Is China being stupid? Or is it being really clever? That in a nutshell is the foreign policy debate over Beijing’s seemingly concerted effort to provoke its neighbours. The case that China is being stupid is easy to make. In recent weeks Beijing has picked simultaneous fights with Vietnam, the Philippines and Japan. It moved an oil rig near Chinese-controlled islands claimed by Hanoi, triggering anti-Chinese riots in Vietnam in which four people died. This week a Chinese fishing boat, part of a large flotilla around the rig, was accused of sinking a Vietnamese fishing boat.
中國是在犯傻，還是說其實它很聰明？這個問題概括了有關中國近期行為的外交政策辯論——該國近期似乎在同時挑釁幾個鄰國。說中國犯傻的理由很簡單。最近幾周，中國同時與越南、菲律賓和日本發生沖突。它將一座石油鉆井平臺移至中方控制、但越南宣稱擁有主權的島嶼附近，導致越南爆發反華騷亂，致4人死亡。本周，一艘中國漁船（隸屬于環繞上述鉆井平臺作業的一支大型船隊）被控撞沉了一艘越南漁船。