時事新聞:鳩山由紀夫主張建立東亞共同體
【英文原文】
Hatoyama To Promote Idea Of Asia Bloc At Summit
When the leaders of Japan, China and South Korea meet for a trilateral summit in Beijing on Saturday, Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama will try to persuade his counterparts to share his vision that Asia needs its own economic bloc.
Since taking office last month, Mr. Hatoyama has repeatedly discussed his desire to create what he calls an East Asian Community, a regional alliance inspired by the European Union. The meeting will be the first major test of his plan, which faces obstacles that include regional rivalries and decades of mistrust following the Second World War.
The proposal is also a key part of Mr. Hatoyama's effort to recalibrate Japan's foreign policy after more than five decades of nearly uninterrupted rule by a party closely aligned with the U.S. Mr. Hatoyama's new ruling Democratic Party of Japan sees a regional alliance as a way to deepen ties with faster-growing neighbors as well as preserve its clout amid a weakening economy and a shrinking population.
Mr. Hatoyama is visiting Bejing Saturday to sit down with Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao and South Korean President Lee Myung-bak. This is the first such meeting since the heads of the three East Asian powers met in December last year and agreed to meet regularly to strengthen cooperation. Japanese foreign-ministry officials say one of the main topics of Saturday's meeting will be North Korea, after Mr. Wen visited North Korean leader Kim Jong Il in Pyongyang last week.
Mr. Hatoyama will stop in Seoul on Friday to meet first with Mr. Lee. South Korean diplomats have welcomed Mr. Hatoyama's promise not to visit a Tokyo shrine honoring Japan's war dead, including more than 1,000 individuals classified as convicted war criminals from World War II. Mr. Lee has tried to tamp down some nationalist disputes with Japan since he took office last year, saying he thinks the two countries' relationship should be 'future-focused.'
China's reaction to the proposed alliance has been cool, according to Japanese officials speaking after Mr. Hatoyama met with Chinese Prime Minister Hu Jintao in New York last month. Still, Chinese state-controlled media has also responded positively to Mr. Hatoyama's vow not to visit the war shrine.
Earlier this week, Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada said the group should include Japan, China, South Korea, India, Australia and New Zealand, as well as the members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. The group should initially focus on economic cooperation, he said.
The nations together accounted for 23% of the world's economic output last year, compared with 24% for the U.S. and 30% for the EU, according to Japanese foreign-ministry data.
【中文譯文】
日本、中國和韓國的領導人本週六在北京舉行三國峯會時，日本首相鳩山由紀夫(Yukio Hatoyama)將試圖說服其他兩國領導人支持他的主張──亞洲需要自己的經濟聯盟。
週六的會議將是對這一計劃的首次重大考驗。鳩山由紀夫的計劃面臨的障礙包括：區內各國相互間的競爭關係以及它們二戰後長達數十年的彼此不信任。
這一提議也是鳩山由紀夫努力調整日本外交政策的重要行動之一。過去的50年，日本幾乎一直由一個與美國關係密切的黨派所統治。鳩山由紀夫的新執政黨日本民主黨認爲，地區聯盟有助於與迅速發展的鄰國深化關係，同時也是日本在經濟滑坡、人口減少之際保持自身影響力的一種途徑。
鳩山由紀夫週六將訪問中國，與中國國務院總理溫家寶和韓國總統李明博(Lee Myung-bak)舉行會晤。三國領導人去年12月曾舉行會晤，一致同意今後將定期召開會議以加強合作。週六的會議將是去年12月以來的首次會晤。日本外務省官員說，週六會議的主要議題之一將是朝鮮。溫家寶上週曾訪問朝鮮，與朝鮮領導人金正日舉行了會晤。
他們要求日本就過去對韓國的所作所爲進行道歉。鳩山由紀夫週五將在首爾停留，首先與李明博會晤。韓國外交人士對鳩山由紀夫承諾不參拜靖國神社的做法表示歡迎。靖國神社中供奉的包括1,000多名二戰戰犯的靈位。自去年就任總統以來，李明博努力緩和與日本的一些民族爭端，他認爲韓日兩國的關係應該“着眼於未來”。
上個月鳩山由紀夫與中國國家主席胡錦濤在紐約會晤後，日本官員說，中國對鳩山由紀夫建立東亞共同體的提議反應冷淡。不過，中國國有媒體也對鳩山由紀夫承諾不參拜靖國神社的做法作出了積極迴應。
本週早些時候，日本外務大臣岡田克也(Katsuya Okada)說，東亞共同體應該包括日本、中國、韓國、印度、澳大利亞和新西蘭，以及東盟國家。他說，這一共同體最初的關注點應該是經濟合作。
據日本外務省的數據顯示，這些國家共佔去年全球經濟產出的23%；相比之下，美國和歐盟分別佔24%和30%。
