Hillary Clinton watched as the tension in the Hanoi Convention Centre slowly mounted.

在河内会议中心，气氛慢慢地变得紧张起来，希拉里•克林顿(Hillary Clinton)静静地看着。

First, the Vietnamese foreign minister rose to criticise China’s actions in the South China Sea.

越南外长首先站起来，批评中国在南中国海的行为。

Then, one by one, other ministers from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations raised similar concerns about Chinese bullying.

然后，其他东盟(ASEAN)国家的部长们也一个接一个地表达了对中国胁迫行为的担忧。

Sensing her moment, the US secretary of state asked to speak to the regional summit.

感到自己的时机来了，身为美国国务卿的希拉里要求在这个地区论坛会议上发言。

For the first time, she announced that Washington had a national interest in freedom of navigation and international law in the South China Sea.

她首次宣布，在南中国海维护航行自由和国际法符合美国的国家利益。

The Chinese were irate. Yang Jiechi, the foreign minister, looked at Mrs Clinton and warned outside powers to stay out of the South China Sea disputes.

中方震怒，时任外长杨洁篪看着希拉里警告道，域外大国不要插足南海争端。

Turning to the other countries, he fumed: China is a big country. And you are all small countries. And that is a fact.

他继而转向其他国家的部长们，恼火地说：中国是大国，其他国家是小国，这是事实。

Of the 956,733 miles Mrs Clinton travelled and the 112 countries visited as secretary of state, the 2010 Hanoi meeting was in many ways the defining moment of her tenure.

在国务卿任上，希拉里完成了956733英里的旅程，访问了112个国家，但从很多方面来说，2010年河内会议都是其任期中的决定性时刻。

And it provides a valuable glimpse of the worldview that the Democratic nominee would bring to the White House if she wins the November election.

它也提供了一个宝贵的机会，让我们可以一窥这位民主党总统候选人如果在今年11月大选中获胜，她将给白宫带来什么样的世界观。

For the Obama administration, the pivot to Asia is its signature foreign policy initiative.

转向亚洲(Pivot to Asia)是奥巴马政府的标志性外交政策举措。

After 200 years of primarily looking east towards Europe, the US decided that its main priority is the Asia-Pacific.

在200年来主要把目光投向东面的欧洲以后，美国作出了把外交政策的重心主要放在亚太地区的决断。

By inserting the US directly into the arguments over the South China Sea, Mrs Clinton’s Hanoi statement was, in effect, the launch of the pivot, the moment the US declared to the region — and to Beijing — that the US would not sit aside as China tried to establish itself as the regional leader.

希拉里的河内发言让美国直接介入到围绕南中国海的争论之中，这实际上就是转向亚洲的开始。在那一刻，美国向亚太地区、向北京方面宣告，在中国试图成为地区领袖之时，美国不会袖手旁观。

The phrase itself comes from an October 2011 article in Foreign Policy magazine by Mrs Clinton. In America’s Pacific century, she talked about the country being at a pivot point.

Pivot这个词源自希拉里2011年10月发表在《外交政策》(Foreign Policy)杂志上的一篇文章——她在《美国的太平洋世纪》一文中说，美国正处于一个转折点(pivot point)。

While President Barack Obama will use an Asean summit in Laos starting today to cement the pivot as part of his own legacy, the reality is that it was very much a joint project between the president and the woman he hopes will succeed him.

尽管美国总统巴拉克•奥巴马(Barack Obama)利用本月6日在老挝开幕的东盟峰会进一步巩固转向亚洲战略，将之作为他的政治遗产的一部分，但是说实话，该战略基本上是他和这位他希望能够接替他的总统之位的女性共同构建的。

For some US officials, including a few angling for senior positions in a future Clinton administration, the Hanoi meeting is evidence that she would be prepared to adopt a tougher approach to China.

一些美国官员认为，河内会议提供了一个证据，表明希拉里将准备对中国采取更强硬的态度——抱着这种看法的，包括几名有意在未来的希拉里政府中谋求高级职位的官员。

In Beijing, the meeting reinforced the impression that she was the principle China hawk within the Obama administration.

在北京，河内会议加深了这样一种印象：希拉里正是奥巴马政府中头号的对华鹰派人物。

They have a good notion that the chances of Mrs Clinton winning the election are very high and so they will have to deal with her, says Douglas Paal, an Asia expert who worked in the Reagan and George HW Bush administrations. But every Chinese will say privately they really don’t like her.

他们清楚地认识到，希拉里赢得大选的几率非常高，因此他们将不得不与她打交道，曾在里根(Reagan)和老布什(George HW Bush)政府中任职的亚洲事务专家包道格(Douglas Paal)说，但每个中国人私下里都会说，他们真的不喜欢希拉里。

These tensions set the stage for what will be one of the central challenges facing the next president.

这些紧张关系将酿就下一任美国总统将会面临的主要挑战之一。

The new, more confrontational US approach, first signalled by Mrs Clinton in Hanoi, has not persuaded the Chinese to abandon its plans for the South China Sea.

美国方面由希拉里在河内首次挑明的更具对抗性的对华新策略，并未促使中国放弃其南海计划。

As a result, the new administration will face a choice between doubling down on the same strategy or trying to find some way to accommodate Chinese demands.

结果是，新一届美国政府将面临一个选择：是对同一策略再押上多一倍的赌注，还是尝试寻找能够迁就中国要求的方法？

Offensive turn

转向强硬

From the outset of the first administration in January 2009, both Mr Obama and Mrs Clinton were in swift agreement that Asia would be a priority.

2009年1月奥巴马第一个任期伊始，奥巴马和希拉里就迅速达成共识：要把亚洲列为优先事项。

Her first major speech in office was at the Asia Society in New York the following month, when she spoke of America’s desire for more rigorous and persistent commitment to the region.

希拉里作为国务卿的首次重要演讲，是同年2月在纽约的亚洲协会(Asia Society)发表的，当时她说美国希望（对亚洲地区）作出更严谨和持续的承诺。

Yet there was also a desire within the administration not to start off on the wrong foot with China during the first year, as so many new presidents had done — especially given the crisis ripping across the global economy.

然而，在奥巴马政府内，也存在一种不希望在第一年就和中国交恶的想法（有许多新上任的总统都曾经做过这样的事情），尤其是考虑到当时席卷全球经济的危机。

It was with this in mind that Mrs Clinton said ahead of her visit to Beijing, also in February 2009, that she would not make a big deal about human rights because we pretty much know what they are going to say — a remark that won her fierce criticism at home for appearing to let Beijing dictate terms.

也是在2009年2月，正是出于这样的想法，希拉里在出访北京前表示不会就人权问题大做文章，因为我们非常清楚他们会说什么。这一言论让希拉里在国内遭到猛烈批评，批评者认为这意味着让北京说了算。

By early 2010, the administration started to become less wary of offending Beijing.

到2010年初，奥巴马政府开始不怕得罪北京了。

Mr Obama met the Dalai Lama, the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader, and announced a package of arms sales to Taiwan, while China was also lobbied to back a UN resolution on Iran.

奥巴马会见了流亡的西藏精神领袖达赖喇嘛(Dalai Lama)，并宣布了向台湾出售武器的一揽子计划，同时中国也被游说支持联合国一项针对伊朗的决议。

It was the South China Sea issue, however, that led the administration into a much more direct confrontation with China that year.

不过，南中国海问题才是导致那一年奥巴马政府明显更直接地与中国对抗的导火索。

US officials were already worried about increased Chinese naval activity in the area and the absence of any diplomatic process to resolve the various territorial disputes.

美国官员原本就在担心两个事情，一个是中国海军在该海域活动增多，另一个是看不到任何外交进程来解决各种领土纠纷。

They began to suspect that China was stepping up plans to try to exert control over the South China Sea.

他们开始怀疑，中国正在加紧推进意图控制南中国海的计划。

In her memoir Hard Choices, Mrs Clinton says she started to become concerned about the South China Sea at the May 2010 Strategic and Economic Dialogue in Beijing.

在自己的回忆录《艰难抉择》(Hard Choices)中，希拉里称，2010年5月美中战略与经济对话(Strategic and Economic Dialogue)在北京召开，她就是那时候开始关切起南中国海局势的。