VOA新闻杂志2023 中国气象气球飞越美国 布林肯推迟对中国访问（在线收听）

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has postponed a planned weekend diplomatic trip to China.

美国国务卿布林肯推迟了原定于周末对中国的外交访问。

The decision followed the discovery of a Chinese balloon flying over sensitive areas in the United States Thursday.

这一决定是在周四发现一个中国气球飞越美国敏感地区之后做出的。

The U.S. described the balloon as a surveillance vehicle. But a Chinese official said it was a weather research satellite that had gone off course.

美国称这个气球是监视设备。但是中国官员表示，这是一颗偏离轨道的气象研究卫星。

The decision came just hours before Blinken was to leave for China. A U.S. official told the Associated Press that Blinken and President Joe Biden decided that it was best not to make the trip at this time.

这一决定是在布林肯动身前往中国前几个小时做出的。一位美国官员对美联社表示，布林肯和拜登总统决定，最好不要在此时成行。

Blinken's meetings with senior Chinese officials had been considered a way to find common ground on a number of issues. The meetings were to begin on Sunday and go through Monday.

布林肯与中国高级官员的会晤被认为是在若干问题上寻找共同点的一种途径。这次会议原定于周日开始，周一结束。

Balloon flying over U.S. western area

气球飞越美国西部地区

On Thursday, U.S. military officials said the Chinese balloon was flying over the state of Montana. The western state is home to 150 intercontinental ballistic missile silos at Malmstrom Air Force Base.

周四，美国军方表示，中国的气球正在蒙大拿州上空飞行。这个西部州是马尔姆斯特伦空军基地150个洲际导弹发射井的所在地。

Chase Doak lives in Billings, Montana. He told Reuters that, at first, he thought the balloon was a star. "But I thought that was kind of crazy because it was broad daylight and when I looked at it, it was just too big to be a star," he said.

蔡斯·多克住在蒙大拿州比林斯市。他告诉路透社，一开始他以为这个气球是一颗星星。他说：“但是我觉得这有点疯狂，因为这是在光天化日之下，当我看到它时，它太大了，不可能是一颗星星。”

A senior defense official said the U.S. prepared fighter jets to shoot down the balloon if ordered. But the U.S. chose not to act since debris from the large balloon could have put people at risk.

一位高级国防官员表示，如果接到命令，美国准备用战斗机击落这个气球。但是美国选择不采取行动，因为大气球的碎片可能会使人们处于危险当中。

The official said the spy balloon was meant to fly over the Montana missile fields. The U.S. believes that the flyover would have "limited" intelligence value. The official said China could still get the information using other technologies, such as spy satellites.

这位官员表示，这个间谍气球的目标时飞越蒙大拿州的导弹场。美国认为，这次飞越的情报价值有限。这位官员表示，中国仍然可以通过间谍卫星等其它技术来获取信息。

Brigadier General Patrick Ryder is a spokesman for the U.S. Defense Department. He told reporters Thursday that the balloon was "traveling at an altitude well above commercial air traffic and does not present a military or physical threat to people on the ground."

帕特里克·莱德准将是美国国防部发言人。他周四对记者表示，这个气球的“飞行高度远高于商业航空交通，不会对地面人员构成军事或人身威胁。”

In a statement on Friday, the Chinese foreign ministry said that the balloon was a civilian airship used mainly for weather research. The ministry said the airship has limited "self-steering" capabilities and went "far from its planned course" because of winds.

中国外交部在周五的一份声明中表示，该气球是一艘主要用于天气研究的民用飞艇。该部表示，这艘飞艇自身控制能力有限，由于风的影响偏离了预定航线。