**马英九争取扩展台湾国际空间**
台湾总统马英九说，他将利用星期六与中国国家主席习近平举行历史性会晤的机会敦促北京放松对台湾与其他国家外交关系的控制。
马英九与习近平在新加坡的会晤将是自1949年内战以后台湾与大陆领导人首次举行会谈。星期三刚刚宣布将举行这次会晤，不过马英九对记者说，数月前就开始为此次会晤做准备。
马英九星期四表示，希望这次会晤能为北京与台北之间今后的会谈立下先例。
马英九说，他计划在会晤中提出由于北京阻碍其他国家与台湾建立外交关系，使台湾难以参与国际间的活动。
马英九表示，希望敦促北京让台湾有更大的国际空间。
马英九说，他不准备在会谈中提及中国在南中国海的主权宣示问题。
台湾总统还表示，参加这次会谈并不是为一月份的选举给国民党拉抬选情。
Taiwan President to Push China for 'Expanded International Space'
Taiwan's President Ma Ying-jeou says he will use Saturday's historic meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping to press for Beijing to relax its rules on Taiwan's diplomatic relations with other countries.
The two leaders are meeting in Singapore for the first talks between Chinese and Taiwanese leaders since the island territory split with the mainland in 1949 during the Chinese civil war. The meeting was only announced on Wednesday, though Ma told reporters it has been in the works for months.
He said Thursday that he hopes the meeting sets a precedent for future talks between Beijing and Taipei.
Ma said he plans to use the meeting to raise the issue of Taiwan's difficulty participating in international events because China prevents other nations from establishing diplomatic ties with Taiwan.
Ma said he hopes to push for Taiwan to have "expanded international space."
He said he does not plan to bring up China's territorial claims in the South China Sea.
The Taiwanese president also said the upcoming meeting is not intended to further the interests of his political party as January elections approach.
**美马防长将登巡航南中国海航母**
美国国防部长卡特星期四将登上一艘航行在南中国海的美国航空母舰。目前，中国在该海域扩张所引发的紧张局势正在升级。
卡特将同马来西亚国防部长希沙姆丁·侯赛因一道登上西奥多·罗斯福号航母，目前这艘航母正在马来西亚附近的南中国海水域航行。
几天前，美国一艘导弹驱逐舰驶入斯普拉特里群岛的渚碧礁的12海里以内水域。去年，北京不顾菲律宾、越南、台湾和其他亚洲国家在该地区的主权主张， 在那里展开庞大的建设项目，将水下珊瑚礁变为可以建造跑道和其他设施的人工岛。
奥巴马政府说，军舰巡航是旨在保护该海域航行开放的常规操作。
这一争端给星期三在吉隆坡举行的东盟及美国、中国、澳大利亚、印度和日本等国的防长扩大会议蒙上了一层阴影。由于中国游说阻止任何人提及有争议的南 中国海问题，部长们在会议结束时未能按传统发布联合声明。
中国国防部对会议未能发表联合声明表示遗憾，并指称某些非东南亚国家应对此负责。
US Defense Chief Visits Warship in South China Sea
U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter is visiting a U.S. aircraft carrier in the South China Sea Thursday, as tensions grow with China over Beijing's maritime expansion in the region.
Carter is traveling with his Malaysian counterpart, Hishammuddin Hussein. The two will board the U.S. aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt as it sails the South China Sea off the coast of Malaysia.
The brief cruise by Carter and Hussein takes place days after a U.S. guided missile destroyer sailed within 22 kilometers of the Subi Reef in the Spratly Island archipelago. Beijing launched a massive building project last year to transform the submerged reefs into islands that can support runways and other facilities, ignoring competing claims to the outcroppings by the Philippines, Vietnam, Taiwan and other Asian nations.
The Obama administration says the warship's passage was a routine exercise aimed at protecting the open navigation of the seas.
The dispute overshadowed Wednesday's meeting in Kuala Lumpur of ASEAN defense ministers, plus Carter and his counterparts from China, Australia, India and Japan. The ministers failed to issue a traditional joint statement at the end of the forum, after China lobbied to block any mention of the contentious South China Sea.
China's Defense Ministry said it regretted a joint declaration was not issued, and accused "certain countries" outside of Southeast Asia of being responsible for the cancellation of a statement.
