Next week (November 14-19), leaders from 18 nations will gather on the Indonesian island of Bali for the sixth annual East Asia summit. The regional economic and security forum has steadily gained in importance in recent years and this year for the first time includes the leaders of the United States, Russia and China. The host nation Indonesia has raised the profile of the summit through its consensus-building work as chair of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.
下个星期，来自18个国家的领导人将出席在印度尼西亚巴厘岛举行的第六届年度东亚峰会。近年来，这个地区经济与安全论坛的重要性稳步增加。今年的东亚峰会首次把美国、俄罗斯和中国包括进来。东道主印尼作为东南亚国家联盟的主席国通过建立共识提高这次东亚峰会的声望。
Temple mediation
When violent clashes between Thailand and Cambodia erupted in February, about disputed border claims near a historic Hindu-Khmer temple, Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa used his position as chairman of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations to act as a mediator.
今年2月，泰国和柬埔寨之间爆发了一场暴力冲突，起因是双方都声称对一个历史上著名的印度教-高棉庙宇附近的有争议的边界拥有主权。印尼外长马蒂利用他作为东盟主席的身份进行调停。
During the months of shuttle diplomacy that followed, Natalegawa defended ASEAN's consensus-building approach while also acknowledging that the absence of any threat of political or economic sanctions makes his job more difficult.
在接下来的穿梭外交活动中，马蒂在承认没有政治或经济制裁的威胁手段使他难以开展工作的同时，也为东盟国家建立共识的做法进行辩护。
"Diplomacy, it's not only about pressure and sanctions but also about encouragement. We'll see. The jury is still out. Come back to me in a little bit and see where we are," he said.
马蒂说：“外交手段不仅包括施加压力和实施制裁，还有鼓励的手段。我们将会看到事态的发展，目前还没有定论。过些时候你们来见我的时候，我们再看发展到哪一步了。”
Natalegawa managed to get the two member states to agree in principle to a cease-fire agreement, but has been unable to actually implement the plan which calls for stationing Indonesian peacekeepers in the conflict zone.
马蒂设法让这两个成员国在原则上同意一项停火协议，可是并不能实际上执行这个要求在冲突地区驻扎印尼维和部队的计划。
Such diplomacy has made the ASEAN forum, and its East Asia summit, increasingly important for a region with about half of the world’s population and many of its fastest growing economies. U.S. officials routinely call the Asia-Pacific region one of the most dynamic and significant for American interests in the coming decades.
这种外交活动使东盟论坛和东亚峰会在这个拥有世界大约一半人口以及许多经济发展最快的经济体的地区越来越重要。美国官员经常把亚太地区称为今后几十年世界上最具活力并且对美国利益具有重要意义的地区之一。
South China sea diplomacy
At the last ASEAN regional security summit, in July, Natalegawa hailed an agreement between China and ASEAN to resolve disputed claims in the oil-rich South China sea, even though the agreement only called for both sides to develop a process to eventually reach an agreement.
And, on the sidelines, officials from North and South Korea held informal talks, sparking hope for the eventual resumption of the six-party talks on North Korea’s nuclear programs.
利用那次峰会的间隙，朝鲜和韩国举行了非正式会谈，从而使人们感到有望看到最终恢复有关朝鲜核计划的六方会谈。
Dewi Fortuna Anwar, Indonesia's deputy secretary to the vice president for political affairs says, although the ASEAN summits rarely produce ground breaking agreements, they play an important role in maintaining regional peace and stability.
印尼副总统的政治事务助理安华说，尽管东盟峰会很少会产生开创性的协议，但它们在维护地区和平与稳定方面发挥了重要的作用。
"The most you can do is to try to diffuse tension and hopefully also to develop a mechanism for creating linkages between the parties so that the parties will see it is in their interest to cooperate, rather to carry out the rather adversarial relationships," said Anwar.
安华说：“你充其量可以争取化解紧张局势，有望发展出一种使各方建立联系的机制，以便使有关各方看到，合作而不是诉诸武力符合它们的利益。”
Burma issue
Also on the East Asia summit's agenda will likely be Burma's bid to take the annual chairmanship role of ASEAN in 2014. ASEAN has expressed conditional support as a incentive to further democratic progress made by recent elections and the release of pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi and some other political prisoners. Some human rights groups argue that ASEAN should take a tougher approach and first pressure Burma to live up to the organization's own democracy and human rights principles.
这次东亚峰会很可能还有一项议程，那就是缅甸要争取在2014年担任东盟轮值主席。
Anwar says supporting Burma or Myanmar's bid is risky for ASEAN's credibility as it moves to become an integrated regional organization in 2015 that establishes principles of democracy and the rule of law.
安华说，支持缅甸的申请对于东盟的声誉有一定的风险。因为东盟要在2015年成为一个整合的地区组织，该组织要建立其民主与法治的原则。
"If significant reforms are not made or if there are some setbacks in the reform then there is always the possibility that Myanmar's chairmanship of ASEAN, just one year before the ASEAN community is supposed to take place could spell real disaster, real public relations disaster for ASEAN," said Anwar.
安华说：“如果缅甸没有实行重大的改革，或者在改革方面受到一些挫折，那么，缅甸在距离东盟成为新共同体只有一年的时间担任东盟轮值主席就可能带来一场真正的灾难，一场东盟的公共关系灾难。”
But she says, especially in these times of regional economic growth, the "ASEAN way" of focusing on mutual interests, offering encouragement and building consensus over time is the most effective way to ensure peace and stability.
不过她说，特别是在地区经济增长的这段时期，长期聚焦共同利益、提供鼓励以及建立共识这种“东盟解决问题方式”是确保和平与稳定的最有效的途径。 |