作者:兰顺正

首发自：中国日报

近日，美国五角大楼在今年年初向参议院提交的《中国军事与安全发展报告2020》在延宕数个月以后，终于被公之于众。

此类报告是美国防部根据《2000财年国防授权法》第1202款规定，每年就中国军力发展状况向国会提交的专题报告，内容包括“人民解放军当前和未来可能的军事与技术发展状况”、“中国的总体略”、“安全战略”、“军事战略”、“军事组织和作战理论原则”以及“未来20年发展方向”等。迄今为止，五角大楼已发布了19份这样的报告。

和往年5月份发布报告相比，今年的《报告》延宕到了9月份，但内容相较往年也有所增多，加上附录共计200页，比去年多了64页左右。今年的《报告》继续关注解放军的军力现状和发展方向，在《报告》中，美军渲染解放军正朝着“本世纪中叶全面建成世界一流军队”不懈努力，解放军已经在“造船业”、“常规弹道导弹和巡航导弹”、“合成空防系统”方面优于美国。

具体而言，在《报告》中美方认为，在造船业方面中国已经拥有世界上最大的海上舰队，并且正在“提高其造船能力和所有海军级别作战的能力”。中国拥有350艘军舰和潜艇，包括130艘主战舰艇，美国则只拥有293艘军舰和潜艇。而在“陆基常规弹道导弹和巡航导弹”方面，中国拥有超过1250枚射程在500到5500公里的陆基弹道导弹和陆基巡航导弹。美国目前有一种常规陆基弹道导弹，射程在70到300公里之间，没有陆基巡航导弹。同时在“综合防空系统”方面，中国拥有世界规模最大的先进远程地对空系统，包括俄罗斯制造的S-400、S-300和国产系统。这些空防系统构成其稳健和冗余的综合防空系统。另外，《报告》还宣称，解放军正在扩充核武库，发展海基、陆基和空基“三位一体”的核力量。《报告》推测，5年内解放军能威胁到美国本土的核武器弹头数量将翻倍，同时能威慑到美国本土的核载具数量也将增加。而解放军的核弹头规模将在十年内翻倍。

而在《报告》发布之后不久，美方还不忘继续“加码”。据美国福克斯新闻报道，9月14日美国战略司令部司令查尔斯·理查德发出“警告”称，中国军力的大幅提升表明这个亚洲国家在以多快的速度建立自己的核武库，从而达到能够“直接威胁美国的能力”。他还感叹，当中国下定决心做某件事时，他们实现目标的能力令人印象深刻。在同一天，“意犹未尽”的理查德在五角大楼举行的一场新闻发布会上又对记者称，中国自2013年以来建造了数百艘舰船，这只是中国能够以多快的速度来实现其军事野心的一个例子。

虽然美方相关人员在今年的《报告》上所费的心思要比去年更多，事后也不遗余力的为《报告》增添“注脚”，但是归根结底仍然脱离不了渲染“中国威胁论”这个核心。其实美方十分清楚，尽管这些年中国国防力量的建设取得了较大的进步，可依旧和美国相差甚远。如中国军费开支虽然位列全球第二，但美国军费却占全球的将近40%，是排在后面的近10个国家的总和；中国虽然军舰数量领先，美国的军舰在质量和吨位上相较中国却占据明显优势；在核武领域更是不言自明，美国能够威胁到中国的核武器远超中国能够威胁到美国的核武器。

而美国之所以明知故犯，背后有着自己不可告人的目的。通过夸大和渲染中国军力发展成就，恶意解读中国战略意图，污蔑并抹黑中国国防现代化努力，美国一方面可以损毁中国的国际形象，甚至妖魔化中国，从而提升国际社会对中国的疑虑心态和恐惧感，挑拨中国与周边国家关系，并运用国际力量阻挠中国军力正常发展，钳制中国军力运用。据报道，在冷战时期，美国就连年发布有关苏联的军力报告，为其借国际社会之力对抗苏联发挥了重要作用。而冷战结束后，中国取代苏联成为美国进行军力评估的首要对象。同时，由于这些年特朗普强推“美国优先”，导致美国的“软实力”明显受损，很多国家不愿再唯美国马首是瞻。尤其是在此次新冠疫情中的糟糕表现，更是让美国一直标榜的“民主”、“人权”等受到普遍质疑。而将中国描绘成手执利刃的“危险分子”，美国可以用“救世主”的面目将一些态度摇摆的国家拉向自己的身边，并将原本的盟友捆绑的更紧，进一步维护其霸主地位，降低在国际社会推行自身意志（如“印太战略”）的难度。

另一方面，中国也是美军为自己争夺预算的绝佳理由。在美国国内，围绕军费展开的争夺往往异常激烈，所以美军需要中国这样一个有潜力成为“势均力敌对手”的大国作为假想敌，通过“中国威胁”给美国决策圈制造焦虑和紧迫感，以确保获得充足的财政投入，实现军力长远发展，并满足国内政党、部门或集团利益。而且渲染“中国威胁”还可以为美国向其他国家（如印度）和地区（如台湾）推销军火提供便利，让美国的军工复合体赚得盆满钵满。

综上，正如此次中国外交部发言人华春莹在例行记者会上所表示得那样，美国国防部的这个报告，罔顾事实，充满了偏见，对中国的国防建设妄加评论，蓄意歪曲中国战略意图，无非是为美国谋求军事领域的绝对霸权优势制造借口而已。

（以下为英文版原文）

US cannot fulfill its dirty goals by portraying China as a threat

By Lan Shunzheng | chinadaily.com.cn | Updated: 2020-10-09 15:03

The United States continues its efforts to sell the "China threat" theory to the world using new tricks, the most latest being the exaggeration of China's military power. But despite trying new ways to sell the unsubstantiated theory, at the core of its attempt is stigmatizing China.

On Wednesday, Robert O'Brien, US national security adviser, said at an event at the University of Nevada in Las Vegas that China was engaged in a massive naval buildup probably not seen since Germany's attempt to compete with Great Britain's Royal Navy prior to World War I. Such ridiculous allegations are nothing but an excuse for the US to play the "China threat" card in order to interfere in China's internal affairs including the Taiwan question.

The clichés used by US politicians to attack China are not new. On Sept 14, Charles A. Richard, head of the US Strategic Command, said China poses a military threat to the US, claiming China has built hundreds of ships since 2013 demonstrating its military ambition. The US Defense Department's report on China's military on Sept 2 said China is developing a world-class military and the People's Liberation Army has exceeded the US in shipbuilding, land-based conventional ballistic and cruise missiles, and integrated air defense systems.

Besides, US Defense Secretary Mark Esper has been repeatedly saying that China is the top military threat to the US.

Washington claims "China is dangerous" and a military threat while knowing full well that there is a big gap in military power between the US and China. For example, although China has the second-largest military budget in the world, the US tops the list with a share of about 40 percent of the global military expenditure that is equal to the total expenditure of the next 10 countries. The US has more advanced and larger tonnage ships, and has more than 4,000 nuclear warheads.

The US has developed a sense of crisis about its global military position and therefore launched surveillance against China, which is still a developing country despite its rapid progress. By exaggerating the size and strength of China's military, twisting its peaceful development strategies, slandering its military modernization and demonizing it for everything it does, the US has been trying to damage China's international image, alienate China from the international community and coerce other countries into blocking China's development and global cooperation.

In recent years, the administration's "America first" policy has undermined the US' soft power and global leadership. And Washington's poor response to the COVID-19 pandemic has exposed the problems in US democracy and human rights which the US had been boasting for a long time.

By portraying China as a security threat, the US wants to present itself as a savior of the world, and draw countries to its side and strengthen its bond with its allies in a bid to maintain its global hegemony and promote US-style democracy through, for instance, its Indo-Pacific strategy.

Thanks to the tricks used by the administration, China has become an imaginary enemy for the US military, which US policymakers are using to hike the military budget, and the US parties, government departments and other organizations are exploiting to seek more political and financial help to counter China's peaceful rise. More importantly, by playing the "China threat" card, Washington can persuade other countries to buy US weapons.

The US is clearly prejudiced against China, as evidenced from its groundless comments on China's development. But, as the world's sole superpower, the US needs to respect facts and stop using China as a pretext to maintain its hegemony.

The author is a research fellow at the Charhar Institute and a member of the Chinese Institute of Command and Control. The views don't necessarily represent those of China Daily.

The views do not necessarily reflect those of China Daily.