崔天凯大使在《华盛顿邮报》上的撰文：危险的顶礼膜拜（中英对照）

Dangerous tribute

危险的顶礼膜拜

By Cui Tiankai

崔天凯

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s recent homage at the Yasukuni war shrine deeply disturbed people in China and much of Asia. The dispute surrounding his actions is about more than symbolism; it goes to the heart of his intentions for Japan’s future and his willingness to build an atmosphere of trust, respect and equality in East Asia.

日本首相安倍晋三最近悍然参拜靖国神社，严重伤害了中国和很多亚洲国家人民的感情。他的参拜行为不仅具有象征意义，更从根本上暴露了他对日本未来发展方向的想法，反映出他是否真心愿意在东亚建立一种相互信任、尊重和平等的氛围。

Fourteen Class A war criminals who were tried by the International Military Tribunal for the Far East after World War II are honored at Yasukuni. These include former prime minister Hideki Tojo, who launched the attack on Pearl Harbor and started the war in the Pacific that cost millions of lives, and commanders of the Nanking massacre in China in which some 300,000 people were killed. But this is just part of the story.

靖国神社里供奉着14名二战后远东国际军事法庭宣判的甲级战犯。其中包括发动了对珍珠港的袭击及造成数百万人死亡的太平洋战争的日本前首相东条英机，也包括造成约30万人遇害的南京大屠杀的日本指挥官。这些仅仅是二战期间日本滔天罪行的一部分。

The recent homage cannot be separated from the prime minister’s denial of Japan’s wartime atrocities, and it colors his initiative to revise Japan’s constitution to transform its Self-Defense Forces into a military force capable of projecting power outside Japan. This aggressive posture imperils regional security and economic prosperity. By contrast, Japan’s acceptance of and repentance for its war crimes would build a foundation for peace and security in the world’s most economically dynamic region.

安倍的参拜行径同他一贯否认日本的战争罪行是分不开的。安倍一直推动修改日本宪法，把自卫队改造为可对外投放力量的正规军队。他的参拜令人不得不质疑他修宪的意图。这一攻击性的姿态对地区安全和经济繁荣构成威胁。日本只有承认战争罪行并痛改前非，才能为全球最具经济活力的地区打下和平与安全的基础。

The Yasukuni war shrine is ground zero for the unrepentant view of Japan’s wartime aggression. Established in the 19th century to honor Japan’s war dead, the shrine imparted a spiritual dimension to Japanese militarism and colonial rule during World War II and became a revered living symbol of that militarism. The shrine includes a war museum, Yushukan, whose deliberately revisionist narrative of World War II lauds “Japan’s salvage of Asian countries from the colonial rule of Western countries” and details “crimes committed by the United States.”

日本对侵略战争拒不悔改的历史观源于靖国神社。为了供奉战争亡灵，日本于19世纪建立了靖国神社。二战期间，靖国神社是日本推行军国主义和殖民统治的精神工具，成为一个受到顶礼膜拜的军国主义象征。靖国神社里的游就馆对二战历史进行了蓄意歪曲，如宣扬日本把其他亚洲国家从西方殖民统治下解救出来，称记录了美国对日本犯下的罪行等。

The Japanese government’s attitude toward this shrine is a test of its ability to understand and confront its legacy of militarism and war crimes. Because Abe is prime minister, his homage has implications inside and outside Japan. It is by no means the act of a private individual.

日本政府对待靖国神社的态度是对其如何对待军国主义遗毒和战争罪行的检验。作为首相，安倍的参拜在日本国内外都会产生影响。这绝不能被解释成他的个人行为。

As China’s ambassador to Japan from 2007 to 2009, I witnessed many of the ups and downs of Japan’s relations with its neighbors. I also saw how the homage at Yasukuni by then-Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi created tensions with China. Abe was the chief cabinet secretary in the Koizumi administration, and at one time he appeared to understand the consequences of such visits. He refrained from visiting the shrine during his first term as prime minister, which opened the door to improving Japan’s historically strained relations with its neighbors. Unfortunately, he now says he extremely regrets that decision, and his recent actions have closed the door to dialogue.

我于2007年至2009年担任中国驻日本大使，见证了日本与邻国关系的许多波折。此前，日本首相小泉纯一郎参拜靖国神社使中日关系十分紧张。安倍曾任小泉内阁的官房长官，一度似乎认识到了参拜的后果。安倍在上次担任首相期间未参拜靖国神社，从而为改善同邻国关系打开了大门。不幸的是，他后来为这一决定“痛恨至极”，而他最近的行为已经关闭了与邻国对话的大门。

My country’s government believes that Abe’s actions since returning to power undermine his stated aim to increase Japan’s engagement in safeguarding world peace. His government’s efforts to accelerate Japan’s military buildup and his initiative to rewrite Japan’s largely U.S.-drafted pacifist constitution are disconcerting, particularly in the context of his assertions, when talking about World War II, that the term “aggression” has yet to be defined and that no evidence exists proving that “comfort women” were forced into sexual servitude during the war.

安倍自从再次担任首相以来的所作所为，与他所说的推动日本为维护世界和平多作贡献背道而驰。安倍内阁正试图加快日本军备建设，并企图修改由美国起草的和平宪法，这些都值得警惕。安倍本人还发表了一系列错误言论，如宣称“侵略定义未定”、没有证据表明“慰安妇”是被强迫的等等。参拜靖国神社体现了他这些行为的思想基础和错误史观，也使日本无法取得邻国的信任。

The prime minister has said that his changes to Japan’s constitutional military posture would only make Japan a “normal country.” Is he suggesting that the peaceful path Japan has followed is not normal? We see the homage at Yasukuni as nothing less than a challenge — not only to us but to the world. Japanese militarism brought great suffering to the Chinese people as well as the people of many other countries, including the United States, which was forced to fight a grueling island-by-island campaign against an intractable and fanatical enemy.

安倍希望通过修宪把自卫队变成正规军，从而使日本成为所谓“正常国家”。难道在他看来，日本战后所走的和平道路是不正常的？参拜靖国神社无疑是对日本邻国，乃至全世界的一大挑衅。日本军国主义给中国人民，以及包括美国在内的许多国家人民带来过深重灾难。美国当年被迫同顽固和疯狂的敌人进行过激烈的逐岛争夺战。

Of course, the Japanese people were also victims of Japanese militarism, and today’s generation is not responsible for the crimes of the war criminals memorialized in Yasukuni. But the prime minister and his supporters implicitly embrace that responsibility for themselves and their fellow countrymen by paying homage at the shrine.

毫无疑问，日本人民也是日本军国主义的受害者，今天的这代人不应对靖国神社里供奉的战犯的罪行负责。但安倍首相及其支持者参拜靖国神社等于把战争责任揽到自己和日本人民身上。

Japan can embrace a constructive and cooperative future for East Asia by discarding militarism. Ensuring the continued peace and prosperity of our part of the world is in the best interest of all people and countries in this region. Abe is threatening the hard work we have all done to make East Asia the growth engine of the global economy. By listening to their neighbors and abandoning confrontational rhetoric, Japanese leaders can join with China, the United States, the Republic of Korea and other countries to continue to build prosperity and stability for all of Asia. The alternative is simply untenable.

日本完全可以摒弃军国主义，与地区国家共建东亚合作的美好未来。确保地区持久和平与繁荣最符合地区国家和人民的利益。我们通过自己的辛勤努力，把本地区打造成了全球经济增长引擎，而安倍正在破坏我们的努力。日本领导人如能倾听邻国的声音，放弃挑衅言行，就可以同中国、美国、韩国及其他各国携手，继续致力于亚洲繁荣和稳定，其他的任何选择都是行不通的。