中国试图平息新版护照风波
China Seeks to Calm Anger Over Passports
中国似乎在设法平息邻国的愤怒，后者认为中国的护照设计具有挑衅性。此前一天，美国说将向北京提出此事。
China appeared to seek to assuage angry neighbors over a passport design they consider provocative, one day after the U.S. said it would raise the issue with Beijing.
中国新版护照上印的地图将其与越南和菲律宾有争议的海域和岛屿及与印度有争议的两个内陆地区均划归为中国领土。此外，新版护照上还有台湾的图像。中国认为台湾属其领土。
A map printed in new Chinese passports depicts as part of China waters and islands also claimed by Vietnam and the Philippines as well as two inland areas also claimed by India. The passport also has images from Taiwan, an island that China considers its sovereign territory.
中国新版护照地图所增加的内容在亚洲各地引发了抗议，一些政府要么是提供了另发的入境签证申请表以避免在中国新版护照上盖章，要么是向中国游客签发带有其本国地图的签证。
The inclusion of the map in the passports has prompted protests around the region and several governments have come up alternative entry forms to avoid stamping the new Chinese passports or issue visas with their own maps for Chinese visitors.
在周三的例行记者会上，中国外交部发言人洪磊试图对新版护照上地图的意义做淡化处理。他说，中国新版护照的地图问题不应被过分解读，中国愿意与相关国家保持接触，推动人员往来的稳定发展。
At a regular media briefing on Wednesday, China Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei sought to play down the map's significance. 'The picture on the passport should not be overinterpreted.' he said. 'China is ready to maintain communication with relevant countries and promote the sound development of personnel exchanges.'
中国国有媒体说，中国从今年春天起开始签发新版护照，并采用了智能芯片等新技术。不过，有关新版护照上的地图问题是在上周菲律宾、越南和台湾提出抗议后才引发外界关注的。
State media said China began issuing new passports this past spring to introduce new technology, including smart chips. However, the issue surrounding the map has drawn attention only in the last week after protests from the Philippines, Vietnam and Taiwan.
洪磊是在周二美国国务院发言人努兰德(Victoria Nuland)发表评论后说出上述那番话的。努兰德说，美国会向北京方面提出此事。她说，地图问题在南中国海(South China Sea，中国称南海)国家和地区之间引发了紧张局势和焦虑情绪。她还说，中国有权按照自己的意愿来设计本国护照，但这在政治上是否明智或有益，则是另外一回事，因为这样的举措会让我们希望能与中国协商解决领土争端的国家产生敌意。
Mr. Hong's comments follow those Tueasday by U.S. State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland, who said the U.S. would bring up the matter with Beijing. The map 'is causing tension and anxiety between and among the states in the South China Sea,' she said. She added that China has the right to design the passport as it wishes but 'that's a different matter than whether it's politically smart or helpful to be taking steps that antagonize countries that we want to see a negotiation happen with.'
据亚洲的官员和专家表示，此次争议不太可能对中国与其它亚洲国家之间的关系造成重大破坏。不过，这让外界得以了解中国引发的紧张关系，究其原因就是中国与日俱增的经济和军事影响力，以及它对长久以来自称本国领土的愈发自信态度。
The dispute isn't likely to cause major damage to relations between China and other Asian nations, according to regional officials and experts. But it offers a glimpse into the tensions sparked by China's growing heft both economically and military, as well as its increasingly assertive attitude toward territories it has long claimed as its own.
中国领导人必须在有关领土争议的问题上谨慎拿捏，既要平息国内民族主义压力，同时也要力求不破坏与别国的经济关系。今年9月中国国内曾爆发抗议活动，起因是中国与日本在东中国海(East China Sea，中国称东海)的岛屿主权之争。抗议活动时不时失控，中国政府官员为此不得不呼吁民众保持冷静，而中国领导人当时还在继续抨击东京在争议岛屿问题上坚持的立场。
China's leadership has to walk a fine line on issues pertaining to its territorial disputes, as it seeks to avoid disrupting economic ties while assuaging nationalist pressures at home. Protests in September related to a dispute with Japan over islands in the East China Sea that both countries claim appeared at times to spin out of control, prompting official calls for calm even as leaders continued to lash out against Tokyo's stance on the islands.
这次的护照风波给部分中国公民在亚洲的旅行带来不便。
The recent passport dispute has caused inconveniences for some Chinese travelers in the region.
周三，一个由20位中国公民组成的旅游团从北京出发，抵达越南河内，其中有四人持有新版护照。其中一位女士说，她并没意识到自己7月签发的护照上有新地图。她说，地图太小，又不清楚，很难辨认上面都有什么。
In a group of 20 Chinese tourists who arrived in Hanoi from Beijing on Wednesday, four had the new passports. One of them said she didn't realize that her passport, issued in July, had the new map, which she said was so tiny and blurry it was hard to make out what it depicted.
她说，我们进入越南入境口时没有拿到盖在护照上的签证，而是拿到了另外一张纸，我们拿着这个“旅游许可证”可以在越南旅行。
'We entered the Vietnamese immigration gate and didn't get a visa stamped on the passport, but instead, we received a separate sheet of paper called a tourist permit that is valid for traveling in Vietnam,' she said.
在制鞋行业工作的David Li于11月19日抵达越南时也有过类似遭遇。起初海关官员拒绝在他护照上盖章，后来改在另外一张纸上盖章。他说，我认为政府应该主动与相关国家协商，不然需要出国的人最终将受到影响。
David Li, who works in the shoe-manufacturing industry, had a similar experience when arriving in Vietnam on Nov. 19 as customs official initially refused to stamp his passport and eventually stamped a separate sheet of paper instead. 'I think the government should be actively negotiating with related countries,' he said. 'Otherwise, people who need to go abroad will eventually face the impact.'
一名新浪微博用户说，越南海关让她等了两个小时。她说，我到这里是来花钱的，如果越南不给我签证，亏的是他们。
A user of Sina Corp.'s SINA -1.14% popular Twitter-like Weibo Chinese microblogging service said Vietnamese customs kept her waiting for two hours. 'I come here to spend money, and if Vietnam declines me, they will lose money,' the user said.
越南外交部发表声明说，它向中国驻越南大使馆提出了抗议，并要求中国政府撤销新版护照中的“错误内容”。
In a statement, Vietnam's Foreign Ministry said it protested to the Chinese Embassy in Hanoi and asked Chinese officials 'to repeal the wrongful contents' in the new passport.
印度外交部发言人艾克巴鲁丁(Syed Akbaruddin)说，印方尚未就此事向中国提出正式抗议。在印度驻华大使馆向中国公民发放的签证上，两个争议之中的内陆地区都处在印度境内。
India hasn't officially complained to China about the issue, said Syed Akbaruddin, a spokesman at India's Foreign Ministry. Instead, the Indian Embassy in Beijing is issuing visas to Chinese nationals stamped with maps that show the two inland areas in dispute as falling within India's borders.
艾克巴鲁丁说，每个国家都有权决定其边界线，中方表达了它对其边界线所处位置的看法，我们表达了我们的观点。
'Every country has a right to determination on its boundaries,' Mr. Akbaruddin said. 'The Chinese side have expressed its view on where its boundary lies. We have our own opinion.'
这场纠纷是亚洲更大范围领土争端的一部分。其中南海的争议地区可能含有丰富的资源。上周在柬埔寨金边举行的东南亚国家联盟（Association of Southeast Asian Nations，简称东盟）会议上，领土争端成为重要议题，美国总统奥巴马(Barack Obama)对多个东盟国家为同中国达成地区性协议而进行的努力表示支持。中方曾表示应一对一地同相关国家解决争端。
The dispute is part of broader regional jostling over claims to areas that, in the case of the South China Sea, could be potentially rich in resources. The territorial claims were a major issue at a meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, last week, where U.S. President Barack Obama backed an effort by many of the group's members to negotiate a regionwide agreement with China. China has said the dispute should be settled with each nation involved one-on-one.
马来西亚国际关系与策略研究院(Institute of Strategic and International Studies)外交政策及安全研究所所长邓秀岷(Tang Siew Mun)说，虽然将中国新版护照视为挑衅未免牵强，但它会损害东盟与中国的关系，会进一步加剧已经很紧张的南海局势；它说明北京不尊重东盟的感受。
'While it is far-fetched to consider the new Chinese passports as an act of provocation, it is damaging to Asean-China ties, and will further inflame the already tense situation in the South China Sea,' said Tang Siew Mun, director of foreign policy and security studies at the Institute of Strategic and International Studies, a Malaysian think tank. 'If anything, this shows Beijing's lack of regard for Asean sensitivities.'
另一些人则急于淡化护照事件的影响。菲律宾财政部长普里西马(Cesar Purisima)说，他相信这起纠纷不会对两国商业关系带来太大影响。他说，国与国的关系是多维的；菲中之间虽然存在领土争端，但商业往来、人员交流和文化交往仍然顺利。
Others were quick to play down the impact of the passport episode. In the Philippines, Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima said he is confident the dispute won't significantly affect business relationships. 'Relations among nations are multidimensional. While there's a territorial dispute, business relations, people to people, cultural relations are still doing well,' he said.
不过，菲律宾外交部周三说，将不再把签证章盖在中国护照上，而是改在另外一张签证表上盖章。
Nevertheless, the Philippines's Department of Foreign Affairs said Wednesday it would no longer stamp its visas on the Chinese passport, and would instead stamp a separate visa form.
中国复旦大学国际关系学教授沈丁立说，护照地图反倒无助于中国表明南海在历史上属于本国领土的立场。他说，关键不是强调分歧，而是看到共同之处。
Shen Dingli, a professor of international relations at China's Fudan University, said the map is counterproductive to China's position that the South China Sea has historically been part of its territory. 'The point is not to stress the differences but to see the common ground,' he said.
WSJ
2012-11-29
WSJ
411次
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