安倍訪珍珠港意在鞏固美日同盟
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s highly symbolic visit to Pearl Harbor yesterday was touted as an emblem of the closeness between Japan and the US, coming half a year after Barack Obama made a historic trip to Hiroshima.
日本首相安倍晉三(Shinzo Abe)昨日對珍珠港進行的具有高度象徵意義的訪問被譽爲日美緊密關係的體現。半年前巴拉克.奧巴馬(Barack Obama)對廣島作了歷史性訪問。
Yet as the Japanese and US leaders prepared to honour the 2,403 Americans who lost their lives in the 1941 surprise attack that propelled the US into the second world war, uncertainties cloud the future of the partnership.
然而，在日本和美國領導人準備紀念在1941年珍珠港突襲中喪生的2403名美國人（那次襲擊使美國捲入第二次世界大戰）之際，一些不確定性給這一夥伴關係帶來陰雲。
President-elect Donald Trump’s campaign comments raised doubts about his commitment to US postwar alliances, as he complained about the cost of US military support and vowed to tear up the Trans-Pacific Partnership that Mr Abe and Mr Obama advocated.
美國當選總統唐納德.特朗普(Donald Trump)在競選過程中發表的言論，令人懷疑他對美國戰後聯盟的誠意。他抱怨美國軍事支持的成本，並誓言撕毀安倍和奧巴馬倡導的《跨太平洋夥伴關係協定》(TPP)。
Mr Abe visited Mr Trump in November seeking clarity about his intentions, emerging from the meeting to declare him a “trustworthy leader”.
安倍在11月拜訪了特朗普，尋求弄明後者的意圖，他在會晤結束後宣佈特朗普是一個“值得信賴的領導人”。
“This is a time when the alliance has never been stronger” between the two countries, said Jennifer Lind, professor in the Department of Government at Dartmouth College. “The big question is Trump’s Asia policy and Trump’s China policy. I don’t think we know. He campaigned as if he were someone who did not value the US-led order in Asia.”
“當今是美日同盟空前強大的時代，”達特茅斯學院(Dartmouth College)政府系教授詹妮弗.林德(Jennifer Lind)表示。“最大問題是特朗普的亞洲政策和特朗普的中國政策。我不認爲我們知道。從他的競選言論看，他似乎並不看重美國在亞洲主導的秩序。”
Yesterday, Mr Abe was due to be the first Japanese leader to visit the USS Arizona memorial, completed in 1961. Some 1,177 of the 1,400 sailors on board the battleship died in Japan’s attack. It was initially thought Mr Abe would be the first Japanese prime minister to visit Pearl Harbor but records emerged of a private visit by former prime minister Shigeru Yoshida in 1951.
根據日程安排，昨日安倍晉三將成爲首位訪問美國海軍亞利桑那號戰列艦紀念館(USS Arizona Memorial)的日本領導人；這個紀念館於1961年建成。在珍珠港襲擊中，這艘戰艦上的1400名水兵中有1177人喪生。外界起初認爲，安倍將是首位訪問珍珠港的日本首相，但歷史記錄顯示，前首相吉田茂(Shigeru Yoshida)曾在1951年以私人身份訪問了珍珠港。
Significantly, Mr Abe was to be the first leader to visit since the revival of nationalism made all expressions of Japanese remorse and culpability controversial at home. It is the latest effort by Mr Abe to settle the ghosts of Japan’s second world war history, strengthen the US-Japan alliance and “look to the future”.
值得注意的是，安倍將成爲自民族主義在日本捲土重來、使該國國內對於悔恨和罪責的任何表達都變得有爭議以來首位訪問珍珠港的領導人。這是安倍驅散日本二戰歷史魅影、加強美日同盟和“展望未來”的最新努力。
He referred to Pearl Harbor in a well-received speech to the US Congress last year and navigated a statement on the war’s 70th anniversary without causing new offence to Japan’s neighbours. In May he accompanied Mr Obama to the site of the first atomic bombing in Hiroshima, where the US president said nuclear-armed nations should pursue a world without the weapons.
他去年在向美國國會發表的反響不錯的演講中提到了珍珠港，並在沒有對鄰國造成新的冒犯的情況下發表了紀念二戰結束70週年的聲明。今年5月，他陪同奧巴馬訪問廣島第一次原子彈轟炸的遺址，其間美國總統表示，核武國家應該爲實現一個沒有核武器的世界而努力。
Mr Abe will probably be the last foreign leader to hold a bilateral meeting with Mr Obama before he leaves office. However, his visit is as much about trying to make a point to the incoming Trump administration as it is about cementing ties with Mr Obama.
安倍很可能將是奧巴馬卸任前最後一位與他舉行雙邊會晤的外國領導人。然而，他的訪問既是爲了夯實與奧巴馬的關係，也是爲了向即將上臺的特朗普政府表明觀點。
Mr Trump has a long record of scepticism about Japan that goes back to the trade disputes of the 1980s and has consistently called on Tokyo to spend more on its own defence to reduce the burden on the US. During the election campaign, he suggested he would be willing to downgrade the US-Japan alliance.
特朗普長期對日本持懷疑態度，他在這方面的記錄可以追溯到上世紀80年代美日貿易爭端期間。他還一再呼籲東京方面加大國防支出，以減輕美國的負擔。在競選期間，他曾暗示他願意降級美日同盟。
But with Mr Trump also pledging to take a harder line with China on economic and security issues, he could find Mr Abe’s Japan becomes a crucial ally.
但是，鑑於特朗普也承諾在經濟和安全問題上對中國採取更加強硬的立場，他可能發現安倍領導的日本會是一個至關重要的盟友。
Not only is Japan central to the American military presence in the region, but it is pushing for closer ties with the US at a time when some of Washington’s other alliances in the region are in trouble — from the disputes with Rodrigo Duterte, the president of the Philippines, to the political turmoil in South Korea. At the same time China is pursuing a more aggressive approach in the East and South China Seas.
日本不僅在美國在亞洲的軍事存在中處於核心地位，而且在美國的其他一些亞洲盟友出現問題之際，該國正在推動與美國建立更緊密關係。這些問題包括菲律賓總統羅德里戈.杜特爾特(Rodrigo Duterte)對美國找茬，以及韓國陷入政治動盪。與此同時，中國正在東中國海和南中國海擺出更加咄咄逼人的姿態。
Sheila Smith, senior fellow for Japan studies at the Council on Foreign Relations, said that Mr Trump had toned down some of his rhetoric on US-Japan relations since the campaign, and that Mr Trump’s key foreign policy appointees were likely to value strong alliances.
美國外交關係協會(Council on Foreign Relations)從事日本研究的高級研究員希拉.史密斯(Sheila Smith)說，相比競選言論，特朗普已經弱化了他對美日關係的評論調門，而特朗普任命的關鍵外交政策官員很可能會重視強大的聯盟。
Mr Abe will not apologise for the Pearl Harbor attack while in Hawaii, in keeping with his past statements on the war. The prime minister has evolved a formula whereby he often talks of his grief and sadness at the events of the war without offering specific apologies.
安倍在夏威夷期間不會爲珍珠港襲擊事件道歉，這與他過去關於戰爭的陳述一致。這位日本首相已經發展出一個套路：他經常談到他對戰時事件的悲傷和痛心，但不作具體道歉。
