澳大利亞大幅增加國防開支

AustrAlia will boost its annual defence spending by 80 per cent within a decade as it upgrades its armed forces partly to counteract Chinese assertiveness in the Asia-Pacific region.

澳大利亞將在今後十年裏把年度國防開支提高80%。目前，該國正在對其武裝力量進行升級，此舉在一定程度上是爲了反制中國在亞太地區的強硬態勢。

A defence white paper published on Thursday lays out plans to increase expenditure to A$59bn (US$42bn) by 2026, compared with A$32bn this year. Almost half of a total budget of A$447bn forecast for 2016-2026 will be spent on military hardware and infrastructure over the period.

澳大利亞週四發佈的國防白皮書列出的計劃是，到2026年時將國防開支增加到590億澳元（合420億美元），而今年澳大利亞的軍費爲320億澳元。2016-26年的總預算預計爲4470億澳元，其中近一半將花在軍事裝備和國防基礎設施上。

“This is a massive investment in securing the peace and prosperity of our region,” said Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull.

澳大利亞總理馬爾科姆•特恩布爾(Malcolm Turnbull)表示：“這一大規模投入是爲了確保我們地區的和平與繁榮。”

The paper also commits Canberra to raise defence spending to 2 per cent of gross domestic product by 2020-21. The proposal marks a significant expansion of earlier plans to boost defence spending and comes despite budget pressures after the end of a decade-long mining investment boom.

白皮書還承諾，到2020-21年度，澳大利亞政府將把國防開支提高到國內生產總值(GDP)的2%。該方案是對之前提高軍費的計劃的顯著擴展，而且是在歷時十年之久的礦業投資熱潮結束後澳大利亞預算承壓的情況下提出的。

The big spending increase, will be welcomed by the US, which wants its allies to shoulder more of the burden of dealing with international problems and provide for their own defence.

澳大利亞大幅提高軍費之舉將受到美國的歡迎。美國希望其盟國能擔負起更多處理國際問題的責任、併爲它們自身的防務出錢出力。

It marks the latest stage of a developing arms race in Asia, where many countries are strengthening their militaries on concerns about the actions of China, which has begun to militarise a series of contested reefs and islands in the South China Sea.

這標誌着亞洲不斷髮展的軍備競賽進入最新階段。中國已開始對南中國海上一系列存在爭議的島、礁展開軍事化。出於對中方此類行動的擔心，很多亞洲國家都在它們的軍備。

“Australia is particularly concerned by the unprecedented pace and scale of China’s land reclamation activities,” says the white paper, which warns that territorial disputes in the East and South China Seas have “created uncertainty and tension” across the region.

白皮書稱，“澳大利亞對中國填海造島行動的空前速度和規模格外感到擔憂”。它還警告稱，東中國海和南中國海上的領土爭端給整個地區“造成了不確定性和緊張”。

The paper commits the government to buying a fleet of 12 submarines, rather than the 8 vessels envisaged by some analysts. This would double the fleet and comes on top of commitments to build 9 frigates, 3 destroyers and 12 offshore patrol vessels.

白皮書承諾，澳大利亞政府將購買12艘潛艇，而並非此前一些分析人士預計的8艘。這將使澳大利亞擁有的潛艇數量翻一番。此外，澳大利亞政府還將建造9艘護衛艦、3艘驅逐艦以及12艘近海巡邏艦。

The shift in strategy “reflects significant concern in government about developments in regional security, including China’s aggressive actions in the South China Sea,” said Peter Jennings, director of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute.

這種戰略轉變“反映出政府對地區安全動態、包括對中國在南中國海上咄咄逼人行動的嚴重擔憂”，澳大利亞戰略政策研究所(Australian Strategic Policy Institute)主任彼得•詹寧斯(Peter Jennings)稱。