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.
日本首相安倍晋三(Shinzo Abe)昨日对珍珠港进行的具有高度象征意义的访问被誉为日美紧密关系的体现。半年前巴拉克.奥巴马(Barack Obama)对广岛作了历史性访问。
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，在日本和美国领导人准备纪念在1941年珍珠港突袭中丧生的2403名美国人（那次袭击使美国卷入第二次世界大战）之际，一些不确定性给这一伙伴关系带来阴云。
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.
美国当选总统唐纳德.特朗普(Donald Trump)在竞选过程中发表的言论，令人怀疑他对美国战后联盟的诚意。他抱怨美国军事支持的成本，并誓言撕毁安倍和奥巴马倡导的《跨太平洋伙伴关系协定》(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月拜访了特朗普，寻求弄明后者的意图，他在会晤结束后宣布特朗普是一个“值得信赖的领导人”。
“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.”
“当今是美日同盟空前强大的时代，”达特茅斯学院(Dartmouth College)政府系教授詹妮弗.林德(Jennifer Lind)表示。“最大问题是特朗普的亚洲政策和特朗普的中国政策。我不认为我们知道。从他的竞选言论看，他似乎并不看重美国在亚洲主导的秩序。”
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.
根据日程安排，昨日安倍晋三将成为首位访问美国海军亚利桑那号战列舰纪念馆(USS Arizona Memorial)的日本领导人；这个纪念馆于1961年建成。在珍珠港袭击中，这艘战舰上的1400名水兵中有1177人丧生。外界起初认为，安倍将是首位访问珍珠港的日本首相，但历史记录显示，前首相吉田茂(Shigeru Yoshida)曾在1951年以私人身份访问了珍珠港。
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，安倍将成为自民族主义在日本卷土重来、使该国国内对于悔恨和罪责的任何表达都变得有争议以来首位访问珍珠港的领导人。这是安倍驱散日本二战历史魅影、加强美日同盟和“展望未来”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.
他去年在向美国国会发表的反响不错的演讲中提到了珍珠港，并在没有对邻国造成新的冒犯的情况下发表了纪念二战结束70周年的声明。今年5月，他陪同奥巴马访问广岛第一次原子弹轰炸的遗址，其间美国总统表示，核武国家应该为实现一个没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.
安倍很可能将是奥巴马卸任前最后一位与他举行双边会晤的外国领导人。然而，他的访问既是为了夯实与奥巴马的关系，也是为了向即将上台的特朗普政府表明观点。
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.
特朗普长期对日本持怀疑态度，他在这方面的记录可以追溯到上世纪80年代美日贸易争端期间。他还一再呼吁东京方面加大国防支出，以减轻美国的负担。在竞选期间，他曾暗示他愿意降级美日同盟。
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，鉴于特朗普也承诺在经济和安全问题上对中国采取更加强硬的立场，他可能发现安倍领导的日本会是一个至关重要的盟友。
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.
日本不仅在美国在亚洲的军事存在中处于核心地位，而且在美国的其他一些亚洲盟友出现问题之际，该国正在推动与美国建立更紧密关系。这些问题包括菲律宾总统罗德里戈.杜特尔特(Rodrigo Duterte)对美国找茬，以及韩国陷入政治动荡。与此同时，中国正在东中国海和南中国海摆出更加咄咄逼人的姿态。
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.
美国外交关系协会(Council on Foreign Relations)从事日本研究的高级研究员希拉.史密斯(Sheila Smith)说，相比竞选言论，特朗普已经弱化了他对美日关系的评论调门，而特朗普任命的关键外交政策官员很可能会重视强大的联盟。
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.
安倍在夏威夷期间不会为珍珠港袭击事件道歉，这与他过去关于战争的陈述一致。这位日本首相已经发展出一个套路：他经常谈到他对战时事件的悲伤和痛心，但不作具体道歉。