越南延長南沙飛機跑道
Vietnam has quietly extended a runway on Spratly Island to enable the deployment of maritime spy planes as Hanoi bolsters its defences against China in the disputed South China Sea.
越南悄悄延長了其在斯普拉特利島（Spratly Island，中國稱南威島）的一條飛機跑道，以便有能力部署海上偵察機。目前越南正在有爭議的南中國海加強對中國的防禦。
Satellite images obtained by the Financial Times show Vietnam has expanded the runway from less than 2,500ft to about 3,300ft.
英國《金融時報》獲得的衛星圖片顯示，越南將這條跑道從不到2500英尺延長到了3300英尺左右。
The extension allows the deployment of maritime surveillance aircraft from Spratly for the first time, a move that comes as China builds up its own military facilities on and around nearby islands.
這令越南得以首次從斯普拉特利島部署海上偵察機，目前中國在鄰近島嶼以及周邊海域興建了自己的軍事設施。
This is a familiar pattern for Hanoi, said Gregory Poling, director of the Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative, who supplied the images, taken over the past 22 months.
對於越南而言，這是一種司空見慣的做法，亞洲海事透明倡議(Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative)主任格雷格.波林(Greg Poling)表示，越南正繼續推進軍事現代化，並尋求與日本、美國和印度建立更密切安全聯繫，以應對中國未來在爭議海域的強勢行爲。
Vietnam continues to modernise its military and seek closer security ties with Japan, the US and India in preparation for future Chinese assertiveness in disputed waters.
該組織提供了上述衛星圖片，圖片是在過去22個月期間拍攝的。
The revelation comes as the US pivot to Asia faces severe strain following the election of Rodrigo Duterte, the Philippines president who has burnt bridges with Washington while moving towards rapprochement with China.
在菲律賓總統羅德里戈.杜特爾特(Rodrigo Duterte)當選後，美國轉向亞洲的戰略面臨巨大壓力，杜特爾特與美國分道揚鑣，轉而與中國修好。
American allies in Asia, including Japan and South Korea, are also nervous about the election of Donald Trump, who campaigned on an isolationist foreign policy, talked about walking away from trade deals and suggested he might downgrade the US role in key alliances.
此外，美國在亞洲的盟友（包括日本和韓國）對唐納德.特朗普(Donald Trump)當選感到擔憂，特朗普在競選中曾打出孤立主義外交政策的旗號，談論退出貿易協議，並暗示他可能會降低美國在重要同盟中的作用。
The satellite images show that Vietnam is also building two large hangars on Spratly, one of 14 islands that along with more than 100 reefs make up the Spratly chain, which is claimed by China, Vietnam, Taiwan, Malaysia, Brunei and the Philippines.
衛星圖片顯示，越南還正在斯普拉特利島建造兩個大型飛機庫，斯普拉特利羣島（Spratly Islands，中國稱南沙羣島）是由14個這樣的島嶼再加上100多個島礁構成的。中國、越南、臺灣、馬來西亞、文萊和菲律賓都宣稱擁有該羣島主權。
