A delegation of U.S. House lawmakers visited China for the first time since 2019 this week, in what members described as an effort to push for more communication between the American and Chinese militaries to avert potential conflict.

一个由美国众议院议员组成的代表团本周访问了中国，这是自2019年以来的首次。代表团成员称此次访问旨在推动两国军队加强沟通，避免潜在冲突。

The bipartisan group, composed mostly of members of the House Armed Services Committee, and led by Rep. Adam Smith, a Democrat from Washington, met with China’s No. 2 official, Premier Li Qiang. They also met with China’s defense minister, its vice premier for economic policy, its foreign minister and the head of its rubber-stamp legislature.

这个两党代表团主要由众议院军事委员会的成员组成，由来自华盛顿州的民主党众议员亚当·史密斯率领，他们与中国政府的二号人物、国务院总理李强举行了会晤。代表团还与中国的国防部长、主管经济政策的副总理、外交部长，以及中国的橡皮图章式立法机构的负责人举行了会谈。

The visit came just days after President Trump and China’s leader, Xi Jinping, spoke on the phone and discussed issues including trade and a possible deal on TikTok. Washington and Beijing have been working to steady ties after tensions over tariffs earlier this year brought relations to one of their lowest points in recent years. Mr. Trump has said on social media that he would likely visit China early next year.

就在此次访问的几天前，特朗普总统与中国国家主席习近平通过电话讨论了贸易问题，以及在TikTok问题上可能达成的协议等议题。今年早些时候，关税问题曾导致两国关系跌至近年来的最低点。之后，双方一直在努力稳定两国关系。特朗普在社交媒体上表示，他可能会在明年年初访华。

Still, many areas of disagreement remain — including over China’s military presence in the Pacific, which has grown more assertive. Chinese ships have increasingly ventured into waters historically dominated by the United States. The U.S. military has accused Chinese planes of flying dangerously close to American planes, nearly causing collisions. China has countered that American aggression is fueling the risks.

尽管如此，双方仍在许多方面存在分歧，包括中国在太平洋地区日渐强硬的军事存在。中国舰艇越来越多地闯入历来由美国主导的海域。美军指责中国飞机危险地靠近美军飞机，险致撞机。中国则反驳称，美国的挑衅行为加剧了风险。

“China is the most rapidly growing military, and the most rapidly growing nuclear power, in the world. The U.S. has the biggest military in the world and the biggest nuclear arsenal,” Mr. Smith, who is the Armed Services Committee’s ranking Democratic member, said at a news conference in between meetings on Tuesday. “It is dangerous for us not to be having regular communications about our capabilities and intentions.”

“中国有世界上军事实力增长最快、核力量发展最迅速的国家。美国拥有世界上最大的军事力量和最大的核武库，”史密斯在周二会议的间隙举行的记者会上说，他是众议院军事委员会的民主党首席成员。“我们如果不就我们的能力和意图进行定期沟通的话，那很危险。”

“We’ve seen this with our ships, our planes, their ships, their planes, coming entirely too close to one another,” he added. He had raised the issue with the premier, and Dong Jun, the defense minister.

“我们已经看到我们的舰艇、我们的飞机与他们的舰艇、他们的飞机太过接近，”他补充道。他已向李强和国防部长董军提出了这个问题。

华盛顿州的联邦众议院民主党议员亚当·史密斯周一与中国国防部长董军举行会晤时呼吁两国军队加强沟通。

The Chinese defense ministry said that Mr. Dong had told the lawmakers that China was willing to build a “stable and positive” relationship with the American military. But he also emphasized that the lawmakers should help improve communications, according to an official summary. And he said that China would defend its sovereignty and security.

中国国防部表示，董军已告诉美国立法者，中国愿意与美军建立“稳定健康”的关系。但据官方的会晤纪要，他强调，美国立法者们应该帮助改善两军之间的沟通。董军还表示，中国将捍卫自己的主权和安全。

Mr. Smith acknowledged that the United States and China remained far apart on high-priority issues. For the United States, that includes the supply of rare earth metals and the control of fentanyl precursors — neither of which were mentioned in Chinese government summaries of this week’s meetings.

史密斯承认，美中双方在一些重要议题上仍存在很大分歧。对美国而言，这包括稀土金属的供应和芬太尼前体的管控，但中国政府发布的会谈纪要中未提及这两个问题。

Mr. Trump has also accused China of reneging on a deal to buy jets from Boeing, the American airplane manufacturer. His recently appointed ambassador to China, David Perdue, said at the news conference that it was “very important to the president” that a “huge order” of Boeing jets be completed. “I think we’re in the last days or weeks of that negotiation,” Mr. Perdue added.

特朗普还指责中国在购买美国飞机制造商波音公司的飞机上食言。他最近任命的驻华大使庞德伟(David Perdue)在记者会上表示，完成购买波音飞机的“巨额订单”“对总统来说非常重要”。“我认为，我们正处于（购买飞机）谈判的最后几天或几周，”庞德伟补充道。

The delegation also included Michael Baumgartner, a Republican member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, as well as Ro Khanna and Chrissy Houlahan, both Democrats on the House Armed Services Committee.

代表团成员还包括众议院外交事务委员会的共和党成员迈克尔·鲍姆加特纳，以及众议院军事委员会的民主党成员罗·卡纳和克丽丝·霍拉汉。

Mr. Perdue, a former U.S. senator from Georgia, called the representatives “pioneers” in helping to restart dialogue between the two countries, which he said had been severely reduced since the coronavirus pandemic.

庞德伟曾任佐治亚州的联邦参议员，他称代表团成员是帮助重启两国对话的“先驱”。他说，自从新冠病毒大流行以来，两国之间的对话大为减少。

He said that the delegation was taking a political risk by traveling to China, when a hawkish stance toward Beijing has become a bipartisan consensus. Even as American lawmakers have largely avoided Beijing, some have traveled to Taiwan, which China claims as its territory, prompting objections from the Chinese government.

他说，在对华强硬立场已成为两党共识的时候，代表团访问中国是有政治风险的。尽管美国的立法者基本避免前往北京，但他们中的一些人已访问了台湾，中国声称台湾是其领土，美国立法者访台已引发了中国政府的反对。

“This is not an easy thing for them to do. They will take some political hits, potentially, back home,” Mr. Perdue said. He said he hoped many more similar visits would follow.

“此行对他们来说并非易事。他们可能将在国内遭受一些政治冲击，”庞德伟说。他表示希望以后会有更多的类似访问。

Chinese officials struck a similarly cautiously optimistic note about the visit. Meeting with the lawmakers on Sunday, Mr. Li said in introductory remarks that their visit, which he described as an “ice-breaking trip,” was being closely followed by the Chinese public.

中国官员对美国众议员的来访表达了类似的谨慎乐观态度。李强在周日与议员们举行会晤时，在开场白中把这次访问称为“破冰之旅”，并说议员们的来访受到了中国公众的密切关注。

史密斯（中）在美国驻华大使馆举行的记者会上发表讲话，身旁是众议员克丽丝·霍拉汉、驻华大使庞德伟、众议员迈克尔·鲍姆加特纳，以及众议员罗·卡纳。

The Global Times, a Chinese Communist Party-controlled tabloid, said in an editorial that the trip signaled “significant progress in stabilizing bilateral relations.”

中共控制的报纸《环球时报》在一篇社评中称，此次访问“意味着中美在稳定双边关系方面取得一大进展”。

But the editorial also warned that Congress was widely perceived as a bulwark of anti-China sentiment.

但社评也警告称，美国国会被广泛视为“反华大本营”。

Mr. Smith said before the visit began that the delegation had requested a meeting with Mr. Xi but were unsure whether it would happen. The lawmakers did not mention it on Tuesday. They were scheduled to leave China on Thursday.

史密斯在离开美国前曾说，代表团提出了与习近平会晤的请求，但不确定是否能见到他。众议员们在周二的发布会上未提及此事。他们已计划在周四离开中国。

Mr. Xi did meet Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, the Democratic majority leader at the time, when he led a bipartisan Senate delegation to Beijing in 2023. That was the first, and until now, only, congressional delegation to China since before the pandemic.

2023年，时任美国参议院民主党多数党领袖的纽约州联邦参议员查克·舒默带领一个参议院两党代表团访华时，习近平曾与舒默见面。那次访问是新冠病毒大流行以来美国国会代表团首次访华，也是众议院代表团这次访华前的唯一一次。