Recriminations are beginning in earnest over the protracted search for missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, with both China and Vietnam venting their frustration with the slow progress of the mission and what they view as poor coordination of the effort.

对于长时间搜救马来西亚航空(Malaysia Airlines, 简称：马航) 370航班下落的行动，各方真要开始相互指责了。中国和越南都对相关任务的缓慢进展和协调不力表达了失望之情。

 

Ten countries are currently helping to scour the seas around Malaysia, including China, the U.S. and Vietnam. Taiwanese vessels are expected to be on the scene by Friday. It is a major multinational effort. In all, 56 surface ships are taking part in the search, according to statements issued by the contributing governments, with Malaysia providing 27 of them. In addition, 30 fixed-wing aircraft are also searching, with at least 10 shipboard helicopters available, mostly in the waters between Malaysia and Vietnam.

目前有10个国家和地区对马来西亚周边海域的搜救出力，包括中国大陆、美国和越南。台湾船只预计将在周五前抵达搜救现场。这是一个规模庞大的多国行动。参与行动的各政府公布的声明显示，总计有56艘水面船只参与搜救，其中马来西亚出动了27艘。有30架固定翼飞机也在从事搜救工作，另有至少10架舰载直升机可以动用，搜救重点位于马来西亚和越南之间的海域。

 

The mission hasn't turned up much thus far. Malaysia's acting Transport Minister Hishamuddin Hussein told The Wall Street Journal in brief remarks Wednesday that there was still no sign of the plane, which vanished without trace early Saturday morning, just under an hour into its flight to Beijing from Kuala Lumpur.

但到目前为止，相关任务却收效甚微。马来西亚交通部长希山慕丁(Hishamuddin Hussein)周三对《华尔街日报》(The Wall Street Journal)简短置评称，目前仍没有飞机的下落。上周六凌晨，这架飞机从吉隆坡飞往北京，但起飞后不到一小时就消失了踪迹。

 

'It's going to be [a] long-drawn' affair,' Mr. Hishamuddin said.

希山慕丁说，这将是一个持续很久的过程。

 

His assessment appears likely to amplify the growing tension over how the search is being handled. China's government is especially aggrieved. More than 150 of the 227 passengers and 12 crew aboard Flight 370 are Chinese, and family members in Beijing have at times loudly expressed their frustration over the absence of fresh leads on the whereabouts of the missing plane.

目前围绕搜救执行情况的紧张事态正在升温，而希山慕丁对事况的评估似乎有可能使事态变得越发紧张。中国政府更是感到愤愤不平。在马航370航班的227名乘客和12名机组成员中，有超过150名中国人，而这些人在北京的家属多次大声表达了对失联客机下落缺乏新线索的失望。

 

On Tuesday, Beijing pointedly pushed Malaysia to speed up the search and accompanying investigation. 'We want Malaysia to work harder and speed up efforts on behalf of the families,' said Qin Gang, a spokesman for China's foreign ministry. On Wednesday, Mr. Qin again called for Malaysia to step up its efforts. More than a dozen stern-faced Chinese diplomats met with Malaysian officials for a progress report on the search and, according to a Malaysian official who asked not to be identified, offered to contribute more Chinese resources to the effort.

中国政府周二用强硬措辞敦促马来西亚加快搜救和相关调查行动。中国外交部发言人秦刚说，中方希望马方能加快调查速度，加大搜救力度，尽快给中方、给乘客家属一个交代。秦刚周三再次呼吁马来西亚做出更大努力。十几位面色严峻的中国外交人员就搜救进展报告与马来西亚官员举行了会晤，据一位不愿透露姓名的马来西亚官员称，中国外交官提出中国可以为马来西亚的相关努力提供更多资源。

 

The mission has been hampered by false leads and conflicting reports.

一些假线索和相互矛盾的报告给搜救工作造成了难度。

 

They range from sightings of suspected wreckage, which turned out to be other kinds of debris, to oil slicks that later turned out to be bunker oil left by passing ships and not jet fuel. Even radar-data reports are muddying an already murky picture. Early Wednesday, for instance, Malaysia's air force chief denied saying he had told local media that military radar facilities had tracked the plane to near a rocky outcrop on the other side of Malaysia, in the Strait of Malacca.

最初有疑似残骸被发现，但结果却是其他类型的残片。也有水面浮油被发现，但结果却是过往船只留下的燃油，而非航空燃油。即便是雷达数据报告也使本已模糊的事态变得更加扑朔迷离。比如在周三早晨，马来西亚空军司令就否认他对当地媒体说过，军用雷达设施追踪到失联客机是在马来西亚另一侧的马六甲海峡的一处岛屿附近。

 

Gen. Rodzali Daud described the reports as 'inaccurate and incorrect', and fell back to his familiar line that Malaysia and its air forces are still examining all possibilities.

马来西亚空军司令Rodzali Daud称该报道“失实”，并重复他之前的说法称，马来西亚及其空军仍在调查所有的可能性。

 

The confusion was enough to trigger consequences for the search. Vietnam early Wednesday said it was suspending flights after getting wind of the radar report. It kept four search planes on the ground while it waited for clarification from Malaysia. Vietnamese officials later returned to air search after getting word from Malaysia that the operation was still on in the South China Sea off Vietnam's coast.

这种不确定足以给搜索行动带来影响。在听到上述雷达报告的消息后，越南周三早间称将暂停空中搜索活动。在等待马来西亚方面做出说明的同时，越南停飞四架执行搜索任务的飞机。后来，越南官员从马来西亚方面得到消息称越南附近南中国海（中国称南海）海域的搜索行动仍在进行，越南随后恢复了空中搜索工作。

 

So why is it proving so difficult to find any sign of Flight 370?

事实证明找到MH370航班的踪迹很难。为什么会这样？

 

Aviation experts say the absence of an electronic signal from the plane before it disappeared from radar screens makes it difficult to pin down possible locations. What's more, radar data suggests the Boeing 777 might have tried to turn back to Kuala Lumpur before contact was lost, a detail that prompted a search for the plane on both sides of the Malaysian peninsula.

航空导师表示，飞机在从雷达屏幕上消失前没有发出任何电子信号，这使搜救队很难确定飞机的可能位置。此外，雷达数据显示，这架波音777客机在失去与地面的联络前可能曾试图折返回吉隆坡。这个细节使搜救队在马来半岛两侧都开始进行搜索。

 

That information radically expanded the size of the search zone, which already was proving a challenge to cover effectively.

这一信息使搜索范围大幅扩大。而之前的搜索范围已经使搜救队很难有效覆盖了。

 

Malaysian authorities divided the search area into several sectors on either side of the country, as well as areas on land. The challenge, said Lt. David Levy, a spokesman for the U.S. Navy's Seventh Fleet, isn't so much coordination as the sheer size of the area involved. The search grids are up to 20 miles by 120 miles (32 milometers by 193 kilometers), and ships and aircraft employ an exhaustive, methodical pattern 'like mowing your lawn' in their search for the plane, he said.

马来西亚有关部门将该国两侧以及陆地的搜索区域都划分为几块。美国海军第七舰队发言人利维(David Levy)中尉说，在涉及到的搜索范围很大的情况下，搜索行动缺乏协调。他说，搜索区域宽20英里（32公里）、长120英里（193公里），船只和飞机在搜索失联客机时采用一种地毯式的、系统性的模式，就像在草坪上除草一样。

 

A U.S. Navy P-3C Orion maritime patrol aircraft has been searching the northern Strait of Malacca, west of Malaysia, he said, while destroyers USS Kidd and USS Pinckney have been deploying helicopters in the Gulf of Thailand to the east.

他表示，美国海军的一艘P-3C“猎户星座”海上巡逻机一直在马来西亚西边的马六甲海峡北部进行搜索，同时“基德”号(USS Kidd)和“平克尼”号(USS Pinckney)驱逐舰在东边的泰国湾调遣直升机。

 

So far the U.S., like other nations taking part in the search, have had no success. Many aviation experts are concluding that searchers might not have been looking in the right places after four days of trying to locate Flight 370. Even if the plane broke up in midair, it would have left telltale traces of debris in the ocean.

目前为止，与其他参与搜救行动的国家一样，美国也没有任何发现。在对MH370航班的搜救工作进行了四天后，很多航空导师开始认为，搜救人员并未在正确的地点展开搜救。即便是客机在空中解体，也会在海中留下一些残骸。

 

The cracks now emerging between some of the participants in the search could make it even more difficult.

眼下，一些参与搜索的国家和地区之间开始出现裂缝，这可能加大搜索工作的难度。