美日加大力度推進沖繩美軍基地搬遷事宜

NAHA, Japan--U.S. and Japanese officials are putting a new focus on Okinawa, the hub of the American military presence in East Asia, pressuring reluctant local residents to approve by year's a long-stalled plan to move a base for U.S. Marines.

美國和日本的官員將注意力再度投向沖繩這一美國在東亞軍事力量的核心地區，施加壓力要求沖繩居民在年底前批准當地一個美國海軍陸戰隊基地的搬遷計劃。該計劃長期以來一直被擱置。

It is a risky tactic for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, as he tries to tighten the security alliance with the U.S. to counter Beijing's growing assertiveness in the waters around Japan's southern island. Even as national support grows for U.S. troops, grass-roots resentment on Okinawa toward the foreign military presence has strengthened in recent years.

這對日本首相安倍晉三(Shinzo Abe)來說是一項具有風險性的策略。安倍晉三正試圖增進與美國的軍事安全同盟以對抗中國在沖繩周邊海域咄咄逼人的姿態。雖然從全國範圍看，日本對美軍的支持度上升，但最近幾年沖繩民衆對美國在當地派駐軍隊的不滿加劇。

Local politicians now routinely call Tokyo's policy of keeping a majority of U.S. bases on their overcrowded island 'discrimination' against the Okinawans, who have a unique cultural heritage, and have ramped up calls to reduce the American footprint. They predict an outburst of protests if the government ignores the opposition.

沖繩的官員們目前經常表示，日本政府在當地保留大部分美軍基地的政策是對衝繩人民的歧視，並一直在加大力度要求減少美國在當地的軍事部署。這些官員預計，如果日本政府忽視他們的反對意見，當地民衆可能舉行大規模抗議活動。沖繩擁有不同於日本其他地區的歷史文化。

'People from the mainland arrogantly tell us to think about the broad national security, but we are the ones who must live with the risks,' said Takeshi Onaga, mayor of Naha, the prefectural seat, who is widely seen as the front-runner in a gubernatorial race scheduled for November 2014. 'When we fear war could break out any time, our honest feeling is 'Please don't aggravate China too much.''

沖繩縣首府那霸市市長翁長雄志(Takeshi Onaga)稱，日本其他地區的人傲慢地要求沖繩考慮國家安全的大局，但必須面對風險的是沖繩人；他們擔心戰爭可能隨時爆發，心裏真實的想法是不要過度刺激中國。翁長雄志被普遍認爲將在2014年11月份的沖繩縣知事選舉中獲勝。

Tensions between Tokyo and Okinawa have escalated over the past few months since Mr. Abe started applying intense pressure on officials to accept a long-standing plan to build a new runway for the U.S. Marine Corps.

過去幾個月中，東京與沖繩之間的緊張關係升級，因爲安倍晉三向沖繩官員大舉施壓，要求他們接受一項長期擱置的計劃，內容是在沖繩爲美國海軍陸戰隊建造一條新的飛機跑道。

The plan--which has stalled for 17 years due to local opposition--calls for closing an unpopular base called Futenma in densely populated central Okinawa and building a replacement facility in a coastal area in the island's rural north. Opponents want Futenma shut without any replacement on their island.

由於受到沖繩民衆的反對，該計劃已擱置17年。計劃提議關閉建在沖繩人口密集的中心地區的普天間美軍基地，在沖繩北部農村沿海地區重建一個基地。反對者要求關閉普天間基地後不在沖繩其他地區重建。

The face-off is coming to a head as the governor faces a self-imposed year-end deadline on whether he should grant a landfill permit, a prerequisite for the construction itself. The seemingly minor bureaucratic decision has taken on significance as the key step needed to move forward with the new base.

目前這一僵局即將迎來關鍵時刻，因爲沖繩縣知事仲井真弘多(Hirokazu Nakaima)此前給出的是否批准美軍新基地選址地區填埋的最後期限是在年底，而這個期限即將到來。獲得這項批准是新基地建造的先決條件。

Permit approval would be the first advance for the plan since 2006, and would demonstrate Mr. Abe's ability to break a logjam that has foiled numerous predecessors. Failure to win the permit would be an embarrassment for the prime minister and a setback for his campaign to bolster the U.S.-Japan alliance, showing the base issue as intractable even for Japan's most powerful and popular leader in years.

如果填埋獲得批准，將是美軍基地搬遷計劃2006年來首次取得進展，並證明安倍晉三有能力打破這一已困擾多位前任的僵局。若填埋未獲批准，將令安倍晉三難堪並對其增進美日同盟的計劃帶來拖累，同時表明沖繩美軍基地事宜是一個即使像安倍晉三這樣近年來最有影響、最受擁護的日本領導人也難以解決的問題。

Hirokazu Nakaima, Okinawa's governor who belongs to Mr. Abe's conservative ruling party, has in the past said he opposed construction of a new base on Okinawa to replace Futenma, as community sentiment deteriorated due to crimes involving U.S. soldiers and the introduction of the Ospreys, a tilt-rotor aircraft criticized in Okinawa as noisy.

與安倍晉三同在執政黨自民黨的仲井真弘多此前曾表示，他反對在沖繩新建一個美軍基地替代普天間基地，因駐沖繩美軍士兵的犯罪案件以及所部署魚鷹運輸機的噪音問題引發民衆不滿。

The 74-year-old governor has hinted at more flexibility as he enters the last year of his term in office, with expectations that he won't seek re-election. Some close Nakaima aides point to the merit of accepting the U.S. base plan in some form.

進入任期最後一年的仲井真弘多已暗示將增加在美軍基地問題上的靈活性。仲井真弘多現年74歲。人們預計他不會尋求連任。

'We remain stuck if we just keep saying no,' Susumu Matayoshi, head of the governor's office, said in an interview last week. 'We have to acknowledge Tokyo has the power of the state and we are subject to the hierarchy of power.' Mr. Matayoshi said he didn't know how the governor would decide.

沖繩縣知事辦公室主任又吉進(Susumu Matayoshi)上週接受採訪時說：如果我們堅持說不，事情就無法解決；我們必須承認政府代表的國家權威，接受權力等級的制約。又吉進說，他不知道知事會作何決定。

Mr. Abe is fighting an all-out battle to gain Okinawa's support. In an annual national budget likely to show a 2%-3% increase in overall spending, Tokyo on Tuesday approved $3.4 billion for Okinawa's economic development, up 14% from a year ago, to fund expensive infrastructure projects, such as the construction of a new runway at Naha's main airport, and the expansion of a graduate school of science and technology in a rural town near the planned location for the new base.

安倍晉三正在竭盡全力爭取沖繩的支持。日本政府週二在全國年度預算中批准向沖繩撥款34億美元用於發展經濟，較上一年增長14%，而全國總體支出預計僅增長2%-3%，這些資金將用於昂貴的基礎設施項目，例如在那霸機場修建一條新跑道，以及在基地新址附近的鄉鎮擴建一所科研院。

Making his final effort to persuade the governor, Mr. Abe on Wednesday offered additional steps to reduce the military footprint in Okinawa, such as setting up task forces to study shifting some training operations elsewhere and giving back some of the U.S. bases to the local community earlier than under previous plans. After meeting the prime minister, Mr. Nakaima described his proposal as 'surprisingly generous,' an expression some interpreted to mean he will grant the landfill permit.

爲了最終說服沖繩縣知事，安倍週三還提出進一步的方案，試圖減輕美軍基地給沖繩帶來的負擔，例如成立工作組負責研究將部分訓練活動改到其他地方進行，以及將部分美軍基地提前歸還當地社區。在與安倍晉三會面後，仲井真弘多形容首相的提議“出乎意料的慷慨”；一些人猜測，這意味着他將批准填海造陸計劃。

Also on Wednesday, the U.S. and Japan agreed to negotiate a new framework to address environmental concerns related to U.S. military activities at bases across Japan. 'This is yet another step we are taking together in order to update and modernize our alliance,' U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said in a statement.

美國和日本週三還同意商討一個新的框架，以應對美國駐軍引發的環境問題。美國國防部長哈格爾(Chuck Hagel)在聲明中稱，這是加強美日同盟並使這一同盟現代化的又一舉措。

The main island of Okinawa, with an area one-third of Rhode Island's and home to 1.3 million people, hosts 34 U.S. military facilities, accounting for three-quarters of the area of all U.S. bases in Japan. Some 28,000 member members of the U.S. military are stationed in Okinawa, roughly 70% of those assigned to Japan, according to data from Okinawa prefecture.

沖繩縣主島面積是美國羅德島的三分之一，人口130萬，島上有34處美軍設施，佔駐日美軍基地總面積的四分之三。沖繩縣的數據顯示，美國軍隊有大約2.8萬人駐紮在沖繩，約佔駐日美軍總數的70%。

The U.S. has long considered Okinawa strategically important, having used it as a staging base during the Vietnam War. Its significance has grown further as China flexes its military muscle. Progress on Futenma is essential also because it is tied to a broader U.S. plan to reorganize its troops in the Asia-Pacific as part of its efforts to pivot to Asia.

美國長期以來一直重視沖繩具的戰略意義，越戰期間，美軍曾將沖繩作爲補給基地。在中國加強軍事實力之際，沖繩的重要性變得更加突出。普天間基地的進展之所以至關重要，也因爲它與美國在亞太地區的軍事重組有關，這也是美國重返亞洲的整體戰略的一部分。

Polls show a majority of people in Okinawa oppose the new base, but promises of generous subsidies and expensive construction contracts appear to have helped lift support. Base supporters also cite China's recent saber-rattling.

調查顯示，多數沖繩人反對新建軍事基地，但慷慨的補貼和高額的建築合同似乎使支持率有所提高。軍事基地的支持者還提到中國的武力威脅。

'We have a neighbor that has an eye on the Senkaku Islands and Okinawa,' said Shohei Nakachi, a local business leader who heads a citizens' group pushing for the new base, referring to the group of islands that China calls Diaoyu in the Okinawa prefecture at the heart of the Japan-China dispute. 'The Marines are our deterrence. It's extremely dangerous to make them leave in an environment like this.'

支持建設新基地的公民組織負責人、當地商界領袖Shohei Nakachi表示：我們的一個鄰國正在覬覦尖閣諸島(Senkaku Islands, 中國稱釣魚島)和沖繩；海軍陸戰隊是我們的威懾力量，在當前形勢下讓他們離開是極其危險的。尖閣諸島位於沖繩縣的一組島嶼，是中日爭端的核心。

Mr. Nakachi's group recently gathered signatures from 80,000 people for a petition to move forward on the new base, a large number that even surprised its organizers, and a rare show of mass support for the bases.

Nakachi領導的組織最近徵集到8萬人的簽名，支持新基地的建設。簽名人數之多甚至令組織者也感到意外，這種大規模的支持軍事基地的現象也比較罕見。

Still, many worry that the Futenma relocation saga will continue for many years even if the governor grants a landfill permit. The city designated as the host of the new base has a mayoral election scheduled for Jan. 19. A compromise from the governor could fuel support for the antibase incumbent whom Mr. Abe's government is trying to defeat. Antibase activists pledge they will block the project by putting up barricades and sending in fishing boats to interfere with construction work. Such protests may force Tokyo to dispatch riot police or the coast guard, a politically delicate act in Japan's pacifist culture.

但很多人仍然擔心，即使知事批准填海造陸，普天間基地重新選址的過程也將持續數年。被選作基地新址的城市明年1月19日將舉行市長選舉，如果知事做出妥協，可能會使反對美軍基地的候選人得到更多的支持，而安倍晉三政府希望在這次市長選舉中獲勝。反對軍事基地的活動人士承諾，他們將設置路障並派遣漁船干擾建築工程，以阻止項目實施。這種抗議可能迫使日本政府派出防暴警察或海岸警衛隊，在日本和平主義原則下，這將是一個政治上非常微妙的舉動。

'We've tried with various democratic steps. If that can't stop this, we'll have no choice but to resort to force,' said Satoru Oshiro, a top official of Okinawa's largest antibase group with some 20,000 members. 'We won't hesitate to fight even if we risk getting arrested.'

Satoru Oshiro是沖繩縣反抗美軍基地的最大組織的高層負責人，該組織擁有大約2萬名成員。他說：我們嘗試了各種各樣的民主途徑，如果阻止不了，我們別無選擇，只有訴諸武力；即使冒着被逮捕的危險，我們也會義無返顧地去戰鬥。