中德合作向纵深挺进

Editor's note: Gu Xuewu is a tenured professor of political science and international relations at the University of Bonn. The article reflects the author's opinions, and not necessarily the views of CGTN.

编者按：辜学武是德国波恩大学政治学与国际关系学终身讲座教授。本文仅为作者本人观点，不一定代表CGTN立场。

On April 28, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and German Chancellor Angela Merkel co-hosted, via video link, the sixth round of China-Germany inter-governmental consultation, a strategic coordination mechanism between the two countries. The talks created three firsts since the mechanism was put in place in 2011.  

中国国务院总理李克强4月28日下午在人民大会堂以视频形式与德国总理默克尔共同主持第六轮中德政府磋商。这次磋商创造了中德战略协调机制自2011年启动以来的三个“第一”。

First, a total of 25 ministers from both sides attended the meeting, which was the largest group of participants in history; second, it was the first time that the two governments had conducted strategic consultation against the backdrop of the American government’s explicit call for a U.S.-Europe pushback against China.

首先，参加磋商的双方部长多达25位，是历年来最多的一次；其次，这次双边磋商的全球战略背景最为险峻，这是中德两国政府第一次在美国政府明确呼吁美欧联手对抗中国的背景下进行的战略磋商。

Third, it was the first time the bilateral consultation had touched upon a significantly wider range of issues than was typically covered by cooperation between the two countries, showing the ambition of Beijing and Berlin to jointly exert influence on the development of regional hotspot issues and global order.

第三，双方磋商涉及的全球性议题和区域性议题第一次大篇幅地超出双边合作领域，展现出北京和柏林共同影响区域热点演变方向和引导未来世界秩序发展的雄心。

A careful examination of German Chancellor's press release issued in the evening of April 28 and the joint declaration released on the next day by China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs reveal that out of the 20 areas of future cooperation between the two, 12 are directly linked with regional and global issues beyond the sphere of bilateral relations.  

仔细分析德国总理府28日晚间发布的新闻稿和中国外交部29日发布的《中德两国外长磋商联合声明》，不难发现，北京与柏林未来合作的20个领域中，有12个直接涉及到中德双边关系以外的区域和全球事务。

In a rare move, foreign ministers of both countries called on Myanmar's military government to prevent further bloodshed and casualties. Different from Washington's urge for UN mechanisms to put pressure on the junta, Beijing and Berlin advocated that the ASEAN should play a crucial part and that disputes be resolved through dialogues. Beijing's position of avoiding interference from a major external power in Myanmar's affairs seemed to have been met with unanimous support from the German government.  

两国外长罕见地同声向缅甸军政府喊话，“要避免继续发生流血冲突和平民伤亡”。与美国要求尽快启动联合国安理会机制向军政府施压不同，中德双方主张东盟“扮演重要的角色”，“呼吁通过对话寻找政治解决分歧的路径”。北京“避免域外大国插手缅甸事务”的主张似乎得到了德国政府的全盘认同。

More impressively, at a time when the U.S. is losing its grip on the Middle East and Russia is walking a tightrope in Syria, Beijing and Berlin showed their firm support for UN-led efforts to facilitate the end of Libya's civil war and its national reconciliation, a ceasefire and political talks in Yemen, and political solutions to the Syrian issue. In particular, China's recognition of the legitimacy of the Bashar al-Assad government in Syria seemed no longer in the way of a joint effort between China and Germany to promote peace in the country.

令人印象深刻的是，柏林和北京在美国逐渐失去对中东事务掌控能力和俄罗斯在叙利亚骑虎难下之际，力主联合国接过主导权，加速利比亚内战的结束和全民和解，实现也门停火和政治谈判，推动叙利亚问题的政治解决。尤其是在叙利亚问题上，中方对阿萨德政权合法性的坚持似乎不再成为中德共同为叙利亚和平作出努力的障碍。

Beijing and Berlin also showed keen interest in cooperation over Afghanistan. Both sides expressed their willingness to continue to push forward the Afghan peace process and help the country restore peace and stability at an early date. While the two countries harbouring different aims, a peaceful and stable Afghanistan after the withdrawal of NATO troops will be of strategic importance for Beijing to ensure that Islamic extremists stay away from its border regions in Xinjiang and for Berlin to expect an end to the influx of Afghan refugees into Germany.

在阿富汗问题上，北京和柏林也展现出强烈的合作兴趣，愿意“继续致力于推动阿富汗和平和解进程，帮助阿富汗早日实现和平稳定”。虽然双方的动机截然不同，一个在北约撤军后保持和平稳定的阿富汗对北京确保伊斯兰极端势力远离新疆边境和柏林确保阿富汗难民不再流向德国具有重要的战略意义。

Over the South China Sea, Berlin’s stance on Beijing’s rejection to interference from major external powers in its territorial disputes with neighbouring countries seemed to have loosened up.  Notably, the two sides stressed that China and Germany respected rules-based maritime order as parties to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, to which the U.S. is not a signatory.

在南海问题上，柏林对北京“排斥域外大国干涉中国与邻国”领土之争的态度似乎开始松动。在美国并不是签约国的背景下，双方刻意强调“中德两国是《联合国海洋法公约》的缔约国，双方尊重以国际法为基础的海上秩序”，尤其引人注目。

More importantly, Germany said it welcomed talks between China and ASEAN countries to formulate an effective South China Sea code of conduct, and called on stakeholders to conduct dialogues, settle disputes through peaceful means and avoid actions that could fuel tensions. This was in a stark contrast to the tireless effort of the U.S. in condemning China for the "militarization of the South China Sea" and in building up its military presence in the region.  

更为重要的是，“德方欢迎中国和东盟国家旨在达成有效的‘南海行为准则’进行的谈判。呼吁各⽅开展对话，和平解决争端，避免可能导致紧张的行为。这与美国不遗余力地谴责中国将“南海军事化”并不断强化美军在南海的军事存在形成鲜明对照。

This round of the China-Germany inter-governmental consultation sent an important message to the world: the two countries are not interested in decoupling. Quite the contrary, China and Germany, while admitting differences in certain areas, believed that they should consolidate bilateral ties. What's particularly worth mentioning is that Beijing and Berlin began to envision an UN-centred, international law-based global order in the future where the two would further deepen their ties. 

这次中德政府磋商向世界发出的一个最重要信息是，中国和德国不愿“脱钩”。恰恰相反，双方在承认分歧的同时还要更进一步夯实合作。尤其突出的是，北京和柏林开始共同构思未来一个以“联合国为核心”、“以国际法为基础的”世界秩序，推动中德之间的合作向纵深挺进。

推荐阅读：