蒂勒森計劃缺席北約外長會議引發批評

U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has come under fire for a decision not to attend next month's NATO foreign ministers meeting in Brussels, and for an announcement that he will travel to Russia later in April.

At Tuesday's State Department briefing, acting spokesman Mark Toner said the problem is a scheduling conflict.

Rather than have his first meeting of the 28 NATO allies, Tillerson is set to attend President Donald Trump's meeting April 6-7 with Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping at Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, Reuters news agency reported.

Toner said Tom Shannon, acting deputy secretary of state for political affairs and former acting secretary, will represent the U.S. at the NATO meeting.

Asked about what message Tillerson's absence at the NATO meeting would send to close U.S. allies, Toner stressed that the United States remains 100 percent committed to NATO. Toner also noted that Tillerson is meeting with most, if not all, of the NATO foreign ministers Wednesday when the Coalition to Defeat Islamic State meets in Washington.

President Trump has repeatedly dismissed NATO as "obsolete," though his Vice President Mike Pence voiced staunch U.S. support for the alliance during a news conference in Brussels last month and Tillerson has also expressed his support for NATO.美國國務卿蒂勒森因決定不參加下月的北約外長會議，但宣佈四月底出訪俄羅斯而遭受批評。

美國國務院代理髮言人特納星期二在新聞發佈會上說，不參加北約會議是因爲日程安排有衝突。

路透社星期二報道，蒂勒森將缺席他上任後第一次與28個北約成員國外長的會議，但將參加4月6至7號川普總統在佛羅里達州的馬阿拉歌莊園與中國國家主席習近平的會晤。

特納說，負責政治事務的代理常務國務卿、前代理國務卿香農將代表美國出席北約會議。

在被記者問到蒂勒森國務卿缺席北約會議將向美國密切盟友發出何種信息時，特納強調說，美國百分之百支持北約。他還是說，蒂勒森國務卿星期三在華盛頓的打擊伊斯蘭國組織聯盟會議上將會見大多數北約成員國代表。

川普總統曾多次說，北約已經“過時”。不過，彭斯副總統上月在布魯塞爾的記者會上表示，美國堅決支持北約，蒂勒森也表達過同樣立場。