忧恰恰暴露了自己的行为逻辑。拉达金等人的言论再次证明了英美海上叙事竞争的虚伪、双标和悖论，即只有它们的力量才是“正义”、“自由”及“和平”的。
As a matter of fact, the theory that China is posing threats on the sea is just a reflection of their own mindset or intention. Ever since the Age of Exploration, those countries have used their maritime hegemony to exercise colonialism and power politics, so much so that they still tend to coerce other countries with gunboats in the modern day. Given their own history and experience, they, seeing that China is strengthening its navy, naturally imagine that China would repeat the path they have taken before.
事实上，“中国海上威胁论”是英美等“以己度人”的产物。因为自大航海时代以来，这些国家就利用海洋霸权实施殖民政策和强权政治，时至今日，它们仍没有放弃通过“炮舰政策”来胁迫他国。当看到中国开始建设强大海军，基于自身的经验和经历，它们想当然地认为中国会复制他们的老路。
At the same time, hyping the “maritime threats” posed by China has become a magic trick for some Western countries’ naval forces to secure budget and enhance political presence at home. Many officials and scholars in the West said that they paid so much attention to China because it is a great power. Creating a sense of crisis by exaggerating how powerful and aggressive the Chinese navy is to justify their own military buildup – this is now the usual trick played by Western politicians and generals.
另外，炒作“中国海上威胁”已成为西方一些国家海上力量争取预算并强化其国内政治存在的“不二法宝”。曾有不少西方官员和学者私下对笔者表示：“之所以如此关注中国，是因为中国是大国。”借渲染中国海军的强大和“咄咄逼人”来营造危机感，为加强自身军力建设找合法性，是西方政客和将军们的惯用伎俩。
The Chinese military, on the other hand, always upholds a national defense policy that is defensive in nature, and the PLA Navy is tasked with “offshore waters defense and open seas protection”. With military modernization and the growing need to perform various missions, the Chinese armed forces have indeed sailed to the far sea more frequently in the past decade and more, but mainly for escorting, disaster relief and goodwill visits. Either authorized by the UN or other organizations or upon the invitation or agreement of relevant countries along the sea, those missions are truly peaceful and completely and essentially different from the overseas deployments and operations by countries represented by Britain and the US that are aimed to threaten other countries.
中国军队奉行防御性的国防战略，中国海军的战略方针是“近海防御、远海护卫”。随着中国的军事现代化和各类任务的需要，十余年来，中国军队确实越来越多地“走出去”，走向深海大洋。不过，这些行动多是执行护航、灾害救援和友好访问，要么有联合国或其他组织的授权，要么有相关沿海国家的邀请或同意，都是和平地展现存在，与英美等国动辄威胁他国的海外部署和行动有着本质不同。
Even if the Chinese military grows to be much stronger one day, China will not – and sees no need to – maintain massive troops around other countries and impose coercion on them, which is exactly what Britain and the US are doing in China’s vicinity today. The time has changed. The aggressive DNA of Washington and London cannot be found in China’s nature, and it has no aggressive strategy overseas as they do.
即便有一天，中国军队强大到相当程度，中国也不会而且也没有必要效仿今天英美在中国周边的所作所为，即在他国周边维持着大规模的力量存在并实施胁迫性行为。时代变了，中国骨子里没有美英那样的扩张性基因，中国在海外也没有英美那样进攻性的战略。
If Britain, the US and other countries are truly preserving peace and freedom in global waters as they claim, they should not feel nervous about a growing Chinese military with a broader presence.
如果英美等国真如它们所宣扬的那样，在全球海域的使命是维护和平与自由，那么对于中国军队的强大和存在，就不应该感到紧张。
(The author is director of the South China Sea Strategic Situation Probing Initiative)
（作者是“南海战略态势感知计划”主任）
Editor's note: Originally published on huanqiu.com, this article is translated from Chinese into English and edited by the China Military Online. The information and opinions in this article do not necessarily reflect the views of eng.chinamil.com.cn.
