南海军事化问题论析

军事化的概念既表现为一个国家在某些内政外交等事务上增强军事属性的过程,也体现为军事要素影响国家间关系的作用在增强的过程。军事化与军国主义、安全化和武器化等概念存在着联系,但也具有较大区别,反映出国家为应对安全困境而增强软硬基础设施的态势与趋势,存在着全球性、地区性和国家性3个层次。由于在理论假定和概念阐释上存在着一定的局限性和灰色区域,军事化如何以及能否在实践操作中被正确和准确使用会存在较大困难。近年来,中美关于南海军事化问题在概念界定、责任归属、程度强弱与合法性等方面存在着巨大分歧,并在行动中具有爆发低烈度冲突的风险。从趋势上看,南海军事化问题还存在着主动性与被动性、防御性与进攻性、建设性与破坏性以及适度与过度等方面的争议,体现了相关国家之间在法律和战略上的博弈进程。对此,中国有必要采取更加积极主动的政策和措施,减弱其他方推进南海军事化问题的法律和战略基础,增强在南海地区进行必要建设的可能性。

A Probe into the Issue of Militarization in the South China Sea

The concept of militarization is not only a process in which a country enhances its military attributes in some internal or external affairs, but also a process of the enhanced role of military elements affecting relations between countries. The concept of militarization, with global, regional and national level, reflects the situation and trend of a country to strengthen its soft and hard infrastructures in response to security dilemmas. It has convergences and divergences with militarism, securitization and weaponization. Due to certain limitations and grey area in theoretical assumptions and conceptual interpretations, there are some difficulties of militarization to be correctly and accurately implemented in practice. In recent years, there have been great differences between China and the United States about the militarization of the South China Sea issue in terms of definition, responsibility, intensity and legitimacy, and there is a risk of a low-intensity conflict in action. Judging from the past, there’re other disputes on the South China Sea issue, such as initiative and passivity, defensiveness and offensiveness, constructiveness and destructiveness, and moderation and excessiveness, which reflects the legal and strategic competition between the countries concerned. In this regard, it is necessary for China to adopt more proactive policies and measures to weaken the legal and strategic basis of the other parties to promote the militarization of the South China Sea issue, and enhance the possibility of carrying out the necessary construction in the South China Sea.