China intends to suspend some military exchanges with the US, in the first concrete sign of the fallout from Washington’s decision to provide a $5.9bn arms package to Taiwan.

　　中国打算暂停与美国的部分军事交流活动，这是华盛顿59亿美元对台军售决定所造成消极后果的第一个切实表现。

　　“I think they have indicated that they’re going to suspend or to cancel or postpone a series of […] military-to-military engagements,” a senior US administration official told reporters on Monday, according to a briefing transcript on the state department website.

　　根据美国国务院网站上刊载的发言文字记录，美国政府一位高级官员本周一曾对记者表示：“我认为他们已经示意将暂停、取消、或推迟一系列……中美军事交流活动。”。

　　Yang Jiechi, China’s foreign minister, met with Hillary Clinton, secretary of state, on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly on Monday. Mr Yang used the meeting to reiterate China’s strong opposition to the Obama administration’s decision to sell Taiwan spare parts, training and weapons to upgrade its ageing fleet of F16 fighter aircraft.

　　中国外交部长杨洁篪周一在联合国大会(UN General Assembly)间隙，与美国国务卿希拉里?克林顿(Hillary Clinton)举行了会面。杨洁篪在会面时重申，中国强烈反对奥巴马政府向台湾出售升级老化F16战斗机编队所需零部件、培训和武器的决定。

　　“[…] he was making very serious representations to secretary Clinton, asked the Obama administration to reconsider this decision and indicated that it would harm the trust and confidence that was established between the two sides,” the official said.

　　这位官员说：“……他对克林顿国务卿阐明了中方的严正立场，要求奥巴马政府重新考虑这个决定，还表示这个决定会伤害中美双方已经建立起来的相互信任与信心。”

　　Military dialogue was suspended for most of 2010 after Washington announced another long-delayed arms package for Taiwan in January last year.

　　2010年1月，华盛顿曾公布另一项拖延已久的对台军售计划，之后中美两国的军事对话在全年大部分时间都处于暂停状态。

　　Washington had hoped to avoid such fallout this time. With both sides’ chiefs of general staff and defence ministers having exchanged visits over the past year, less high-level dialogue is at stake than in 2010. But the latest comment from the state department appears to confirm that Beijing will still sacrifice some military exchanges. The state department official stressed that not all military dialogue would be affected. Some postponements or cancellations would “come over time”, he said.

　　华盛顿曾希望这一次能避免这样的后果。由于在过去一年中，双方总参谋长和国防部长都已经完成了互访，可能受到影响的高层对话没有2010年那么多。然而美国国务院的最新评论似乎说明，北京方面仍将牺牲部分军事交流活动。这位美国国务院官员强调称，并不是所有军事对话都会受到影响。他说，某些推迟或取消会“慢慢来”。