中国和美国有望在年底前恢复军事交流，这将消除曾在一段时期加剧中美之间外交紧张关系的一项纠纷。
两国同意恢复商谈的消息于周三传来之际，由白宫高级官员组成的代表团刚刚结束对北京为期三天的访问，在此期间，两国官员均竭力在公开场合表现出和睦气氛，尽管有迹象显示他们在不对外的场合存在分歧。
的确，本周在北京举行的会晤，可能成为未来几周再度爆发摩擦的前奏。美国国会将在未来几周考虑出台相关立法，使美国政府能够以汇率失调为由，阻挡从中国的进口。
由美国总统巴拉克•奥巴马(Barack Obama)的首席经济顾问劳伦斯•萨默斯(Lawrence Summers)和副国家安全顾问多尼隆(Thomas Donilon)带队的白宫官员们会晤了中国国家主席胡锦涛和总理温家宝，突显出中方对这次访问有多么重视。
与北京方面本周在公开场合采用的和缓语调相符的是，胡锦涛对美国客人表示，他相信双方的讨论进展良好，而且中国愿意与美国共同努力，推动中美关系健康稳定发展。
白宫方面在访问结束之际发布了一份简短声明，表示两国政府在很多问题上开展了合作，但在某些问题上“我们将在双方存在不同意见的时候以坦率而尊重的态度交谈”。声明补充说，萨默斯和多尼隆与中国官员在朝鲜、伊朗和全球经济失衡等问题上“坦率交换了看法”。
近几周来，华盛顿和北京在一系列问题上出现尖锐分歧，包括在朝鲜半岛附近海域举行军演，以及南海的纠纷——包括中国在内的多个国家宣称自己对西沙和南沙群岛拥有主权。美国国务卿希拉里•克林顿(Hillary Clinton)上月激怒了北京方面，她当时表示，美国愿意在南海纠纷问题上扮演调停人角色。
在美国，针对中国汇率政策的批评声浪也在日趋高涨。自中国6月下旬放弃事实上盯住美元的政策以来，北京方面仅允许人民币升值了0.3%。一些分析人士相信，美国国会很有可能在一个月内批准出台旨在惩罚中国汇率政策的法案。
今年2月，在美国批准了新的对台湾军售方案后，中国暂停了中美之间的军事交流。
参与相关过程的一名美国军事官员和一名中国智库官员表示，双方仍在讨论恢复接触的时机和方式。不过，鉴于胡锦涛计划在明年1月对美国进行国事访问，中美军事交流预期将在年底之前重启。
美国太平洋司令部司令、海军上将罗伯特•威拉德(Robert Willard)今年早些时候对英国《金融时报》表示，美中军事交流的水平已经远远落后于双边关系中的其它领域。
在更早前的一次暂停后，中美两军对话在2009年年中刚刚恢复。
译者/和风
http://www.ftchinese.com/story/001034538
China and the US are likely to resume military exchanges before the end of the year, removing one of the disputes that has helped fan a period of rising diplomatic tensions between the two countries.
News of the agreement to resume talks emerged on Wednesday as a delegation of senior White House officials ended a three-day visit to Beijing during which both governments went out of their way to appear cordial in public despite signs of disagreements in private.
Indeed, the meetings in Beijing this week could be a prelude to renewed friction in coming weeks as the US Congress considers legislation that would allow the US to block Chinese imports on grounds of currency misalignment.
In a measure of how seriously the Chinese took the visit, the White House officials – led by Lawrence Summers, US President Barack Obama’s leading economic adviser, and Thomas Donilon, deputy national security adviser – met Hu Jintao, president, and Wen Jiabao, premier.
In keeping with the conciliatory public tone that Beijing adopted this week, Mr Hu told the visitors that he believed the discussions had gone well and that “we are willing to work together with the United States in promoting the advance of healthy and stable China-US relations”.
The White House released a short statement at the end of the visit which said the two governments co-operated on many subjects, but on some issues “we will speak frankly and with respect when we disagree”. It added that Mr Summers and Mr Donilon held “candid exchanges” with their Chinese counterparts on North Korea, Iran and global economic imbalances.
Washington and Beijing have had a number of sharp disagreements in recent weeks. These have included issues such as the military exercises in the seas off the Korean peninsula and the dispute in the South China Sea, where China is one of a number of countries that lay claim to the Paracel and Spratly islands. Hillary Clinton, US secretary of state, enraged Beijing when she said last month that the US was willing to act as a mediator in the dispute.
Criticism of China’s currency policy is also rising in the US after Beijing allowed the renminbi to appreciate by only 0.3 per cent since it abandoned a de facto peg with the US dollar in late June. Some analysts believe there is a good chance that legislation aimed at punishing China over its exchange rate could be approved in Congress in the coming month.
Military-to-military ties between the two countries were postponed by China in February after the US approved a new arms sales package to Taiwan.
The two sides were still discussing when and how to restart contacts, said a US military official and an official at a Chinese think-tank involved in the process. However, such contacts are expected to restart before the end of the year, given that Mr Hu is planning to make a state visit to the US in January.
The level of military exchanges had fallen far behind other areas in the bilateral relationship, Admiral Robert Willard, commander of US forces in the Pacific, told the Financial Times earlier this year.
Military-to-military dialogue had only resumed in mid-2009 after an earlier suspension.
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