日本踢到美國鐵板

郭都人

韓國《朝鮮日報》中文網今天刊載關於日本極右派首相的新聞，全文如下：

安倍否認侵略歷史 遭遇美媒譴責

朝鮮日報 駐華盛頓特派記者 任敏爀(2013.04.2915:20)

美國權威媒體最近紛紛指責日本首相安倍晉三的右傾化言行。日本民主黨政權執政時與日本關係僵化的美國原本期待走親美路線的安倍上台後能為改善美日關係、維護東北亞秩序發揮作用，但這種期待逐漸變成失望。

《華盛頓郵報》當地時間27日在社論中指出：「德國幾十年前已經正視侵略歷史並在歐洲建立了穩固地位，日本承認（史實）為何如此之難？ 」《華盛頓郵報》還指出：「安倍掌權後在經濟和國防等領域採取了具有劃時代意義的措施，但他最近表現出的歷史認識把自己取得的所有進展都推向危險的深淵。韓國和中國對安倍否認‘侵略史’感到憤怒是可以理解的。歷史經常被重新解釋，但日本佔領、侵略中國是無可爭議的事實。 」

《華爾街日報》當天也發表社論稱：「誰發動二戰的問題就像'地球繞太陽公轉'一樣，沒有爭論的必要，只有安倍提出'新的解釋'。國際社會成員很早以前就寬恕了日本在二戰期間的殘忍行徑，但並不代表大家忘記​​了日本當時的過錯。如果安倍繼續發表可恥言論，國際社會將不再有日本這個朋友。」

上文提到的《華盛頓郵報》社論，全文如下：

Shinzo Abe’s inability to face history

By Editorial Board,

Apr 27, 2013 12:34 AM EDT
The Washington Post Published: April 26

FROM THE MOMENT last fall when Shinzo Abe reclaimed the office of Japanese prime minister that he had bungled away five years earlier, one question has stood out: Would he restrain his nationalist impulses — and especially his historical revisionism — to make progress for Japan?

Until this week, the answer to that question was looking positive. Mr. Abe has taken brave steps toward reforming Japan’s moribund economy. He defied powerful interest groups within his party, such as rice farmers, to join free-trade talks with the United States and other Pacific nations that have the potential to spur growth in Japan. He spoke in measured terms of his justifiable desire to increase defense spending.

This week he seemed willing to put all the progress at risk. Asked in parliament whether he would reconsider an official apology that Japan issued in 1995 for its colonization of Korea in the past century, Mr. Abe replied: “The definition of what constitutes aggression has yet to be established in academia or in the international community. Things that happened between nations will look differently depending on which side you view them from.”

Officials in South Korea and China responded with fury, and understandably so. Yes, history is always being reinterpreted. But there are such things as facts. Japan occupied Korea. It occupied Manchuria and then the rest of China. It invaded Malaya. It committed aggression. Why, decades after Germany solidified its place in Europe by facing history honestly, are facts so difficult for some in Japan to acknowledge?

We understand that South Korea and, to an even greater extent, China at times stoke anti-Japan sentiment for domestic political purposes. China distorts its own history and, unlike Japan, in many cases does not allow conflicting interpretations to be debated or studied. But none of that excuses the kind of self-destructive revisionism into which Mr. Abe lapsed this week.

An inability to face history will prejudice the more reasonable goals to which South Korea and China also object. Mr. Abe has valid reasons, given the defense spending and assertive behavior of China and North Korea, to favor modernization of Japan’s defense forces. He has good reason to question whether Japan’s “self-defense” constitution, imposed by U.S. occupiers after World War II, allows the nation to come to the aid of its allies in sufficient strength. But his ability to promote reform at home, where many voters remain skeptical, and to reassure suspicious neighbors plummets when he appears to entertain nostalgia for prewar empire.

上文提到的《華爾街日報》社論，全文如下：

Japan's Prime Minister reinterprets the history of World War II.

Who started World War II? We thought that one belonged to the Department of Settled Questions, along with any lingering doubts about whether the Earth orbits the sun. But Japan's Shinzo Abe has a fresh, er, interpretation.

"The definition of what constitutes an 'invasion' has yet to be established in academia or in the international community," the Prime Minister told the Japanese Diet Tuesday. "Things that happened between nations will look different depending on which side you view them from."

Mr. Abe's foray into historical relativism will come as news to survivors of Pearl Harbor, the Bataan Death March or the Rape of Nanjing. Much of the world long ago forgave Japan its wartime atrocities. But it hasn't forgotten them.

Meantime, the Prime Minister's remarks come as the Korean crisis isn't over, and as China tests Japan over its possession of the Senkaku islands (Diaoyu to the Chinese). Japan is a democracy and an ally, but Mr. Abe's disgraceful remark will make his country no more friends abroad.

首先，要注意的是，《華盛頓郵報》是鐵桿美國民族主義的大報。這本來未可非議。但是，該報的東主似乎經常讓民族主義情緒沖昏了頭腦，往往誤判美國的利益所在，特別是對日本的劣質文化、歷史前科缺乏最起碼的警惕，以至弄出大笑話。

例如，若干年前，當中國大陸每年的經濟增長率開始持續超​​日的時候，該報即有專欄作家白紙黑字，煞有介事宣稱：無論兩者的經濟增長率差距大小，中國經濟永遠趕不上日本，云云。

任何人只要上過幾小時初等微積分的課程，都可以看出該專欄作家要么欠缺高中程度的數學素養，要么為了親日宣傳，不顧最基本的數學原理。非常不幸，該專欄作家不但不更正謬說，也不向無辜受誤導的讀者道歉，反而執迷不悟，繼續吹捧日本，面不改容。

曾幾何時，世間深信他的「無論兩者的經濟增長率差距大小，中國經濟永遠趕不上日本」胡謅而不疑的美國讀者總數似乎漸近於零。當然，美國總體數學水平也在消沉，今天不見得有許多讀者能夠立刻看穿他的謬誤。但是，形勢比人強，目前不需要什麼經濟學、數學的知識，除了一名章姓預言家之外，恐怕誰也沒有膽量下注打賭：日本經濟能夠翻身，趕上中國大陸。

上述專欄作家當然也不在例外之列。但是，他的親日「情意綜」至今未泯，而蔑視中國大陸、吹捧日本的習慣，格於無情的數字，已經轉移到一面倒支持日本，特別是涉釣侵略行徑。可以相信，上述社論的語氣、措辭都是該專欄作家的惡劣影響的體現。實例很多，不勝枚舉。

至於《華爾街日報》的社論，韓國專文作者任敏爀對其最後一句的理解也是錯​​誤的。原文說：安倍的可恥言論並不能為日本帶來任何新的外國朋友，而專文作者卻譯作：如果安倍繼續發表可恥言論，國際社會將不再有日本這個朋友。兩者相差太遠，不可忽視。

但是，更重要的是，安倍晉三已經踢到美國鐵板。美國主流報刊對他不敢信任，他早晚必在外國壓力之下下台，可以斷言。

作 者 是 旅 居 北 美 的 業 餘 文 化 工 作 者

圖一，韓國民眾示威，燒毀安倍晉三肖像