中美关系中的“灰色地带”问题:挑战与管控

The “Gray Zone” in Sino-U.S. Relations: Challenges and Management

近年来,"灰色地带"相关概念成为了美国学界所热议的话题,其认为在大国竞争回归的背景下,"修正主义"国家正在诉诸具有模糊性、不对称性与渐进主义特征的"灰色地带"手段威胁世界秩序与美国的国家安全。作为一个相对较新的学术议题,"灰色地带"的理论研究还处于起步阶段,中外学界对"灰色地带"行为的特征、"灰色地带"冲突升级模式的研究仍不够充分。与此同时,美国政府与学界将中国的部分对外政策贴上了"灰色地带"手段的标签,鼓吹以更强硬的政策应对来自中国的挑战,为中美关系的发展带来了一些不确定性。本文从解析"灰色地带"的相关概念出发,阐述中美间当前存在的"灰色地带"冲突,探讨"灰色地带"冲突对中美双方造成的挑战,并对如何管理中美间的"灰色地带"冲突进行简要讨论。

Recently the idea of the "gray zone" has attracted much attention of the international relations community in the United States. It is believed that against the background of great power competition, "revisionist" countries are adopting "gray zone" tactics characterized by ambiguity, asymmetry and gradualism, which threaten the world order and U.S. national security. Since this is a relatively new concept, the theoretical research on the "gray zone" is still in its infancy, and much still needs to be done to explore the characteristics of "gray zone" tactics and related patterns of conflict escalation. Now that the U.S. government and academia have labeled some of China’s foreign policies as "gray zone" tactics, calling for more forceful responses to the supposed challenge from China, this has introduced unnecessary uncertainty into Sino-U.S. relations. Starting with an analysis of the "gray zone" concept, this paper is intended to provide a balanced overview of "gray zone" conflicts between China and the United States, discuss the challenges that face both countries, and provide policy recommendations for managing such conflicts.