德国称默克尔手机可能遭美国监听

Germany said it believed that U.S. intelligence agencies may be spying on Chancellor Angela Merkel's cellphone, an intrusion that could escalate the international furor over U.S. data surveillance and complicate Washington's relationship with one of its staunchest allies.

德国说，该国相信美国情报机构可能在监听该国总理默克尔(Angela Merkel)的手机。美国的这一做法可能令国际上因美国数据监控引发的喧嚣升级，并令美国与其最坚定盟友之一的关系复杂化。

Ms. Merkel spoke by phone with President Barack Obama on Wednesday and made clear that such surveillance among allies would be 'fully unacceptable' and a 'grave breach of trust,' her spokesman said in a statement released late Wednesday in Berlin.

默克尔的发言人在柏林周三晚间发表的一则声明中说，默克尔周三通过电话与美国总统奥巴马(Barack Obama)交谈，明确表示盟国之间这样的监控行为“完全不可接受”，是对互信的严重践踏。

Mr. Obama assured the German leader that the U.S. isn't monitoring her communications and won't in the future, a White House spokesman said. He wouldn't say whether it had occurred in the past.

白宫的一名发言人说，奥巴马向默克尔保证，美国并没有在监听她与外界的通讯，未来也不会这么做。这名发言人不愿说明这种监听行为过去是否发生过。

The uproar in Berlin is the latest sign that the National Security Agency scandal has the potential to continue to inflict damage on Washington's relationships with overseas partners. Earlier this week, Mr. Obama called French President Francois Hollande, who expressed his 'deep disapproval' over reports that the NSA was collecting data on tens of millions French phone calls and messages. Reports of U.S. spying on Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff as well as Mexico's Enrique Pena Nieto during his successful presidential campaign have already strained the U.S. relationship with Latin America.

在柏林引发的这场骚动是最新的一个迹象，显示美国国家安全局(National Security Agency)丑闻可能继续给华盛顿与海外合作伙伴之间的关系造成损害。本周早些时候，奥巴马致电法国总统奥朗德(Francois Hollande)，奥朗德对有报道指美国国安局收集数千万法国电话和短信记录表示强烈不满。还有报道说，美国也在针对巴西总统罗塞夫(Dilma Rousseff)从事间谍活动，并在墨西哥总统涅托(Enrique Pena Nieto)参加总统选举过程中对其进行间谍活动，相关报道已经令美国与拉丁美洲的关系承压。

The German government's sharply worded statement came after it looked into an inquiry from the weekly Der Spiegel, the magazine reported. Der Spiegel said U.S. spies may have specifically targeted Ms. Merkel's cellphone -- as opposed to having just intercepted her communications as part of a broader dragnet.

德国《明镜》 (Der Spiegel) 周刊报道，德国政府在发表措辞严厉的声明之前审读了该周刊的一项调查。《明镜》说，美国间谍可能已经特定把默克尔的手机作为目标，而不是作为更广泛行动的一部分仅仅对她的通讯实施拦截。

German intelligence followed up on the information and determined it may be true, according to the magazine, leading to the tense phone call with the White House.

该周刊说，德国情报机构跟进了这一信息，发现这种情况可能是真的，因此才发生了言辞激烈地致电白宫的事情。

There was no information as to how Ms. Merkel's phone was monitored or what information the U.S. gleaned.

至于默克尔的手机是如何被监听的，或是美国得到了什么信息，目前尚无相关信息。

If true, the allegations would present Washington with an even more serious diplomatic challenge that could affect a range of economic and security issues.

上述指控如果属实，华盛顿将面临一个更加严重的外交挑战，可能对一系列经济和安全问题造成影响。

Germany, a member of the Group of Seven leading economies and the dominant economic force in Europe, is a crucial partner for the U.S. on a range of international issues, from combating the euro-zone crisis to negotiating a trans-Atlantic free-trade agreement.

德国是由经济发达国家组成的七国集团的成员，也是欧洲处于主导地位的经济力量，在从应对欧元区危机到泛大西洋自由贸易协定谈判的一系列国际问题上都是美国至关重要的伙伴。

Ms. Merkel has played an important role in talks over global hot spots like Syria and Iran, and Germany is home to the U.S. military's most important bases in Europe. In 2011, Mr. Obama hosted Ms. Merkel in Washington for a state dinner.

在有关叙利亚和伊朗等全球热点地区的谈判方面，默克尔一直扮演着重要角色，而且美国在欧洲最重要的军事基地就位于德国。2001年，奥巴马曾在华盛顿设国宴招待默克尔。

Given the depth of the relationship between the two countries and Germany's long-standing support of the U.S., it is unclear why U.S. intelligence might target her. Mr. Obama said over the summer, as allegations about NSA spying first surfaced, that he could simply call Ms. Merkel if he needed to know what she was thinking.

考虑到两国之间非常深远的关系，而且长期以来德国都是美国的支持者，美国情报机构为什么会以默克尔为目标，原因尚不明了。奥巴马在夏季的时候说，如果想要知道默克尔在想什么，只需要简单地给她打个电话就行了。当时有关美国国安局从事间谍行为的指控刚刚浮出水面。

But Ms. Merkel conceivably may have been targeted for advance knowledge of Germany's positions before a major summit, or to understand Germany's relations with countries like Iran and Russia, said James Lewis, a former State Department official who is now a technology-policy specialist at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

但前国务院官员刘易斯(James Lewis)说，但可以想见的是，美国针对默克尔，是为了在一个重要峰会之前提起获知德国的立场，或是了解德国与伊朗和俄罗斯等国间的关系。刘易斯现在是美国战略与国际研究中心(Center for Strategic and International Studies)技术与公共政策项目负责人。

'The Germans are basically running Europe now,' he said. 'What are the Germans thinking about the European crisis? Are the Germans going to stop bailing out the Greeks?'

他说，目前基本上是由德国人掌管着欧洲。德国人对欧洲危机有何想法？德国人是否会停止救助希腊？

The new revelations come ahead of a European Union summit on Thursday, where leaders are expected to discuss ways to protect personal data in the wake of previous disclosures about the NSA's surveillance programs. Demands for stronger protections and guarantees from the U.S. that it won't violate European privacy laws will have even more urgency following the disclosures about Ms. Merkel.

此事恰逢周四欧盟(European Union)峰会前夕。预计与会领导人在得知了美国国家安全局的监控项目后，将讨论该如何保护个人信息。在默克尔遭美国监视一事曝光后，将更加迫切地需要加强个人信息的保护，让美国保证它不会违反欧洲有关隐私权的法律。

Ms. Merkel, despite an uproar in Germany over NSA surveillance over the summer, had appeared willing to give the U.S. the benefit of the doubt. Asked in a news conference July 19 whether she ever had 'the uncomfortable feeling that the big brother from America might be listening in' while she talked on the phone, Ms. Merkel answered simply: 'No.'

尽管今年夏季德国国内对美国国家安全局的监控项目大为不满，但默克尔似乎愿意姑且相信美国。7月19日，在一个新闻发布会上，有记者问她是否曾感到不安，觉得美国老大哥可能在窃听她的电话，默克尔只是回答说，“没有”。

On Wednesday night, the tone in Berlin changed sharply.

周三晚间，柏林的态度大变。

'The government has received information that the mobile phone of the chancellor may be under surveillance by U.S. agencies,' said Ms. Merkel's spokesman, Steffen Seibert. 'We have made an urgent inquiry to our American partners and have asked for an immediate and comprehensive explanation.'

默克尔的发言人赛贝特(Steffen Seibert)说，政府已掌握了相关情报，情报显示首相的手机可能受到美国机构的监控。我们已向美方提出紧急质询，要求其立即做出详细解释。

In her call with Mr. Obama, Ms. Merkel said she 'unequivocally deplores such practices and sees them as completely unacceptable,' according to Mr. Seibert. The spokesman said Ms. Merkel expected U.S. agencies to explain their overall surveillance practices against Germany, 'questions that the German government asked months ago.'

据赛贝特说，默克尔在与奥巴马的通话中，强烈谴责这样的做法，认为这种做法完全无法接受。赛贝特说，默克尔希望美国机构就其对德国的全盘监控计划做出解释，德国政府数月前就已提出了这样的要求。

Ms. Merkel is known as a frequent texter, sometimes sending and receiving missives in public.

众所周知，默克尔经常发短信，有时甚至公开收发短信。

When the NSA scandal first broke in Germany over the summer, with reports that the U.S. was spying on Germans, opposition parties tried to use U.S. surveillance as a campaign issue against Ms. Merkel.

今年夏天美国国家安全局监控丑闻首次在德国曝光，当时有报道说美国在监视德国人，反对党曾试图在选战中利用美国的监控项目打击默克尔。

But she resisted calls to take drastic action against the U.S. -- such as shelving talks on the free-trade agreement -- and underscored the importance of international cooperation in collecting intelligence.

但她顶住了德国国内要求对美国采取激烈行动――比如搁置围绕自由贸易协议的谈判――的呼声，强调国际合作对情报收集的重要性。

Germany's highly unusual statement and strong words came after Der Spiegel contacted the government about a related story it was working on, the publication reported on its website.

在德国发表不同寻常的声明、措辞严厉地表态之前，据《明镜》周刊在其网站上报道说，该周刊曾就正在做的一项相关报道联系过政府。

Der Spiegel didn't say what sources its research was based on, but the magazine has published a series of articles in recent months based on documents from former NSA contractor Edward Snowden. Der Spiegel said there was evidence that Ms. Merkel 'may have been a target for years for U.S. intelligence agencies.' It didn't publish documents or other evidence to back up those claims.

《明镜》周刊没有透露其调查是基于什么消息来源，但该周刊近几个月根据前美国国家安全局承包商雇员斯诺登(Edward Snowden)提供的文件发表了一系列文章。《明镜》周刊说，有证据显示，多年来默克尔可能一直是美国情报机构的目标。该周刊没有公布文件或其他证据来支持自己的说法。

The White House said Mr. Obama assured Ms. Merkel in the call that the U.S. 'is not monitoring and will not monitor' her communications. 'The United States greatly values our close cooperation with Germany on a broad range of shared security challenges,' White House spokesman Jay Carney said.

白宫说，奥巴马在通话中向默克尔保证，美国现在没有监控，以后也不会监控她的通讯。白宫发言人卡尼(Jay Carney)说，美国极其重视美德在各种共同的安全挑战问题上的密切合作。

While not usually discussed in public, it is well known within intelligence circles that allies spy on each other.

尽管通常不会公开讨论这个问题，但情报圈里都知道盟友之间会互相监控。

Washington's assurances on Wednesday didn't appear to be entirely convincing.

华盛顿周三向德国做出的保证似乎并不能够令人完全信服。

'Between close friends and partners, as Germany and the United States have been for decades, such surveillance of the communications of heads of government cannot exist,' Mr. Seibert said. 'This would be a grave breach of trust.'

赛贝特说，在亲密朋友和伙伴之间，正如德国和美国几十年来的关系一样，不能存在这类监控政府首脑通讯的做法。这将严重违背对方的信任。