台湾担心成为美中夹心饼

Taiwan fears getting caught between the US and China as president-elect DonAld Trump threatens a tougher approach towards Beijing and the Chinese government intensifies its sabre-rattling in the region.

美国当选总统唐纳德.特朗普(Donald Trump)威胁对中国采取更强硬立场，而北京方面加大了在所在地区的武力恫吓，面对这种情况，台湾担心被夹在美中之间左右为难。

Politicians and analysts in Taiwan believe Beijing is stepping up pressure on the self-governing and democratic island, which China claims is its territory, because of actions taken by Mr Trump.

台湾政治人士和分析人士认为，由于特朗普采取的动作，北京方面正在对这座自治、民主的岛屿施加更大压力。北京方面声称台湾是中国领土的一部分。

Feng Shih-kuan, Taiwan’s defence minister, on Tuesday called on the military to “maintain a high degree of combat readiness” as the “threat from the enemy grows day by day.”

周二，台湾国防部长冯世宽要求军方“保持战备的警觉”，因为“敌情威胁日益增长”。

He made the comments hours after the Chinese navy sailed its only aircraft carrier just 90 nautical miles from the coast of Taiwan. Taipei deployed fighter jets and naval ships to monitor the progress of the carrier and its supporting fleet. Beijing has said the carrier is on a routine exercise.

他发表这番讲话数小时前，中国海军仅有的一艘航母航行至距台湾海岸仅90海里处。台湾方面部署了战斗机和海军舰艇，监视该航母及其辅助舰队的行进。北京方面表示，该航母在进行例行演练。

The carrier’s movement came weeks after the Chinese military flew a bomber capable of carrying nuclear weapons close to the edge of Taiwanese territory and the Chinese navy snatched a US naval submarine drone in the South China Sea.

几周前，中国军方派遣一架能携带核弹的轰炸机，飞至邻近台湾领空边缘的空域，中国海军还在南中国海捕获了美国海军一具无人潜航器。

Mr Trump upset Beijing by taking a congratulatory phone call from Taiwanese president Tsai Ing-wen, the first such high-level contact for decades, and then questioning the “One China” principle under which most of the world rejects diplomatic ties with Taipei.

特朗普接了台湾总统蔡英文(Tsai Ing-wen)打来的祝贺电话——这是几十年来的首次此类高级别接触——然后又质疑“一个中国”原则。他的行为触怒了北京方面。世界上绝大多数国家遵循“一个中国”原则，拒绝与台北方面建立外交关系。

“China is very angry about losing face, so it is picking on Taiwan as a scapegoat,” said Lo Chih-cheng, a legislator and foreign policy expert from Ms Tsai’s Democratic Progressive party. “The lesson we learn is that US policy toward Taiwan is a function of US-China policy, so we have to be very careful, whether the US takes a more confrontational or a more friendly approach to China.”

“中国丢了面子很生气，所以把台湾当作替罪羊。”蔡英文领导的民进党(DPP)的立法委员、外交政策专家罗致政(Lo Chih-cheng)说，“我们得到的教训是，美国对台政策是随美国对华政策而变的，所以，不管美国对华采取更具对抗性的态度还是采取更友好的态度，我们都必须非常小心。”

Beijing has tightened its squeeze on Taiwan since Ms Tsai took office in May because it is unhappy with her party’s insistence that Taiwan should maintain its de facto independence and reduce its economic reliance on China.

自5月蔡英文上台以来，北京方面加大了对台湾的压力，因为他们不满民进党方面所坚持的立场，即台湾应保持事实上的独立地位并减少对中国的经济依赖。

Politicians from the opposition Kuomintang, or Nationalist party, which promoted closer links with China under previous president Ma Ying-jeou, have attacked the DPP for upsetting Beijing at a delicate time in the US-China relationship.

反对党国民党(Kuomintang)的政治人士批评民进党在美中关系微妙时刻惹恼北京方面。在前任总统马英九(Ma Ying-jeou)领导下，国民党促成两岸之间发展更密切的关系。

“The DPP is unbalanced in its foreign policy,” said Lin Yu-fang, a national security expert at the KMT’s think-tank and a former legislator. “They want to make one elephant happy and the other angry but that’s very dangerous for Taiwan because China is the biggest market for our goods and the US is the only nation willing to sell us weapons.”

“民进党在外交政策方面是失衡的，”国民党智库的国家安全专家、前立法委员林郁方(Lin Yu-fang)说，“他们想让一只大象开心，让另一只大象生气，但这对台湾来说非常危险，因为大陆是我方产品的最大市场，而美国是唯一愿意卖给我们武器的国家。”

Lin Chu-chia, another KMT policy adviser and a former deputy minister in charge of relations with China, said many Taiwanese want to see Mr Trump push back against Beijing’s assertive behaviour.

另一位国民党政策顾问、曾任陆委会副主委的林祖嘉(Lin Chu-chia)说，许多台湾人希望看到特朗普反击北京方面的强势行为。

But they worry the US president-elect will merely use Taiwan as a “bargaining chip” to get concessions from China on trade and other bilateral issues.

但他们担心特朗普只会把台湾当作“谈判筹码”，以换取中国在贸易及其他双边问题上作出让步。

“We want a consistent policy,” said Lin Chu-chia. “If the Americans say they’ll support us without limit in the military sense, we’d be happy.”

“我们希望看到有连贯性的政策，”林祖嘉说，“如果美国人说他们将在军事层面无限支持我们，我们会很高兴。”

Huang Kuo-chang, a legislator from the New Power party, said Taiwan will have to be “patient and prudent” until Mr Trump’s stance becomes clearer after he takes office next month.

时代力量党(New Power party)立委黄国昌(Huang Kuo-chang)表示，下月就职后特朗普的立场会变得更为清晰，在此之前台湾必须保持“耐心和谨慎”。

“I fully support our government strengthening relations with the US government but it is too early to tell which way the Trump administration will go,” said Mr Huang, whose party grew out of a student movement opposed to deeper trade with China.

黄国昌说，“我完全支持我们政府加强与美国政府的关系，但现在要判断特朗普政府将采取什么路线还为时尚早。”时代力量党脱胎于一场反对与中国加深贸易关系的学生运动。

He warned that, whatever Mr Trump does, Chinese pressure on Taiwan would backfire in this democracy of 23m people.

他警告称，无论特朗普做什么，中国对台湾施压都将在这个2300万人的民主政体引起反弹。

“The direction is not set by Ms Tsai and the DPP but by the Taiwanese people, and the Taiwanese people don’t like to be threatened,” he said.

“决定方向的不是蔡英文和民进党，而是台湾人民，台湾人民不喜欢被威胁，”他说。

But the Taiwanese are increasingly nervous about Beijing’s approach.

但台湾人对北京方面的做法越来越紧张。

“Not many people believe it’s safe for us to become formally independent because we’re scared of China,” said Alice Hung, a science student at the National Taiwan University. “If they really want to attack us, what can we do?”

“没多少人认为我们转向正式独立是安全的，因为我们害怕中国。”国立台湾大学(National Taiwan University)的理科学生Alice Hung说，“如果他们真的想进攻我们，我们能做什么？”