Of little significance by themselves , skirmishes like this one can herald inflection points in long-term trends .

这样的小范围竞争尽管本身无关紧要，但却能够预示长期发展趋势中的拐点。

Skirmishes on the border between armenia and azerbaijan caused concern .

在亚美尼亚和阿塞拜疆的交界处发生的军事冲突引起了广泛关注。

Already china is embroiled in skirmishes and politicking on new frontiers .

中国已经在一些新领域卷入了小规模的冲突和政治活动。

Skirmishes between pro-reform activists and party supporters broke out again on wednesday .

周三，支持改革的活动人士与中共支持者之间再次发生冲突。

The most hard-fought skirmishes in that war concern not abortion , but contraception .

这场战争中最激烈的冲突无关乎堕胎，而在于避孕。