日本首次向聯合國維和部隊供應軍火

Japan is to supply arms to UN peacekeepers for the first time, marking another step in its increasingly assertive foreign policy under Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

日本將首次向聯合國維和部隊供應軍火，此舉標誌着安倍晉三(Shinzo Abe)首相主政的日本在外交政策上越來越自信。

Under the plan, approved on Monday by the Cabinet Office, Japan is to provide South Korean forces in South Sudan with about 10,000 rounds of rifle ammunition without charge, to meet a shortage identified by troops deployed in the eastern state of Jonglei, where clashes bewteen rival factions have left at least 500 people dead and hundreds wounded.

根據內閣府週一批准的這項計劃，日本將向駐南蘇丹的韓國部隊免費提供大約1萬發步槍子彈，以滿足部署在南蘇丹東部瓊萊省的部隊所報告的彈藥不足的情況。南蘇丹軍隊不同派別之間的衝突已導致至少500人喪生，數百人受傷。

Over the past 20 years, Japan has dispatched thousands of self-defence force and police personnel to UN missions in Cambodia, Mozambique, Timor-Leste and Haiti, while ranking as among the biggest donors to the UN’s peacekeeping budget. But it has never before supplied arms to the military of another country through the UN, said a government official.

過去20年期間，日本向聯合國在柬埔寨、莫桑比克、東帝汶和海地的任務派遣了數以千計的自衛隊員和維和警察，並且是聯合國維和預算的最大貢獻者之一。但據一名政府官員表示，日本此前從未通過聯合國向另一個國家的部隊供應軍火。

The decision comes as Japan seeks to distance itself from its post-second world war pacifism, committing last week to building a stronger military to counter perceived security threats, including an increasingly powerful China. Under Mr Abe, prime minister since December 2012, Japan is to lift its defence spending for the first time in 11 years, boosting purchases of drones, stealth aircraft and amphibious vehicles.

作出這一決定之際，日本正尋求與二戰後的和平主義拉大距離。上週日本承諾要建設一支更強大的武裝力量，以抗衡其眼中的安全威脅，包括日漸強大的中國。在2012年12月上臺的安倍首相的領導下，日本將在11年來首次提高國防支出，調撥更多資金購買無人機、隱形飛機和水陸兩棲戰車。

According to the new national security strategy, Japan envisions a more “active” peacekeeping role in Asia that would involve closer military co-operation with allies such as the US, South Korea and Australia, as well as a formal “reconsidering” of a ban on weapons exports.

根據新的《國家安全保障戰略》，日本設想在亞洲扮演更加“積極的”維和角色，包括與美國、韓國以及澳大利亞等盟友開展更緊密的軍事合作，同時有可能正式“反思”武器出口禁令。

In response, China’s foreign ministry complained that the Japanese documents “rehash stale ideas, hype up ‘China threat theory’, play up regional tensions and make excuses for arms expansion in the disguise of maintaining its security and regional peace”.

中國國防部對此表示不滿，稱日方的文件“老調重彈，鼓吹‘中國威脅’，渲染地區緊張氣氛，打着維護自身安全與地區和平的幌子爲其擴充軍備製造藉口”。

Japan and China have been locked in a long dispute over a chain of tiny islands in the East China Sea, with tensions rising last month when Beijing announced an air-defence zone over a wide area including the islands.

日本和中國圍繞東中國海一個小小的島羣陷入了長期糾紛，上月中方宣佈劃設大片的防空識別區，將爭議海島納入其中，此舉加劇了緊張。

Relations between Tokyo and Seoul have been strained too. Mr Abe and Park Geun-hye have not held a formal meeting since the South Korean president was elected in February because of Seoul’s unhappiness at what it sees as Japan’s insufficient remorse regarding its colonial rule over its neighbour. The two nations are also engaged in a separate territorial dispute over the Seoul-administered Dokdo Islands, known as Takeshima in Japan – a small set of rocky outcrops in the Sea of Japan.

日本和韓國之間的關係也存在一些緊張因素。韓國總統朴槿惠(Park Geun-hye)自今年2月當選以來，至今未與安倍正式會晤，原因是在韓方眼中，日本對當年對朝鮮半島殖民統治的悔意不到位，這令韓方不滿。兩國還圍繞韓國管理的獨島(Dokdo Islands)——日本稱竹島(Takeshima)——陷入領土糾紛。該島是日本海一組小小的島礁。

Since taking office, Mr Abe has made it clear that he wants to loosen the terms of Japan’s anti-war constitution to allow its forces to fight in defence of its allies.

安倍自上任以來就一直表明，他有意推動放寬日本反戰憲法的條款，使自衛隊能夠協防盟友。

In a television programme aired on Sunday, Mr Abe described revising the constitution as his “career goal”, adding that he hoped for co-operation from opposition parties to reach the requisite two-thirds majority support for such a move in both houses of parliament.

在週日播出的一檔電視節目中，安倍將修憲形容爲自己的“職業生涯目標”。他還表示，他希望反對派政黨給予合作，使修憲議案在國會衆參兩院得到所需的三分之二多數支持。