平和賞と中国―君子の外交を求めたい

2010/12/14
--The Asahi Shimbun, Dec. 11
EDITORIAL: Nobel Peace Prize
平和賞と中国―君子の外交を求めたい

The ceremony in Oslo to award this year's Nobel Peace Prize was not attended by the winner. Liu Xiaobo, the Chinese writer and dissident who won the award, remains imprisoned in China. Even his wife, Liu Xia, could not attend the ceremony because she was under house arrest.
　オスロで開かれたノーベル平和賞の授賞式は、主役が不在だった。受賞者である中国の民主活動家、劉暁波氏は投獄されたままだ。妻の劉霞さんも軟禁状態で参加できなかった。

No relative or representative was present to accept the award for the first time since 1935, when German pacifist Carl von Ossietzky won the prize. Nazi Germany blocked him and his supporters from attending.
　関係者が誰も出席しないのは、１９３０年代にナチス・ドイツに出席を阻まれた平和活動家、オシエツキー氏の受賞以来という。

Liu co-authored "Charter 08," which called for an end to one-party rule by the Communist Party. As a result, he has been sentenced to 11 years in prison for the crime of "inciting subversion."
　劉氏は共産党独裁の廃止などを求める「０８憲章」を起草した。「国家の転覆を扇動した」として１１年間の実刑判決を受けている。

Beijing continues to crack down on pro-democracy activists and human rights lawyers by house arrest or rigorous monitoring.
中国では民主活動家や人権派弁護士の軟禁や監視が続いている。

The Chinese public is denied access to broadcasts and websites critical of the government, including those related to Liu.
劉氏に関するものをはじめ、政府を批判する放送やネットは遮断されている。

We urge the Chinese government to release all prisoners of conscience who are imprisoned only because of their thoughts and creeds. China should realize that muzzling the press undermines the nation's development in the long term.
　思想・信条を理由に投獄している良心の囚人を、一日も早く釈放するよう中国政府に求める。報道規制も、長い目で見れば、中国の発展への力をそいでいることを考えるべきだ。

China has rebuked the Norwegian Nobel Committee and filed a protest against the Norwegian government, which hosts the committee. It has also unilaterally suspended bilateral trade talks with the country.
　中国はノーベル賞委員会を非難し、ホスト国のノルウェー政府にも抗議して貿易交渉も一方的に中断した。

Many countries invited to attend the ceremony were absent, apparently in support of China. The list of the absentees seems like a collection of nations with poor track records of freedom of speech, such as Russia, Cuba, Saudi Arabia and Iran.
　授賞式に招待を受けた国のうち少なからぬ国が欠席した。中国に同調したとみられる。その顔ぶれをみると、ロシア、キューバ、サウジアラビア、イランなど、「言論の自由」という点で合格点にほど遠い国が集まった印象を受ける。

It is regrettable that such Asian nations as Pakistan and Vietnam also did not attend the ceremony, expressing views that echoed Beijing's stance toward the issue.
アジアでも、パキスタンやベトナムなどが中国と同じような見解を示して欠席したのは残念である。

It is true that the selections of the Nobel Peace Prize winners have reflected the international situations at the times and have had political implications. There was heated debate on the appropriateness of awarding the prize to U.S. President Barack Obama last year.
　ノーベル平和賞が、その時々の国際事情を反映し、政治色を帯びてきたのは事実だ。昨年のオバマ米大統領の受賞も、是非をめぐって議論があった。

But one important role of the prize is to promote common international understanding of the significance of peace by provoking various debates.
　だが、様々な論議を通じて、平和の意味について共通の認識を深めていくことに平和賞の意義もあろう。

The list of the past winners include Nelson Mandela, who fought against apartheid in South Africa, and Martin Luther King Jr., the leader of the civil right movement in the United States. As a leading power in the 21st century, China is expected to take part in this tradition with a positive attitude.
　南アフリカで人種隔離と闘ったネルソン・マンデラ氏や、米国の公民権運動指導者キング牧師らも、歴代の受賞者に含まれている。２１世紀の大国である中国に求められるのは、こうした伝統に前向きに参加していくことだ。

Countries around the world should cherish the Nobel Peace Prize as a valuable legacy built by the international community over years, like the system of international human rights laws.
　ノーベル平和賞は国際人権法の体系とともに、国際社会が長年かけて築き上げてきたものとして、各国が大切にしていかなければならない。

The countries that attended the ceremony should also make efforts to promote it.
　その努力が求められるのは、授賞式に出席する国も同じである。

President Obama, who has invited Chinese President Hu Jintao to the United States next year, should urge China to take steps toward improving its human rights record.
　来年、胡錦濤国家主席を招く米国のオバマ大統領は、人権問題で中国に注文をつけるべきである。

Japan should also seek candid conversations with China over human rights issues at occasions like bilateral summits.
日本も、首脳会談などで率直に意見を交換していこう。

Prime Minister Naoto Kan appears to be unwilling to touch on China's human rights problems for fear of straining relations, just as they were by the recent spat over the Senkaku Islands, and inviting unwanted effects on the Japanese economy.
尖閣沖の衝突事件の時のようなあつれきや経済への影響を恐れて、菅直人首相は遠慮してはいないか。

In an apparent bid to undercut the Nobel Peace Prize, China has hastily created its own competing peace prize dubbed the Confucius Peace Prize. In its diplomatic activities, we hope China will practice the teachings of Confucius about how respectable men of virtue should behave and act.
　ノーベル平和賞に対抗するかのように、中国は「孔子平和賞」を作ったそうだ。孔子が教えた尊敬される君子の道を、中国は外交で実践してもらいたい。

If China does so, Japan and the United States would have to respond by trying to build relations with China like those among men of virtue.
そして、日本や米国も君子の交わりで応じたいものである。