日美签署最新防卫合作指针

The US and Japan signed a new set of defence agreements yesterday that allow for greater co-operation between their military forces at a time of rising Chinese influence in Asia.

美国和日本昨日签署了一套新的防务协议，使两国军队在中国在亚洲的影响力不断加大之际能够加强合作。

Part of a broader push by Japan to shed some of the restrictions of its postwar formal pacifism, the new guidelines would allow the US and Japanese militaries to work more closely together in the event of a conflict in the East China Sea or in North Korea.

新的《日美防卫合作指针》(Guidelines for Japan-U.S. Defense Cooperation)是日本整体努力的一部分，目的是摆脱战后正式和平主义的某些约束。新《指针》将让美日两军在东中国海或朝鲜发生冲突的情况下更紧密地合作。

For the Obama administration, the improved defence ties with Japan are an important part of its “pivot” to Asia which has also seen the US expand military co-operation with allies such as Australia and the Philippines and former enemies such as Vietnam.

对奥巴马(Obama)政府来说，与日本改善防务关系是美国重返亚洲的重要组成部分。在这一战略的指引下，美国还与澳大利亚和菲律宾等传统盟友、以及越南等昔日敌人扩大了军事合作。

While the administration insists that its approach to the region does not represent an effort to contain China, the thread that ties together all these different initiatives is the growing anxiety across Asia about how to deal with a more powerful China.

虽然奥巴马政府坚称，其在亚太地区的姿态并不代表遏制中国的努力，但是，把所有这些举措串接起来的主线，正是亚洲各国在如何与更强大的中国打交道的问题上愈演愈烈的焦虑。

The new guidelines were released at the start of an official visit to the US by Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe.

新《指针》是在日本首相安倍晋三(Shinzo Abe)开始对美国展开正式访问之际发布的。

The focal point of his week-long trip will be a speech to both houses of Congress tomorrow, the first by a Japanese premier, where every word from the conservative nationalist Mr Abe about Japan’s behaviour in the second world war will be closely parsed, especially by China and South Korea. He will also meet President Barack Obama at the White House today, when they are likely to present an upbeat outlook for prospects for the Trans-Pacific Partnership, the 12-country trade agreement that is reaching a crunch point in negotiations.

在安倍为期一周的访美行程中，焦点将是明日他在美国国会参众两院联席会议上发表的演讲，这将是日本首相首次获得这样的礼遇。身为保守的民族主义者，安倍在提到日本在第二次世界大战中的行为时，所说的每一个字都将受到仔细分析，尤其是受到中国和韩国的仔细分析。今日他将在白宫会晤美国总统巴拉克•奥巴马(Barack Obama)，届时两人很可能对《跨太平洋伙伴关系》（Trans-Pacific Partnership，简称TPP）的前景发表乐观看法。TPP是12个国家之间的贸易协定，目前谈判正处于关键阶段。

Jim Schoff, a former Pentagon official and Japan specialist at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, in Washington DC, said the new defence guidelines would be the most lasting legacy of Mr Abe’s trip to the US, despite the focus on the way he addresses historical issues in his speech to Congress.

前五角大楼官员、目前是华盛顿卡内基国际和平基金会(Carnegie Endowment for International Peace)日本问题专家的吉姆•肖夫(Jim Schoff)表示，新《指针》将是安倍此次访美之行最持久的成果，尽管目前各方关注的焦点在于他在美国国会发表的演讲中如何面对历史问题。

“This could be a major change in how the alliance functions,” Mr Schoff said. “The US is hoping to get Japan more deeply involved in international missions and Japan wants to bolster alliance integration as a way of increasing deterrence against China.”

“这可能代表着（美日）同盟的功能发生重大变化，”肖夫表示，“美国希望让日本更深入地参与国际行动，而日本希望加强同盟一体化，作为加大对中国威慑的一种方式。”

The main thrust of the new defence guidelines, which call for “seamless and robust” responses to events in the Asia-Pacific, is to allow for significantly increased co-operation between American and Japanese forces which had been limited by Japan’s own self-defence doctrines.

新《指针》呼吁对亚太地区的事件做出“无缝和有力的”回应。其主旨是让美日两军大幅加强合作，此前这种合作受到日本自卫原则的限制。

A high priority will be planning for how to respond to incidents involving their navies in the East China Sea, where Japan and China have a territorial dispute, but also to work more closely together on intelligence, humanitarian relief, missile defence and in cyber and space. The two countries’ militaries will establish a permanent co-ordinating mechanism to respond to crises.

优先任务将是规划如何应对在东中国海（日中两国在东中国海有领土争端）发生的涉及美日海军的事件，并在情报、人道主义救援、导弹防御乃至网络和太空等领域展开更紧密合作。美日两国军队将建立一个永久性的协调机制，以应对危机。

The US and Japan established defence guidelines in 1978, at the height of the Cold War, and in 1997, when China’s military build-up was still in its infancy. The new guidelines are the first to reflect China’s greater military heft and push for influence in the region.

美国和日本在1978年订立《日美防卫合作指针》，当时正是冷战高峰时期。两国在1997年曾经更新《指针》，当时中国的军备建设仍处于起步阶段。最新版《指针》首次反映了中国更强大的军事实力和争取地区影响力的努力。

The statement from the two governments reaffirms that the US believes the Senkaku Islands, which are claimed by both Japan and China (which calls them the Diaoyu), are covered by the US-Japan security treaty.

美日两国政府在声明中重申，美国认为尖阁诸岛(Senkaku Islands)——日本和中国都声称拥有其主权，中国称其为钓鱼岛及其附属岛屿——适用《美日安保条约》(US-Japan security treaty)。

It also notes the already stepped-up US military presence at bases in Japan, including the deployment of Global Hawk drones, P-8 Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft and ships equipped with the Aegis missile defence system.

声明还指出，美军已经在驻日基地加强军事存在，包括部署全球鹰(Global Hawk)无人机、P-8海神(Poseidon)海上巡逻机、以及配备宙斯盾导弹防御系统(Aegis missile defence system)的军舰。