As everyone in Asia should recognize, whenever communist China has deemed that it faced such a threat, it has resorted to war – in Korea in 1950, India in 1962, the Soviet Union in 1969, and Vietnam in 1979. But fear of provoking China should not stop Asia’s leaders from seeking a regional security consensus, such as the proposed code of conduct for disputes in the South China Sea.
所有亚洲人都应该认识到，不管共产主义中国什么时候认为它面临威胁，它都会付诸武力解决——1950年的朝鲜、1962年的印度、1969年的苏联、1979年的越南都是如此。但害怕挑衅中国不应该阻止亚洲领导人寻求地区安全共识，比如处理南海争端的解决方案。只有最软弱的亚洲国家才会甘愿屈服于中国的霸权——或者与此相对的冷战式美国领导的遏制战略。