安倍晋三决定不出席中国阅兵式
Japan's prime minister has rebuffed China's invitation to a military parade marking the end of the second world war in a setback to relations between East Asia's two largest economies.
日本首相安倍晋三拒绝了中国的邀请，不出席纪念二战结束70周年的阅兵式。此举标志着东亚最大的两个经济体之间的关系遭遇挫折。"Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will not attend the ceremony," Yoshihide Suga, chief cabinet secretary, said on Monday. "The decision is based on the situation in we have communicated this to the Chinese."
周一，日本内阁官房长官菅义伟表示："安倍晋三首相不会出席这一仪式。这一决定是基于国会的情况作出的……我们已向中方传达了这一决定。"The Japanese prime minister's decision to skip the ceremony suggests that he is wary of being humiliated at a celebration of Japan's defeat 70 years ago, outweighing the opportunity to improve neighbourly ties.
安倍决定不出席这一仪式，说明他担心会在这个庆祝70年前日本战败的仪式上受到羞辱，宁可放弃与邻国改善关系的机遇。
There has been a thaw in relations between Tokyo and Beijing since Mr Abe met Chinese president Xi Jinping last November, but the decision not to attend casts a shadow over that progress.
自去年11月安倍与中国国家主席习近平会晤以来，日中关系已有所解冻，但安倍的上述决定为这一进展蒙上了阴影。Mr Suga said Mr Abe had to stay in Tokyo to deal with security bills passing through parliament. The legislation would reinterpret Japan's pacifist constitution, making it easier for its military to fight in defence of allies.
菅义伟表示，为处理正在国会讨论的安保法案，安倍不得不留在东京。该法案将重新解读日本的和平宪法，减少日本军队为保护盟国而作战的障碍。Deciding whether to attend the Chinese parade has caused heartache for many national leaders, who have no wish to rebuff the rising superpower, but worry about becoming props in a display of military might.
对许多国家的领导人来说，决定是否出席中国的阅兵式是个令人头疼的问题。这些领导人不想冷落这个崛起中的超级大国，但又担心这么做会变成为一场军力展示站台。Last week, South Korean president Park Geun-hye opted to attend, joining the leaders of the Czech Republic, Russia, Egypt, Serbia, Mongolia and four central Asian nations.
上周，韩国总统朴槿惠决定与捷克、俄罗斯、埃及、塞尔维亚、蒙古及中亚四国领导人一道出席中方的庆典。Mr Abe is eager for a summit meeting with Mr Xi, and Japanese officials had considered whether he could skip the military parade but still attend other parts of the ceremony.
安倍渴望与习近平举行峰会，日本官员也曾考虑过安倍能否不出席阅兵式、但仍出席庆典的其他活动。Hopes of a meeting between the two leaders were raised after China and South Korea gave a subdued response to Mr Abe's statement on the 70th anniversary of the end of the war last week.
上周，安倍发表了纪念二战结束70周年的讲话，中韩两国对该讲话的回应都比较克制，这点燃了日中两国领导人举行会晤的希望。The decision to stay away thwarts Mr Abe's quest for a high profile China summit. Attending the parade might have facilitated meetings with Russia's Vladimir Putin and Ms Park of Korea on the sidelines.
但安倍的上述决定对他寻求日中举行高调峰会的努力构成了障碍。出席此次阅兵式本可为他在活动间隙会晤俄总统弗拉基米尔·普京和韩国总统朴槿惠提供便利。Instead, Mr Abe must now rely on occasions such as next's months meeting of the United Nations General Assembly in New York to meet his most important counterparts and advance his diplomatic agenda.
如今，要想和习近平这个最重要的对手会晤、推进自己的外交议程，安倍必须仰仗下月纽约联合国大会会议等场合。"As before with China, we'll continue to seek opportunities for frank discussion between the two leaders using occasions such as international meetings," said Mr Suga.
菅义伟表示："像以往与中方的交流一样，我们会继续利用国际会议等场合，寻找机会促成两位领导人间的坦率对话。"The prospects of Mr Putin visiting Japan this year — a meeting eagerly sought by Mr Abe — suffered a blow over the weekend when Russia's prime minister, Dmitry Medvedev, visited one of the disputed Kuril islands.
上周末，俄总理德米特里·梅德韦杰夫访问了有争议的千岛群岛中的一个岛屿，此举令普京今年访日的可能性大大降低。安倍一直渴望与普京展开会晤。
