周安
By Zhou An
据美国媒体报道，近期卫星图像显示，美军正在大规模扩建位于西太平洋地区的天宁岛机场。分析人士认为，该机场完成扩建后，很可能被美军当作关岛安德森空军基地的“备份”，为其扩充和强化在西太平洋地区的军事部署提供支持。
According to US media reports, recent satellite images show that the US military is expanding the Tinian International Airport in the Western Pacific Ocean on a large scale. Analysts believe that the expanded airport is likely to be used by the US military as a backup facility to Guam’s Andersen Air Force Base to support the US expansion and strengthening of military deployment in the Western Pacific region.
天宁岛，也称提尼安岛，位于菲律宾群岛以东、日本列岛以南、关岛以北，是北马里亚纳群岛联邦（美国海外自治邦）的四个城市之一。该岛面积102平方公里，是西太平洋马里亚纳群岛的第三大岛屿。
Tinian is one of the four constituent municipalities of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (the overseas autonomous states of America). It is situated east of the Philippines, south of Japan, and north of Guam. With an area of 102 square kilometers, the island is the third largest of the Mariana Islands in the Western Pacific Ocean.
战前，天宁岛曾被日本控制。1944年，美军攻占该岛后，在岛上扩建能够起降B-29轰炸机的空军基地。盟军借此对菲律宾、琉球群岛及日本本土展开频繁的远程轰炸，从而推动二战太平洋战场形势出现重大转变。1945年，美军向广岛、长崎投掷的两颗原子弹也是从天宁岛装载起飞。
Before World War II, Tinian was controlled by Japan. After the US military occupied the island in 1944, a US air base capable of having B-29 bombers take off and land was established. The Allied forces took the opportunity to launch steady long-range bombing of the Philippines, the Ryukyu Islands and Japan, thus promoting a major change in the situation of the Pacific Theater during World War II. In 1945, the two atomic bombs dropped by the US military on Hiroshima and Nagasaki were also uploaded on Tinian.
二战结束后，美军布防重点转向天宁岛以南的关岛。关岛安德森空军基地成为美国战略空军在西太平洋的指挥中枢和最重要的前沿基地。天宁岛空军基地逐渐被废弃。2003年，美军重返天宁岛，修缮岛上机场，使天宁岛成为美军的训练基地。2016年底，美军开始扩建天宁岛机场，近期不断加大扩建步伐。
With the end of World War II, the focus of US military deployment shifted to Guam, south of Tinian. Guam's Anderson Air Force Base has become the command center and the most important forward base of the US Strategic Air Command (SAC) in the Western Pacific Ocean, and ever since the Air Force base on Tinian was gradually abandoned. In 2003, the US military returned to Tinian and repaired the airport thereon, making Tinian a training base for the US military. At the end of 2016, the US military began to expand the Tinian International Airport and has been increasing the pace of expansion recently.
天宁岛位于关岛附近，与东北亚、东南亚的距离不到3000公里，地缘战略位置十分重要。按照美军设想，一旦关岛安德森空军基地因遇袭或遭受自然灾害而无法使用，天宁岛机场将为那些改道而来的飞机提供支持。通过改善岛上的基础设施和军事设施，还可在该岛建设既能容纳临时部署部队，又能发起军事攻击的基地。
Tinian located near Guam, less than 3000 kilometers away from Northeast Asia and Southeast Asia, is geostrategically significant. According to the US military's assumption, once the Anderson Air Force Base on Guam is unavailable due to an attack or natural disaster, the Tinian International Airport is to provide support for those aircraft diverted. By improving the infrastructure and military facilities on the island, it is also possible to build a base on the island that can accommodate troops of temporary deployment and launch military attacks.
然而，美军扩建天宁岛机场、重启天宁岛空军基地的做法，遭到当地民众的抵制和反对。据美国媒体报道，天宁岛的环保部门警告称，美军在该岛的军事演习可能导致含水层污染，并损害珊瑚礁。当地民众担心，持续的扩建将严重影响岛内畜牧业和旅游业的发展。
However, the US military's expansion of the Tinian International Airport and resumption of the Tinian air base have met with resistance and opposition from the local people. As reported by the US media, the environmental protection department of Tinian has warned that the US military exercises on the island might cause aquifer pollution and damage coral reefs. Local people have also shown great concern that the continuous expansion may deliver a severe unfavorable effect on the development of animal husbandry and tourism therein.
同时，对于战争的痛苦回忆，始终笼罩着这座小岛。一些该岛民众表示，岛上留有二战时期的旧坦克和大炮，尽管战争已过去多年，家中老人仍未摆脱战争创伤。按照扩建计划，天宁岛机场升级完成后，可容纳12架空中加油机，每年将进行长达8周左右的军事演习。届时，战机的轰鸣声将重新把岛上居民带入对战争的恐惧中。
At the same time, the island has been shrouded in painful memories of the war. According to some islanders, there are still old tanks and cannons left from World War II on the island, and the older generation has still been incapable of getting rid of war trauma though the war had passed for many years. After the upgrade, the Tinian International Airport can accommodate 12 aerial tankers and have about 8-week military exercises each year as planned for the expansion. At that time, the roar of fighter jets is sure to bring the islanders into the fear of war again.
重启天宁岛空军基地是美军强化在西太平洋军事存在，推进“分布式打击”和“敏捷战斗部署”的又一动作。除天宁岛外，美军在塞班岛和威克岛的空军基地也在紧锣密鼓地扩建中。预计完成扩建后，关岛、天宁岛、塞班岛、威克岛和夏威夷将形成相互呼应且具有一定纵深的岛屿基地群，成为美军在西太平洋上的“超级军事基地”。
Restarting the US Air Force base on Tinian is another move taken by the US military to strengthen its military presence in the Western Pacific Ocean and promote its distributed strikes and agile combat deployment (ACE). In addition to Tinian, the US Air Force bases on Saipan and Wake Island are also under intensive expansion. It is expected that after the expansion, bases on Guam, Tinian, Saipan, Wake Island and Hawaii will form an island-based basegroup that can take concerted action and have a certain depth, turning to be the "super military base" of the US military in the Western Pacific Ocean.
分析人士指出，美国秉持着根深蒂固的冷战思维和霸权思想，持续在西太平洋地区扩建岛屿基地以加强军事存在的做法，将给地区和平与稳定带来负面影响。
Analysts pointed out that the US, with its deep-rooted Cold War mentality and hegemonic ideology, has continued to expand its island-based bases in the Western Pacific Ocean to strengthen its military presence, which would have a negative impact on regional peace and stability.
（作者系国际问题学者）
(The author is a scholar of international issues)
