中国启动海上浮动堡垒计划 Chinese launch floating fortress project

Floating fortresses, straight from the pages of George Orwell and favoured by evil geniuses with a penchant for white Angora cats, may soon exist outside the world of post-apocalyptic fiction and James Bond films.

源自乔治攠威尔(George Orwell)的小说，被酷爱白色安哥拉猫的邪恶天才所青睐的“浮动堡垒”，或将很快存在于末日后科幻小说和詹姆斯邦德(James Bond)电影之外。

Two Chinese companies say they are to build platforms as long as 3.2km that could host airstrips, docks, helipads, barracks or even “comprehensive security bases”, in the words of one company executive.

有两家中国公司表示，它们将修建长达3.2公里的平台，上面可容纳飞机跑道、码头、直升机停机坪、兵营甚或“综合保障基地”——这是其中一家公司的高管的用词。

For now, the structures remain within the realm of computer graphics, plastic dioramas and PowerPoint presentations. The companies emphasise their more peaceful potential as duty-free shopping centres and exotic tourist destinations.

目前，这种浮动平台仍仅存在于计算机图形、塑料模型和幻灯片演示中。两家公司都强调它们在和平用途方面的潜力，比如作为免税购物中心和具有异国情调的旅游目的地等。

But executives are open about the fact that there are also military applications for their projects, known as very large floating structures, which could one day become part of China’s naval armada.

但两家公司的高管并不讳言这些项目也具有军事用途，所谓的“超大型海上浮动平台”可能终有一天能成为中国海军“无敌舰队”的一部分。

The structures are dual-use, said Feng Jun, chairman of Hainan Offshore Industry, a company developing the technology. “So far these are only in the design and reSearch phase.” The technology, still being developed worldwide, has been used mainly in the area of oil and gas, by companies such as Shell.

开发这一技术的海南远海实业(Hainan Offshore Industry)董事长冯军（音）称，这种平台体具有双重用途，“到目前为止，还都只是在设计和研究阶段。”这种技术在世界上尚属于发展之中，主要被壳牌(Shell)等公司用于石油和天然气领域。

Structures akin to the floating fortresses of Nineteen Eighty-Four could be a fearsome complement to half a dozen newly created islands that Beijing has dredged out of the floor in the South China Sea. With airstrips, harbours and other facilities, these are aimed at buttressing China’s claim to 90 per cent of the sea, which is disputed by its neighbours as well as the US.

与《一九八四》(Nineteen Eighty-Four)中的“浮动堡垒”类似的平台，将对中国政府在南中国海通过吹沙填海新造的六个岛屿起到强大的补充作用。拥有飞机跑道、港口和其他设施，这些浮动平台的建造目的是增强中国对南中国海90%海域的主权主张，周边的邻国以及美国均对中国这种主张持异议。

While floating islands would be granted none of the sovereignty of real islands by international law, they could nonetheless be used to station aircraft or buttress the defences of the artificial islands.

按照国际法，“浮动岛屿”并不能获得真正岛屿所享有的主权，但它们可以用于停放飞机或加强人工岛屿的防御。

Hainan Offshore’s website refers to the potentially strategic use of its wares. “Under the increasingly complicated South China Sea situation,” it says in a company introduction, “Hainan Offshore Industry adheres to the principle ‘when the sovereignty of the state is challenged, time and tide wait for no man’.”

海南远海实业的网站介绍了其平台的潜在战略用途。公司简介中写道：“面对日趋复杂的南海局势，海南远海实业股份有限公司秉承‘国家主权受到严峻挑战，战略需求时不我待!’宗旨。”

Deployment of a VLFS could test already tense relations in the region. “Planting one of these in the middle of the South China Sea would be a terribly provocative act,” said Richard Bitzinger, an authority on maritime security.

部署此类超大型海上浮动平台或对本已紧张的地区关系造成考验。海洋安全问题专家理查德毕辛格(Richard Bitzinger)说：“在南中国海的中间位置放置这样一座超大型浮动平台将是一种极具挑衅性的行为。”

China’s military appears to have shown interest in VFLS projects. Hainan Offshore showed plastic models of a VLFS oil-drilling rig at a closed-door conference for military industry in July, hosted in Beijing by China’s State Administration of Science Technology and Industry for National Defence. In April, a photo of a closed-door forum sponsored by the China National Defence University and Peking University showed a People’s Liberation Army officer speaking at a podium in front of a large poster of a VLFS featuring an airstrip, though no information could be found on who he was or what he said. A spokesman for China’s defence ministry this week said he had never heard of any plans for procuring or using such structures.

中国军方似乎已经对超大型海上浮动平台项目表现出兴趣。在中国国家国防科技工业局(SASTIND)今年7月举行的一次军工业闭门会议上，海南远海实业展示了一款大型海上浮动石油钻井平台的塑料模型。今年4月，一张中国国防大学(China National Defence University)与北京大学(Peking University)联合主办的闭门论坛的照片显示，一名人民解放军(PLA)军官在讲台上发言，身后的巨型展板上是一座拥有飞机跑道的大型海上浮动平台，尽管我们不知道这位军官是谁，说了什么。但中国国防部发言人日前表示，他从未听说过任何有关中国军方获取或使用此类平台的计划。

Jidong Development, a state-owned company listed on the Shenzhen stock exchange, confirmed it was contributing most of the Rmb3.7bn in research funding to the joint project.

在深圳证交所上市的国有企业冀东发展(Jidong Development)已证实，该公司将为这一联合项目所需的37亿元人民币研发经费提供大部分资金。

The first VFLS is being built at dry dock in Caofeidian near Beijing, Wang Shuyong, manager of a Jidong subsidiary, told local media. This VFLS would be used as a “deep sea comprehensive security base”. Mr Wang declined to comment when contacted by the FT.

冀东发展下属一家子公司总经理王术永对当地媒体说，首座大型海上浮动平台正在离北京不远的曹妃甸的干船坞中建造。这座浮动平台将被用作“深海综合保障基地”。英国《金融时报》记者联系到了王术永，但他拒绝置评。

The Caofeidian Industrial Zone mentions in its 2014 annual report that it is “helping the companies engaged in the VLFS project to file paperwork for factory planning and construction and use of the industrial coast, and promptly taking action to prepare for construction”.

曹妃甸工业区在其2014年年度报告中提到，该区正在帮助参与超大型海上浮动平台项目的企业提交有关厂区规划和建设以及工业海岸使用的申请文件，并将快速采取行动为工程建设做好准备。

Still, experts say the structures — if built — are more likely to be large oil drilling rigs. But even then, they could change the maritime power dynamic. Last year China parked an oil-drilling platform in a section of the sea claimed by Vietnam, sparking a heated confrontation at sea between Chinese and Vietnamese fishing boats. The rig was later withdrawn.

尽管如此，专家称这种平台（如果建成的话）更可能像是大型石油钻井平台。但即使是这样，它们也能够改变海上力量对比。去年，中国在南中国海一处与越南存在争议的海域部署了一座石油钻井平台，引发中越渔船间的一场激烈对峙。该平台后来被撤回。

In any case, Mr Bitzinger doubts they would have much military value in a conflict. They would be “expensive and hard to move around”, he said, adding that China would be better off with more aircraft carriers.

不管怎样，毕辛格怀疑这种浮动平台在冲突中能发挥多少军事价值。他说，它们“造价昂贵、移动困难”。他认为，拥有更多航空母舰对中国来说可能更好。