英字新聞

沖縄普天間の基地移設問題は自民党政権時、長い時間をかけて検討されたものです。
それでも解決できない。
鳩山首相は人が良すぎます。
人々を幸せにするために良い返事をし続けていたのかも知れません。
誰が担当してもこの移設は難しいのです。
テレビで大きな顔をして堂々と発言を繰り返している社民党の福島党首。
少子化担当よりも普天間移設担当に任命したらどうでしょうか。
そうすればこの問題を担当する人の苦しみが少しは理解出来るかも知れない。
新聞社は鳩山首相の非難ばかりするのを少し抑えて、解決策の手助けをする方向で記事を書いて欲しい。

srachai from khonkaen, thailand

2010/05/15
--The Asahi Shimbun, May 14
EDITORIAL: Futenma impasse.
普天間移設問題―仕切り直すしかあるまい

Just two weeks remain before the expiry of Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama's self-imposed end-of-May deadline for resolving the issue of relocating the U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma in Okinawa Prefecture. This was a promise he made not only to the Japanese people, but also to Washington.
　沖縄県の米海兵隊普天間飛行場の移設問題で、鳩山由紀夫首相が内外に約束した「５月末決着」の期限まで残り半月余りとなった。

Hatoyama repeatedly said he would find a solution by working closely with the U.S. government, Okinawa and local communities in deciding the relocation site. But it is now clear that there is no hope for him to honor his promise.
　米国政府、沖縄、移設先の地元のいずれの理解も得た形で決着する。首相はそう繰り返してきたが、もはや絶望的なことは誰の目にも明らかだ。

As things stand, Hatoyama will probably have to start anew from scratch.
　こうなっては、いったん仕切り直すしかないのではないか。

Hatoyama seems to be trying to keep up appearances with a hastily arranged relocation plan. Meantime, his talks with Okinawa and Washington will clearly extend beyond the deadline he set to allow for final adjustments in the policy.
　首相としては、沖縄や米国と６月以降も調整を続けることを前提に、現時点での政府方針をとりまとめ、なお体裁を整えようとしているようだ。

The plan he apparently has in mind will call for building a pier-type runway off the Henoko district of Nago in Okinawa Prefecture. Drills currently conducted at the Futenma airfield in Ginowan would be transferred to Tokunoshima island in Kagoshima Prefecture and Self-Defense Forces bases in other parts of the nation.
　代替滑走路は桟橋方式を念頭に名護市辺野古沿岸に建設し、訓練は鹿児島県徳之島のほか全国の自衛隊基地などに分散することが柱になりそうだ。

In a desperate attempt to avoid being humiliated in the Diet for failing to fulfill his promise, Hatoyama is knocking out a plan that is designed only to gloss over his faults and is supported by nobody. This will achieve nothing. It will only delay reaching consensus and completing the actual relocation. Hatoyama's missteps have thrown the issue into the realm of the "not-in-my-backyard" fight.
　責任の追及から逃れようともがき、短時日のうちに誰からも歓迎されないつじつま合わせの案をまとめても、合意形成も案の実現もかえって遠のこう。問題を基地の押し付け合いにしてしまったのは本末転倒である。

Hatoyama must own up to his political responsibility. He failed, not only on his promise to move the facility "at least" out of the prefecture, but also in settling the issue by his own deadline.
　「最低でも県外」「５月末決着」という二つの公約を果たせない政治責任を、首相は認めなければならない。

Hatoyama should, in point by point fashion, explain how matters reached this stage and apologize to voters, especially those in Okinawa Prefecture.
　ここに至った経緯を丁寧に説明し、沖縄県民をはじめとする有権者に率直におわびするべきである。

No communication between the leaders
　■首脳外交が機能不全

Saturday marks the 38th anniversary of the U.S. reversion of Okinawa to Japanese sovereignty.
　折しもあす、沖縄は本土に復帰して３８年になる。

Previously, people in Okinawa didn't openly demand the relocation of U.S. bases out of their prefecture. That's probably because they didn't have the heart to pass on their burden to others.
　沖縄の人々はこれまで、米軍基地を「県外に移せ」と公然と言うことはなかった。自らの痛みを他人に背負わせるのは忍びないとの思いからだろう。

But in the latest Asahi Shimbun survey of residents in Okinawa, 53 percent of the respondents voiced support for moving some of the bases in the prefecture to elsewhere in the nation, up from 38 percent in a poll last year. Public opinion in Okinawa has changed dramatically.
　しかし今回の朝日新聞の世論調査では、県民の５３％が県外移設に賛成と答えた。昨年は３８％にとどまっていたから、民意は大きく変化した。

When Hatoyama's Democratic Party of Japan took power from the Liberal Democratic Party last year, the Okinawan people had high expectations that the new government would finally ease their burden of hosting the bulk of U.S. military facilities in Japan. Those expectations are now unlikely to be fulfilled.
　県内への基地集中と過重な負担が、政権交代でやっと改善されるのではと期待したのに、裏切られようとしている。

Bitter disappointment and deep anger have caused them to feel that people on the mainland are discriminating against Okinawa.
その失望と怒りが、最近は「沖縄差別」という言葉となって噴き出してもいる。

It is impossible to keep the Japan-U.S. alliance on a stable footing without the support and cooperation of the local communities hosting U.S. bases. From this viewpoint, Hatoyama has done a serious disservice to the nation. His clumsy approach has served only to rub local residents the wrong way.
　基地を提供する地元の理解なしに、日米同盟を安定的に維持していくことができるはずはない。その意味で県民を逆なでする結果を招いた首相の取り運びのまずさは何とも罪深い。

In the meantime, Japan-U.S. summit diplomacy has hardly functioned. During his meetings with U.S. President Barack Obama, Hatoyama should have talked candidly about his decision to reconsider the 2006 bilateral agreement to move Futenma to Henoko and sought the president's understanding.
　この間、日米間の首脳外交の機能不全も目を覆うばかりであった。
　首相はオバマ米大統領との会談で、なぜ日米合意の辺野古移設案を見直そうとしたのかを率直に語り、理解を求めるべきだった。

However, there is nothing to suggest that the two men have had meaningful communication on the Futenma issue since then. This has made it very hard for the Hatoyama administration to offer a convincing explanation to the audience at home about progress in talks with Washington. It has become even more difficult for the government to persuade local communities to accept a fresh burden.
　その後、普天間問題で両首脳間に円滑な意思疎通がなされた形跡はない。これでは、日本国内に対して対米外交の進捗（しんちょく）状況を説明しようがないし、新たな負担を求めることになる移設先の説得などはもとよりおぼつかない。