中國向美國歸還無人潛航器

China’s armed forces have returned to the US Navy an underwater drone that they had seized on Friday in the South China Sea, bringing a swift denouement to a crisis that raised tensions between Washington and Beijing.

中國軍方已向美海軍歸還了上週五在南中國海(South China Sea)被中國海軍扣留的一艘水下無人潛航器，爲一場引起華盛頓方面和北京方面關係緊張的危機劃上了句號。

The handover of the small submarine to the US was “completed smoothly” after “friendly consultations” between both sides, China’s defence ministry said in a statement on its website.

中國國防部在其網站上的一份聲明中稱，中美雙方經“友好協商”，順利完成了美無人潛航器的移交工作。

The Pentagon said the drone had been handed back to the US Navy by a Chinese ship near the location where it had been seized, which it described as 50 nautical miles north-west of Subic Bay in the Philippines.

美國五角大樓(Pentagon)表示，一艘中國艦船在潛航器被扣押的地方附近把該潛航器歸還給了美國海軍。五角大樓稱，扣留地點位於菲律賓蘇比克灣西南50海里的地方。

According to the US statement, the seizure of the craft was “inconsistent with both international law and the standards of professionalism for conduct between navies at sea”. The Pentagon said it was still investigating the incident.

美方聲明稱，扣住這艘潛航器“不符合國際法，也不符合海軍海上行動的專業標準”。五角大樓表示，其仍在調查這起事故。

China so far has not said who authorised the seizure of the drone, which the US says was carrying out oceanographic survey work when it was taken by a Dalang III-class salvage ship.

中國迄今尚未表示，是誰授權扣住該潛航器的。美國表示，該潛航器在執行海洋水文觀測工作時，被中方一艘大浪三級(Dalang III-class)救難船取走。

However, Chinese maritime expert Zhu Feng, director of the South China Sea Institute at Nanjing University, said the seizure was “purely individual behaviour” of the Chinese vessel in an effort to identify the US craft.

然而，中國海事專家、中國南海研究協同創新中心執行主任朱峯表示，扣住該潛航器是中國艦船爲了識別該美國航海器而發起的“純粹個別行爲”。

US president-elect Donald Trump also waded into the row. On Sunday, after Beijing and Washington announced the drone would be returned, Trump tweeted: “We should tell China that we don’t want the drone they stole back. — let them keep it!”

美國當選總統唐納德.特朗普(Donald Trump)也加入了這場爭吵。上週日，當北京方面和華盛頓方面公佈該潛航器將被歸還的消息時，特朗普在推特上發言稱：“我們應該告訴中國，他們偷走的無人潛航器我們不想要了——就讓他們留着吧！”

China’s foreign ministry on Monday rejected Mr Trump’s accusations Beijing had stolen the craft as “not accurate”.

週一，中國外交部否認了特朗普的指控，稱北京方面偷走潛航器的說法是“不準確的”。