冲绳敦促日本政府缓和与中国的紧张关系
The governor of the southern Japanese island of Okinawa is urging Japan to focus more on peaceful diplomacy with China instead of on military deterrence
日本南部冲绳岛知事敦促日本更多地关注与中国的和平外交，而不是军事威慑。
TOKYO -- Japan should focus more on peaceful diplomacy with China instead of on military deterrence as tensions rise around Chinese-claimed Taiwan, the governor of the nearby southern Japanese island of Okinawa said Friday. He also urged that the burden on Okinawa of hosting a majority of the American troops in Japan be reduced.
东京——日本南部冲绳岛知事周五表示，随着台湾（省）——中国宣称对其拥有主权——周边紧张局势加剧，日本应该更多地关注与中国的和平外交，而不是军事威慑。他还敦促日本政府减少冲绳的负担，这里驻扎了大部分驻日美军。
“We are strongly alarmed,” Okinawa Gov. Denny Tamaki said of discussions in parliament about the possibility of a security emergency involving Taiwan, and concerns that Okinawa, 600 kilometers (370 miles) away, could become embroiled in it.
“我们非常担忧”，冲绳县知事Denny Tamaki在县议会参加关于台湾可能出现安全紧急情况的讨论时说，他担心600公里(370英里)外的冲绳可能会卷入其中。
Tamaki was speaking online from the prefectural capital of Naha ahead of the 50th anniversary of Okinawa's return to Japan on May 15, 1972, 20 years after most of Japan regained independence from the U.S. occupation following World War II.
Tamaki是在冲绳交还日本50周年纪念日前夕在县府那霸市发表上述言论的。冲绳是1972年5月15日交还日本的，那是日本大部分地区从在二战后的美国占领下重新获得独立的20年后。
There is concern in Okinawa, with its continuing heavy U.S. military presence, over rising tensions resulting from China’s increasingly assertive military actions in the region and its rivalry with the United States. There is also worry that the Russian invasion of Ukraine might embolden Beijing.
由于美国在冲绳岛的持续大量军事存在，冲绳对中国在该地区日益强硬的军事行动，以及中国与美国的竞争导致的紧张局势感到担忧。还有人担心，俄罗斯入侵乌克兰可能会给中国壮胆。
China claims independently governed Taiwan as its own territory, and controlling the island is a key component of Beijing’s political and military thinking. In October, Chinese leader reiterated that “reunification of the nation must be realized, and will definitely be realized.”
中国声称台湾（省）是自己的领土，收复台湾（省）是中国政治和军事思想的一个关键组成部分。去年10月，中国重申“国家统一必须实现，也一定会实现。”
In what Beijing calls a warning to advocates of Taiwanese independence and their foreign allies, China has been staging threatening military exercises and flying fighter planes near Taiwan’s airspace, including on Feb. 24, the day Russia began its invasion of Ukraine.
中国一直在靠近台湾（省）的空域进行威胁性军事演习和飞行战斗机，中国称之为对提倡台独者及其外国盟友的警告，包括2月24日，俄罗斯在那天开始入侵乌克兰。
“Any escalation of problems over the Taiwan Strait and the contingency of Okinawa being a target of attack must never happen or be allowed to happen,” Tamaki said.
“台湾海峡问题的任何升级，以及冲绳成为攻击目标的可能性，都绝不能发生或允许发生。”Tamaki 说。
The ongoing tension has rekindled fears among Okinawans that they may be sacrificed again by mainland Japan, as in the Battle of Okinawa that killed some 200,000 people, half of them civilians, near the end of World War II.
持续的紧张局势重新点燃了冲绳人的恐惧，他们担心自己可能会再次被日本本土所牺牲，就像在第二次世界大战接近尾声的冲绳岛战役中，约20万人丧生，其中一半是平民。
Japan views China’s military rise as a regional threat and has been shifting its troops to defend southwestern islands including Okinawa and its outer islands, deploying missile defense systems and other facilities, and increasing joint drills with the U.S. military and other regional partners.
日本将中国的军事崛起视为地区威胁，一直在将军队转移到包括冲绳岛及其外岛在内的西南岛屿，部署导弹防御系统和其他设施，并增加与美国和其他地区伙伴的联合演习。
On Friday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian said Japan “has been taking advantage of diplomatic activities to make an issue of China, play up regional tensions and hype the so-called China threat," and that Tokyo is “looking for excuses for its military expansion.”
周五，中国外交部发言人赵立坚表示，日本“一直利用外交活动给中国制造问题，渲染地区紧张局势，炒作所谓的中国威胁”，东京是在“为其军事扩张寻找借口”。
The U.S. has consistently expressed support for ensuring that Taiwan can defend itself, and Chinese military action against the island in the short- to medium-term is generally considered a remote possibility.
美国一直表示支持确保台湾（省）方面能够自我防卫，而通常认为，中国大陆在中短期内对台湾（省）采取军事行动的可能性很小。
Noting that China is Japan's biggest trading partner and that Japan is China's second largest, Tamaki said their close economic ties are indispensable.
Tamaki说，中国是日本最大的贸易伙伴，日本是中国的第二大贸易伙伴，两国密切的经济关系是不可或缺的。
“I call for the Japanese government to always maintain calm and peaceful diplomacy and dialogue to improve its relations with China, while working toward easing U.S.-China tension,” he said.
他说:“我呼吁日本政府始终保持冷静和和平的外交与对话，以改善与中国的关系，同时努力缓解美中紧张关系。”
Okinawa at the time of its reversion asked Japan to make it a peaceful island free of military bases. Today, it still hosts a majority of the approximately 50,000 U.S. troops and their military facilities in Japan, and Tamaki said that burden should be shared by all of Japan.
冲绳在归还日本时，曾要求日本把它变成一个没有军事基地的和平岛屿。今天，5万名驻日美军及其军事设施中的大部分依然在冲绳， Tamaki说，这一负担应该由全日本来分担。
Because of the U.S. bases, Okinawa faces noise, pollution, aircraft accidents and crime related to American troops on a daily basis, Tamaki said.
Tamaki说，由于美军基地的存在，冲绳每天都面临着与美军有关的噪音、污染、飞机事故和犯罪。
"That excessive U.S. base burden is still unresolved 50 years after the reversion,” he said. "Okinawa's burden of the U.S. military bases is a key diplomatic and security issue that concerns all Japanese people.”
“美国基地设施的过度负担在归还50年后仍未得到解决，”他说。“美军基地对冲绳的负担是一个关键的外交和安全问题，关系到所有日本人。”
The biggest sticking point between Okinawa and Tokyo is the central government’s insistence that a U.S. Marine base in a crowded neighborhood, Futenma air station, be relocated within Okinawa instead of moving it elsewhere as demanded by many Okinawan people.
冲绳和东京之间最大的症结在于，这个中央政府坚持要求位于人口密集地区的普天间机场的美国海军基地搬迁到冲绳境内，而不是按照许多冲绳人的要求搬迁到其他地方。
While development projects over the past five decades have helped Okinawa's economy, the average Okinawan's income remains the lowest among Japan's 47 prefectures, Tamaki said.
Tamaki说，尽管过去50年的发展项目对冲绳的经济有所帮助，但冲绳人的平均收入在日本47个县中仍然最低。
If land taken by the U.S. military is returned to the prefecture for other use, it would produce three times as much income for Okinawa, Tamaki said.
Tamaki说，如果美军征用的土地被归还给冲绳县作其他用途，将为冲绳县带来三倍的收入。
