Forging a new three-way alliance with Britain and Australia to the anger of the French, US President Joe Biden has again made brutally clear that his top international priority, overriding all else, will be facing China.
Under the alliance christened with the acronym AUKUS, Australia will be the only country other than the UK to have access to US technology to build nuclear-powered submarines — which could deploy in contested waters where Beijing is assertively exerting its claims.
The announcement infuriated China, but also France, which lost a contract to build conventional submarines for Australia that was worth A$50 billion (US$36.5 billion) at the time of signing.
Photo: AP 照片:美聯社
French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian denounced the “stab in the back” by the US, and Paris has recalled its ambassadors to the US and Canberra.
AUKUS was unveiled weeks after Biden withdrew remaining US troops from Afghanistan, prompting unusually strong statements from European allies who decried the swift return to power of the Taliban.
Biden had long pushed to end the 20-year war and has repeatedly said that Afghanistan was a costly sideshow to China, which his adminstration has described as the primary US rival in the 21st century.
“The world is changing. We’re engaged in a serious competition with China,” Biden said in a speech after the last US troops left.
Relations between Beijing and Washington look set to continue on their current tricky path, while the Western alliance has also been shaken.
(AFP)
美國總統喬‧拜登不惜激怒法國,與英國及澳洲建立新的三方聯盟,再次殘酷地表明,他的國際事務首要目標,是面對中國。
該聯盟名為AUKUS,為澳、英、美三國的首字母縮寫。根據其協議,澳洲將成為除英國之外唯一能獲得美國技術以建造核動力潛艇的國家——這些核子潛艇可部署在北京強勢主張所有權之爭議水域。
此消息公布,激怒了中國,卻也激怒了法國;法國丟了為澳洲製造傳統動力潛艇的合約,該合約簽署時之價格為五百億澳元(三百六十五億美元)。
法國外交部長尚-伊夫‧勒德里安譴責美國的「背後捅刀」,巴黎已召回其駐美國及坎培拉大使。
拜登完成美軍撤出阿富汗後數週,AUKUS聯盟計畫公布,引起歐洲盟國發出異常強烈的聲明,譴責美國的撤軍讓塔利班迅速重掌政權。
拜登長期以來一直努力想結束這場長達二十年的戰爭,並一再表示與中國問題相較,阿富汗戰爭是一個代價高昂的枝節問題;拜登政府稱中國為美國在二十一世紀的頭號競爭對手。
「世界正在改變。我們正與中國進行一場嚴峻的競爭」,拜登在最後一批美軍離開阿富汗時所發表的講話中說道。
北京與華盛頓之間的關係看來將繼續沿著目前棘手的道路前進,而西方聯盟也受到了動搖。
(台北時報林俐凱編譯)
It’s no secret that Japanese people have a deep affection for noodles. Like in the rest of East Asia, noodles are an important staple food, second only to rice. Japanese people have enjoyed noodles for over 1,000 years. The first noodles came from China and were introduced around 800 CE. As time passed, noodles in Japan not only became widespread but also developed some unique Japanese characteristics. The three most popular types of noodles in Japan are ramen, soba, and udon. Ramen, typically made from wheat flour, is usually thin and firm. The dough is kneaded and left to
Rice is an essential ingredient in Taiwanese cuisine. Many foods are made of rice, adding more variety to our cooking, such as rice cake, or “gui.” Wagui is made by steaming rice flour batter in a bowl. The term “gui” refers to a type of food made from rice, while “wa” refers to a bowl. The pronunciation of “gui” in Taiwanese Hokkien is similar to the word for “nobility” in Chinese, so it is common for people to prepare various types of gui, including wagui, as offerings to the gods or ancestors,. 米是台灣重要的主食,用米製成的食品十分多元,豐富我們的飲食,如米做成的「粿」。粿的意思是米做成的糕點,碗粿是將在來米漿倒入碗中蒸熟,因而得名。粿因為音同「貴」,因此碗粿等粿食常用作供品祭拜神明和祖先。 nobility (n.) 高貴,高尚;貴族 offering (n.) 供品 While Taiwan may not be
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