亚太军备竞赛推高全球防务支出 Asian arms race fuels global rise in spending

A growing arms race between China and its neighbours helped to propel global defence spending to its first growth in three years, despite the fall in oil prices hitting some of the arms industry’s biggest clients.

中国与邻国之间不断升级的军备竞赛帮助推动全球防务支出录得三年来首次增长，尽管油价下跌打击了军火工业一些最大客户。

All told, military spending in Asia and Oceania rose 5.4 per cent in 2015, the fastest-growing region in the world, beating even the war-torn Middle East, which grew 4.1 per cent the same year, according to a study by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.

根据瑞典斯德哥尔摩国际和平研究所(SIPRI)的一项研究，整体而言，亚洲和大洋洲2015年军费开支增长5.4%，是世界上增长最快的地区，甚至超过战火纷飞的中东，后者同年军费开支增长4.1%。

Global military expenditure in 2015 was estimated at $1,67tn, an increase of about 1 per cent in real terms from 2014. The last time global expenditure grew was in 2011.

2015年全球军费开支估计达到1.67万亿美元，按实际价值计算比2014年增长约1%。上一次全球军费开支增长发生在2011年。

Sipri cautioned that the Middle East figures were not strictly comparable as data from some countries were missing. Nevertheless, the report highlighted the drop in spending by oil exporters such as Venezuela and Angola, as well as lower than expected increases from Saudi Arabia and Russia.

斯德哥尔摩国际和平研究所告诫称，中东地区的数字严格说来不具有可比性，因为一些国家数据缺失。然而，报告着重指出委内瑞拉和安哥拉等石油输出国军费开支下降，而沙特阿拉伯和俄罗斯等石油输出国的军费支出增幅低于预期。

Despite a drop in orders from traditional clients, the global arms industry has cashed in on tensions in Asia as China continues to pursue a broad military modernisation programme, while the country’s neighbours, such as India and Vietnam, are buying an unprecedented number of weapons in an effort to counter Beijing’s dominance.

尽管来自传统客户的订单下降，但全球军火工业从亚洲的紧张局势中获利。在中国继续推进全面军事现代化计划之际，印度和越南等邻国采购数量空前的武器，以求抗衡北京方面的霸主地位。

In total, China spent almost as much as all other Asia and Pacific countries put together in 2015, at $215bn out of $436bn, according to Sipri estimates.

根据斯德哥尔摩国际和平研究所估计，总体而言，中国2015年的军费开支（2150亿美元）接近其他所有亚太国家加在一起的数字；包括中国在内的亚太军费开支总计4360亿美元。

The region’s spending grew 64 per cent between 2006 and 2015, the report said.

报告称，亚太地区的军费开支在2006年至2015年期间增长64%。

China, however, measures itself not against its neighbours but against the US, which spent more on defence than the next seven countries put together.

然而，中国对本国军费开支的比较对象不是邻国，而是美国；美国的军费开支超过位列其后的七个国家军费之和。

Increasingly, the US and China have been at loggerheads over Beijing’s defence of its maritime claims in the South China Sea and its creation of artificial islands in the contested waters.

围绕北京方面捍卫其在南中国海的海洋主权主张，以及中方在争议海域建造人工岛，美国和中国越来越多地陷入对峙。

Countries in the South China Sea region have also begun to raise military spending sharply: the Philippines by 25 per cent, Indonesia by 16 per cent and Vietnam by 7.6 per cent.

南中国海周边国家也开始大幅增加军费：菲律宾增加25%，印尼16%，越南7.6%。

Japan, which is challenging China over disputed islands in the East China Sea, also increased spending in 2015 after years of decline, reflecting what it perceived to be a rising threat from both China and North Korea.

正在东中国海争议岛屿问题上与中国对峙的日本，也在多年军费下降后在2015年增加支出，反映出其认为来自中国和朝鲜的威胁上升。

Elsewhere, Saudi Arabia overtook Russia to become the world’s third-largest spender, mainly due to the fall in the value of the rouble and to the kingdom’s military operations in Yemen.

在其他地方，沙特阿拉伯超越俄罗斯，成为世界第三大军费支出大国，原因主要是卢布贬值和沙特在也门展开军事行动。