China announced on Thursday that Hu Jintao, the country's president, would attend a summit on nuclear security in Washington later this month, a goodwill gesture to the US after weeks of tension over a range of issues.

　　中国周四宣布，国家主席胡锦涛将出席本月中旬在华盛顿举行的核安全峰会。此举是数周来中美在一系列问题上陷入紧张后，中国向美国展现的善意姿态。

　　In recent weeks, the bilateral relationship has been shaken by President Barack Obama's decision to sell $6.4bn of arms to Taiwan and to meet the Dalai Lama, the exiled Tibetan leader, as well as sometimes heated exchanges over trade, pressure to revalue the Chinese currency and Google's move to defy China's censorship regime.

　　近几周来冲击两国关系的问题包括：巴拉克·奥巴马(Barack Obama)总统决定向台湾出售64亿美元的军事装备、他与流亡西藏精神领袖**喇嘛的会面、两国间在贸易问题上爆发的有时相当激烈的交锋、美方要求中国让人民币升值的压力，以及谷歌(Google)违抗中国审查制度的举动。

　　Since Beijing had not committed itself to attending the April 12 summit until now, there had been worries it could skip the meeting in a sign of displeasure.

　　此前北京方面一直没有正式承诺将出席4月12日举行的核安全峰会。对此，外界曾担心中国可能缺席此次峰会以显示自己的不快。

　　Qin Gang, foreign ministry spokesman, told reporters on Thursday that Mr Hu would participate in the summit on his way to visit Brazil, Venezuela and Chile. The nuclear summit would mainly discuss nuclear terrorism and potential countermeasures, said Mr Qin.

　　中国外交部发言人秦刚周四告诉记者，胡锦涛将出席这次峰会，并在会后访问巴西、委内瑞拉和智利。秦刚表示，这次核安全峰会将主要讨论核恐怖主义威胁以及各国和国际社会的应对措施。

　　The announcement follows some conciliatory moves from both Washington and Beijing. Mr Obama stressed the importance of US-China relations when meeting Beijing's new ambassador to Washington this week, and China acknowledged his remarks as an important gesture of goodwill in front-page stories in state newspapers.

　　中国作出这项宣布之前，华盛顿和北京方面都摆出了一些和解姿态。奥巴马本周在会见中国新任驻美大使时，强调了美中关系的重要性，而中国则在官方报纸的头版报道此事，承认奥巴马的话是重要的善意之举。

　　China's gesture came amid broader signs of more co-operation in international security affairs. Susan Rice, the US ambassador to the United Nations, said on Wednesday that Beijing had agreed in a conference call to start talks about sanctions against Iran. This marked a change of heart as Beijing had long reiterated its opposition in principle against sanctions.

　　近期有一系列迹象显示，中国在国际安全事务上变得更愿意合作了。美国驻联合国大使苏珊·莱斯(Susan Rice)周三表示，北京方面已在一次电话会议期间同意就制裁伊朗启动磋商。这标志着中国改变了看法，此前北京方面一直重申原则上反对制裁。

　　Mr Qin confirmed the phone conversation and said the parties involved had agreed to continue talking, but did not comment on sanctions.

　　秦刚证实了上述电话会议，表示各方同意继续通过各种渠道保持接触，但没有在制裁问题上置评。

　　As Saeed Jalili, Iran's senior nuclear negotiator, arrived in Beijing for talks on Thursday.

　　伊朗首席核谈判代表萨伊德·贾利利(Saeed Jalili)周四抵达北京，将与中方举行商谈。

　　Mr Qin said that China would continue to work towards a peaceful resolution of the Iranian nuclear issue.

　　秦刚表示，中国将继续致力于为伊朗核问题找到和平解决方案。

　　“We will play a responsible and constructive role in aim to resolve this issue,” he said. “We believe every result should serve the two goals of safeguarding the nuclear non-proliferation treaty, while maintaining the stability and security of the region.”

　　秦刚表示：“在伊核问题上，中方主张既要着眼于维护国际核不扩散体系，又要维护地区和平、安全与稳定。我们……将始终从这两个着眼点出发，发挥中国负责任、积极和建设性的作用，争取使伊核问题得到妥善解决。”