China has made some progress in its efforts to improve diplomatic ties at high-level Asian meetings here, but it didn't appear to succeed much in swaying its petulant protege North Korea from backing off its nuclear ambitions.

在文莱举行的高级别亚洲会议上，中国为改善外交关系取得了一些进展，但在劝说其任性小兄弟朝鲜收敛核野心方面，似乎收效不大。

Pyongyang bucked China's moves to encourage it back toward resuming stalled negotiations among six countries aimed at ultimately denuclearizing the Korean peninsula. Instead it lashed out at Washington, accusing the U.S. of forcing the reclusive nation to accelerate efforts to develop its own nuclear deterrent.

中国敦促朝鲜重启陷入僵局的六方会谈，会谈旨在最终实现朝鲜半岛无核化。但平壤方面则对此表示抗拒，不仅如此，朝鲜还抨击华盛顿，指责美国迫使这个封闭国家不得不加快发展核威慑力量的步伐。

'Pyongyang appears to be pushing China away and shirking Beijing's reins,' said Heather Williams, a research fellow on nuclear weapons policy at London's Chatham House. She pointed out that North Korea went ahead with missile and nuclear tests recently, 'both of which Beijing urged it not to conduct.'

伦敦智库Chatham House核武器政策研究员威廉斯(Heather Williams)说，平壤似乎是在推开中国，躲避北京的缰绳。她指出，朝鲜近来继续进行导弹试射和核试验，而这两件事均是北京敦促它不要做的。

Still, China's apparent diplomatic success with nations at this week's meetings on issues other than North Korea came as the U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry reiterated his country's pivot toward strategically key Asia, after a decade focused on its wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

不过除朝鲜问题外，中国在本周会议上与别国就其它很多问题似乎取得了外交上的成功。与此同时，美国国务卿克里(John Kerry)重申，美国将把重心转向具有重要战略意义的亚洲。此前10年，美国把主要精力放在了阿富汗和伊拉克战争上。

Beijing has dominated many of the negotiations during several days of talks in this tiny, oil-rich sultanate. While Mr. Kerry delayed his arrival here to help encourage peace talks between Israeli and Palestinian leaders, China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi nudged forward discussions with Southeast Asian nations on how to best resolve a series of territorial claims in the volatile waters of the South China Sea and pledged to upgrade China's robust trade relationships with the region.

连续几天的会谈在文莱这个富产石油的伊斯兰小国举行，北京主导了其中很多谈判。克里为了帮忙劝说以色列和巴勒斯坦领导人进行和谈而推迟了抵达文莱的时间。而中国外长王毅则就如何以最佳方式解决南中国海(South China Sea，中国称南海)一系列领土争端问题推动了与东南亚国家的讨论，并承诺升级中国与该地区强劲的贸易关系。

At the Asian meetings, Mr. Kerry acknowledged China's diplomatic role in pressing North Korea to take concrete steps to roll back its nuclear weapons before the so-called six-party talks with China, Japan, Russia, South Korea and the U.S. on ending the country's international isolation can resume. 'China made it clear to me they have made very firm statements and taken very firm steps with respect to the implementation of that policy,' Mr. Kerry said.

克里在会上承认，中国在向朝鲜施压、要求后者采取具体步骤放弃核武器方面发挥了外交作用。只有朝鲜放弃核武器，该国与中国、日本、俄罗斯、韩国和美国之间有关结束朝鲜国际孤立状态的六方会谈才可能重启。克里说：中国明确向我表示，已为落实这一政策发表了严正声明，并且采取了坚定举措。

But North Korea insisted it was keeping its nuclear-weapons program. Choi Myung Nam, a North Korean Foreign Ministry official, told reporters the U.S. was at fault for creating a series of security crises in East Asia and that North Korea has to develop nuclear weapons for its own protection.

但朝鲜坚决表示将保留核武器计划。朝鲜外交部官员Choi Myung Nam对记者说，美国对在东亚制造一系列安全危机负有责任，朝鲜不得不为保卫自己而研制核武器。

The North Korean official said the launch of a satellite in December was a peaceful exercise and that Washington had worsened the security environment across the whole region by encouraging the United Nations to step up sanctions on Pyongyang. That move led Pyongyang to conduct its latest--and largest--nuclear test in February, Mr. Choi said. 'We hadn't originally planned to do it,' Mr. Choi said. 'The United States's actions forced us.'

这位朝鲜官员说，去年12月朝鲜的卫星发射是一次和平举动，华盛顿却怂恿联合国对平壤实施更严厉的制裁，美国这样做令整个地区的安全环境恶化。他说，美国的举动导致平壤于今年2月进行了最新一次、也是规模最大的一次核试验。他说：我们原本并没有计划要这样做，美国的行动逼得我们不得不如此。

Previously, Beijing had tended to raise its objections to North Korea's actions behind closed doors. But more recently it has started publicly, albeit cautiously, to air its frustrations about its small, though bellicose neighbor.

之前，北京曾想在私下里对朝鲜的行动提出反对。但最近，北京开始公开（尽管较谨慎）地表达对其好战的小邻国的不满。

China's Mr. Wang told reporters here Monday denuclearization of the Korean peninsula was his country's ultimate objective, bringing Beijing's views into accord with those of Washington, even if the two countries sometimes disagree on how to reach that target. 'As the chair of the six-party talks, the Chinese side will continue to encourage all the parties concerned to work together toward that common goal and create the conditions to resume talks on the Korean nuclear issue,' Mr. Wang said.

中国外交部长王毅周一在文莱对记者说，朝鲜半岛无核化是中国的最终目标，这样北京的立场就与华盛顿的立场保持一致，即便中美两国有时在如何实现这一目标的问题上会存在分歧。王毅说，作为六方会谈的主席国，中方将继续鼓励相关各方携手朝着这一共同目标努力，为重启朝鲜核问题谈判创造条件。

Outmaneuvering Pyongyang, though, will likely prove challenging, even for China. The only time North Korea signed a multilateral deal limiting the development of its nuclear program was in 2005, and that quickly fell apart.

不过，事实证明以策略制衡平壤将可能颇具挑战性，即便对中国来说也很困难。朝鲜唯一一次签署限制其发展核计划的多边协议是在2005年，而且协议很快就被撕毁了。

'The North Koreans are trying to square the circle between offering the Chinese something, gestures to the U.S. and [South Korea], while at the same time trying to structure those initiatives in a way that guarantees they will fail,' said Stephan Haggard, visiting fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics. 'I have not seen anything to indicate that the North Koreans are serious.'

彼得森国际经济研究所(Peterson Institute for International Economics)的访问学者哈格德(Stephan Haggard)说：朝鲜正在妄图向中国做出一些保证，向美国和韩国有所表示，而同时试图将这些计划设计得保证无法成功。我没有看到任何东西说明朝鲜是认真的。