【中文标题】日本地震：中国搁置争端，提供帮助
【原文标题】Japan quake: China sets aside disputes, offers help
【登载媒体】华盛顿邮报
【原文作者】Keith B. Richburg
【原文链接】http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/03/12/AR2011031205170.html
摧毁日本北部的地震和海啸或许可以暂时缓解日本与中国的紧张关系，让这两个亚洲的对手暂时忘掉悬而未决的领土、经济、军事和历史争端。
灾难的消息在星期五传来，中国领导人立即表示慰问并提供帮助。中国自身也刚刚遭受了地震的伤害，一场5.8级的地震在星期四袭击了西南部省份云南。中国官方立即让一支救援队待命，在需要时，随时可以派往日本。
中国国防部长梁光烈致电日本防务大臣北泽俊美，表示愿意提供军用物资。中国红十字会承诺提供100万元人民币的援助，折合大约15.2万美元。中国总理温家宝在星期五与日本首相菅直人在电话中交谈，温表达了慰问和哀悼，并愿意提供帮助。
中国对悲痛的亚洲邻居表达出的同情和团结的态度，与半年前过激的官方表态形成了鲜明的对比。我们在以前只看到了喧嚣的反日情绪、取消部长级会晤、取消旅行团等行为。
地震之后，在以前经常被用来激发反日情绪的官方社论，一反常态地讨论中国人的哀悼，以及中国可以从日本迅速、有序的反应中学到什么。
国有新闻机构新华社在星期六发表了一篇未署名的评论文章，回忆2008年四川地震时日本如何帮助中国，日本人排队捐款，以及日本救援队帮助搜寻受害者。
文章说：“两国人民都具有以德报恩的美德。”
这两个亚洲超级势力之间的关系长期以来一直处于紧张状态。到了9月份，双方关系达到最低谷，引发事件是一艘中国拖网渔船与日本海岸巡逻舰相撞，地点位于一个有争议的群岛附近，该地区现由日本管辖。
日本短暂扣押了渔船的船长，并威胁将其送上法庭，中国给予的回应是停止向日本出口用于高科技产业的关键稀土类金属。这一行为被广泛理解为北京已经着手进行的封港令，日本、美国和其它国家不得不急忙寻找中国稀土的替代品。
在去年渔船事件闹得沸沸扬扬的时候，《环球时报》发表了一系列煽动性的文章，呼吁惩罚日本。这家报纸的上级单位是共产党的喉舌《人民日报》，它的文章经常会表露党内的路线。
9月份的一篇文章中说：“现在我们应当严肃地对待日本。很明显，中国在今后较长一段时间里不得不持续与日本发生冲突，仅仅强调双方友好邻邦的关系是不明智的做法。”
日本也非常关注中国不断增长的军费支出，北京的共产党高层在这个月宣布，2011年的国防预算将增长12.7％。中国不断增长的经济影响力会让北京在亚洲地区的领土问题上摆出更加强硬的姿态。
中国认为日本对于其军队在二战期间的暴行从未有过真正的忏悔。
自从1980年以来，日本一直在向中国提供经济援助，以帮助中国摆脱贫困。但是目前，官方数据显示中国国民生产总值已经超过日本，因此一些日本人表示不需要再提供援助了。这个问题又戳到了两个国家的痛处。
原文：
BEIJING - The earthquake and tsunami that devastated northern Japan may help temporarily ease Japan's strained relations with China, allowing the Asian rivals for the moment to look past lingering territorial, economic, military and historical disputes.
When news of the disaster spread Friday, Chinese leaders quickly offered condolences and support. China is also earthquake-prone - a deadly 5.8-magnitude tremor hit southwestern Yunnan province Thursday - and officials here immediately put a rescue team in place to dispatch to Japan if needed.
The Chinese defense minister, Liang Guanglie, called his Japanese counterpart, Toshimi Kitazawa, to offer military assets. The Red Cross Society of China pledged 1 million yuan, or about $152,000, to help Japan. Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao also had a telephone conversation Friday with Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan and offered China's condolences and help.
China's show of sympathy and solidarity toward an Asian neighbor in distress stands in sharp contrast with the heated rhetoric of the past half-year, which saw noisy anti-Japanese demonstrations and the canceling of some ministry-level exchanges and tour groups.
After the earthquake, officially sanctioned editorials - which are regularly used to whip up anti-Japanese sentiment - were instead talking about shared pain and what China can learn from Japan's rapid and orderly response to the disaster.
An unsigned commentary Saturday from Xinhua, the official state-run news agency, recalled how Japan assisted China after a deadly earthquake in Sichuan province in 2008, with Japanese lining up to make donations and a Japanese rescue team helping recover victims.
"The virtue of returning the favor after receiving one runs in the bloods of both nations," the commentary said.
Relations between the two Asian powers have long been strained but reached a new low in September, when a Chinese fishing trawler collided with two Japanese coast guard vessels around a small chain of disputed, Japanese-administered islands.
Japan briefly detained the Chinese trawler's captain and threatened to put him on trial, and China responded by blocking its exports to Japan of crucial rare earth metals used in the high-tech industry. The block on rare earth metals was widely interpreted as a de facto trade embargo imposed by Beijing, prompting Japan, the United States and other countries to scramble for alternatives to China's rare earth metals.
At the height of the fishing trawler incident last year, the Global Times newspaper - owned by the Communist Party's main mouthpiece, People's Daily, and typically giving voice to the party line - wrote a series of increasingly vitriolic editorials calling for Japan to be punished.
"Now is the time to seriously examine Japan," one typical September editorial said. "It should be apparent by now that China will be forced to endure long-term conflicts with Japan, and emphasizing only friendly relations is not prudent."
Japan has also been concerned about China's growing military spending, with Beijing's Communist rulers this month announcing a 12.7 percent increase in the defense budget for 2011. And China's growing economic clout has led to fears that Beijing is becoming increasingly assertive in pressing its territorial claims in the region.
China feels that Japan has never shown sufficient contrition for atrocities committed by the Imperial Army during World War II.
Since 1980, Japan has provided financial aid to China to help alleviate poverty. But now that official figures show that China has a larger gross domestic product than Japan, some Japanese have said the aid is no longer needed - creating another potential sore point between the two countries. |
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发表于 2011-3-14 10:43
发表于 2011-3-16 00:11
