"如何阻遏中国:华盛顿必须让北京知道武统台湾的代价" - CWP fellow Joel Wuthnow

February 06, 2024

1996 年 1 月,中国在台湾海域进行的一系列导弹试射引发了一场危机。当时,一位中国将军冷酷地暗示,中国可能会采取核打击以应对美国对台海冲突的干预。他警告说, “比起台北,美国人民(显然)更关心洛杉矶。” 然而,这种剑拔弩张掩盖了这样一个事实,即中国人民解放军 (PLA) 知道自己没有足够的军事实力阻止美国介入台湾战争。 当时,与世界唯一超级大国开战的代价和风险,让中国一开始就对挑起战争敬而远之。

但从那以后的几年里,中国一直在努力通过一种被称为“战略威慑(strategic deterrence)”的方法来降低美国干预的可能性。在所有手段中,这种方法主要依赖释放核威慑信号来阻止潜在对手加入战斗。 尽管拜登政府推出了自己以“综合威慑(Integrated deterrence)”阻遏中国武统的计划,但中国的威慑努力仍在加强。“综合威慑”涉及具有威胁性质的军事手段和经济制裁,并通过与美国盟友的紧密联盟说服中国发动战争的代价太高。这两种此消彼长的威慑模式水火不容,可能会破坏台湾海峡乃至整个地区的稳定。在其“美国衰落论”看法的刺激下,加之其迅速扩大的核武库的鼓舞,以及俄总统弗拉基米尔普京——利用核威胁限制美国对乌克兰的支持方面的“显著成功”——的激励,中国将在“华盛顿会置身事外”的心态下变得信心百倍可能毅然决然挑起冲突。

by 3月 30, 2023 - https://zhongmei.report/zh/2023/03/30/xys-62933/

译者注:自从1996年台海危机以来,中国一直在努力扩充军事实力与核力量。现在,核力量不断上升和越发自信的中国是否会冒进发动武统?美国应当如何应对中国的战略核威慑挑战?美中双方如何才能避免“终将演变成核战争”的战争? “中国焦点”现将美国国防大学国家战略研究所高级研究员吴志远(Joel Wuthnow) 发表于《外交事务》上的文章翻译如下(原文标题为:How to Out-Deter China: Washington Must Make Beijing Understand the Costs of a Conflict Over Taiwan),以飨读者;为便于读者理解,文中对于可能引发疑惑的术语或偏误进行了备注说明。


Dr. Joel Wuthnow is a senior research fellow in the Center for the Study of Chinese Military Affairs within the Institute for National Strategic Studies at NDU. His research areas include Chinese foreign and security policy, Chinese military affairs, U.S.-China relations, and strategic developments in East Asia. In addition to his duties in INSS, he also serves as an adjunct professor in the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University. 

His recent books and monographs, all from NDU Press, include Gray Dragons: Assessing China's Senior Military Leadership (2022), Crossing the Strait: China's Military Prepares for War with Taiwan (2022, lead editor), The PLA Beyond Borders: Chinese Military Operations in Regional and Global Context (2021, lead editor), System Overload: Can China's Military Be Distracted in a War over Taiwan? (2020), and Chairman Xi Remakes the PLA: Assessing Chinese Military Reforms (2019, co-editor). His research and commentary has also appeared in outlets such as Asia PolicyAsian SecurityChina Leadership MonitorThe China QuarterlyForeign AffairsForeign PolicyJoint Force QuarterlyJournal of Contemporary ChinaJournal of Strategic StudiesKorean Journal of Defense Analysis, Naval War College Review, and in edited volumes. 


Photo Credit: 

Joel Wuthnow
Senior Research Fellow, CSCMA
Wuthnow, Joel