唐华 By Tang Hua
不久前，美国“2022财年国防授权法案”经总统拜登签署正式生效。法案不仅大肆炒作“中国威胁论”，还继2020年后，再次写入“建议邀请台湾参加环太平洋军演”的内容。
The National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2022 that was recently signed into law by US President Joe Biden not only rampantly hypes up “China threats”, but also, the second time after 2020, says “the naval forces of Taiwan should be invited to participate in the Rim of the Pacific exercise”.
环太平洋军演是全世界规模最大的国际联合海上军事演习，每两年举行一次，除炫耀武力外，还有比较明显的政治意味。中美关系融洽之时，2014年和2016年，中国曾两度受邀参加；之后中美关系恶化，美国以所谓“南海军事化”为由，从2018年起将中国排除在外。
The biennial Rim of the Pacific exercise (RIMPAC) is the largest-scale international joint maritime exercise in the world, which carries a strong political implication other than flexing muscles. When China and the US were on good terms, China was twice invited to participate in the RIMPAC in 2014 and 2016, but after bilateral ties deteriorated, Washington has kept Beijing out since 2018 for what it called the “militarization of the South China Sea”.
此后，环太军演反倒成了美国“以台制华”的表演舞台，美国“2020年国防授权法案”就曾提出“邀请台湾参加”，只是在权衡利弊得失之后打消了念头，如今是两年之后老调重弹。
Since then, RIMPAC has become a stage on which the US performs the act of “using Taiwan to contain China”. The NDAA 2020 proposed to invite Taiwan to RIMPAC for the first time, but Washington dismissed the idea after weighing the pros and cons, and now it is harping on the same string again.
从技术上讲，拉台湾入圈参与环太军演，对美国宣称的“提升台湾防务”帮助并不大。2020年的环太军演受新冠疫情影响，参演国从2018年的26个国家骤减至10个，演习时间也从1个多月减至2周，演习科目也只剩下火炮射击、海上安全行动、人道主义救援减灾等基础性科目。演习质量的大幅缩水，让参演国之间很难培养出所谓的军事协同能力。今年在疫情持续的背景下，环太军演大概率仍会延续2020年的走过场剧情。
Technically, having Taiwan participate in RIMPAC doesn’t help its defense capabilities as the US claims. The RIMPAC 2020 had only 10 participating countries compared with 26 in 2018 because of the pandemic, the length was cut from more than a month to two weeks, and only basic exercise subjects were kept, such as artillery firing, maritime security operation, and humanitarian disaster relief and rescue. The massive scale-down of the exercise made it hard to foster any kind of military interoperability among the participants, and as the pandemic lingers on, there is a good chance that the RIMPAC this year will just go through the motions as it did in 2020.
从政治上讲，美国若邀请台湾参加，将面临难以估量的地缘政治风险。在中美三个联合公报中，美国曾明确承诺，在承认中华人民共和国政府是中国的唯一合法政府前提下，只与台湾保持文化、商务和其他非官方关系。美国若邀请台湾参加联合军演，将破坏中美建交的政治基础以及两国的重要政治共识，是为人不齿的背信弃义之举。
Politically, if the US did invite Taiwan to the exercise, it would face inestimable geopolitical risks. The US expressly committed in the three China-US Joint Communiqués to maintaining only cultural, commercial, and other unofficial relations with Taiwan island on the premise of recognizing the government of the People’s Republic of China as the sole legitimate government representing the whole of China. Inviting Taiwan to the RIMPAC exercise would be a despicable act of treachery that would undermine the political foundation for China-US ties and the important political consensus reached by the two countries.
更重要的是，环太军演是只有主权国家才会受邀参加的军事演习，若美国邀请台湾参加，则是对“一个中国”原则的严重挑衅，触碰中国维护国家主权和领土完整的核心利益，必将招致中国的猛烈回击。
More importantly, RIMPAC is a military exercise to which only sovereign states are invited. Any attempt to invite the Taiwan region to participate would seriously challenge the one-China principle and harm China’s core interests in national sovereignty and territorial integrity, and that would definitely court strong countermeasures from the Chinese side.
然而，这样一个实际意义不大、擦枪走火风险却很高的作秀举动，却格外受到美国和台湾政客的追捧。一方面，美国中期选举临近，拜登政府亟需用对华示强来迎合国内的极端反华势力，此外，还能借机在军售上狠狠敲台当局一笔竹杠，取悦军火商这个政客背后的大金主。另一方面，台当局也可借机宣传所谓“美国对台防卫承诺坚如磐石”“美台关系牢不可破”“台湾国际地位提升”等等，用以蛊惑台湾民众，散布“台独”言论，为自己牟取政治私利。
Yet such a farce that is barely meaningful but risks armed conflicts has met enthusiastic welcome and acclaim from politicians in Washington and the Taiwan island. On the one hand, with the mid-term election nearing, the Biden administration urgently needs to cater to the extreme anti-China forces at home by playing the hardball against China. It could also rip off the Taiwan authorities by selling weapons and equipment to the island, which in turn would ingratiate itself with the behind-the-scene arms dealers. On the other hand, the Taiwan authorities could seize the opportunity to propagate “America’s staunch commitment to defending Taiwan”, the “unbreakable relation between America and Taiwan”, and “Taiwan’s elevated international standing”, in the attempt to deceive the Taiwan people, spread “Taiwan independence”, and rake in political interests.
与美台政客出于政治算计沆瀣一气、相互勾连不同，台海和平、两岸统一事关中国主权、安全、发展利益，事关两岸民众福祉，中国没有任何妥协退让的余地。
While American and Taiwan politicians are colluding and conspiring for selfish political calculations, the Chinese mainland keeps in mind the overall interests of the Chinese nation. The peace and reunification across the Taiwan Strait concern China’s sovereignty, security and development interests, and the wellbeing of people living on both sides of the strait. China will never make concessions on this question.
因此，即便美台政客一次次政治操弄台湾话题，拉大旗作虎皮反复恫吓，也不会动摇中国在台湾问题上的坚定决心和立场，反而只会不断压缩自己的腾挪空间，最终走入死胡同，在中国政府和人民实现祖国统一的强大意志面前碰得头破血流。
Therefore, no matter how many times the American and Taiwan politicians manipulate the Taiwan question, no matter how frequently they flex muscles, they will never shake China’s adamant resolve and stance on the Taiwan question. Rather, they would only find themselves being left with less and less leeway and finally ending up in a dead end, with their wretched plots and ploys smashed by the iron will of the Chinese government and people to achieve national reunification.
Editor's note: This article is originally published on china.com.cn, and is translated from Chinese into English and edited by the China Military Online. The information, ideas or opinions appearing in this article do not necessarily reflect the views of eng.chinamil.com.cn.
