膨張中国 経済力に見合った責任を果たせ

China must fulfill intl responsibilities
The Yomiuri Shimbun (Jan. 24, 2011)
膨張中国　経済力に見合った責任を果たせ（1月23日付・読売社説）

China, which is on the way to superpower status with its economic wealth and military strength, has become increasingly assertive.
　豊かな経済力と強大な軍事力を後ろ盾に、超大国への道を歩む中国が自己主張を強めている。

Moves by this rising nation have the potential to bring structural changes to the balance of power in the Asia-Pacific region.
　興隆著しい中国の動きは、アジア太平洋地域における勢力分布に構造的変化をもたらしかねない。

　◆南シナ海に権益拡大

While calling on Beijing for self-restraint, Japan must join hands with neighboring countries and show a resolute stance against China if it takes any actions aimed at achieving hegemony.
　日本は中国に自制を求めつつ、覇権的な行動があれば、近隣諸国と連携し、毅然(きぜん)とした対応を取ることが肝要である。

In early January, the Chinese government announced a policy of quickly enacting maritime laws to strengthen the policing of its waters.
　中国は今月上旬、海洋法規の立法化を加速させ、海上取り締まりを強化する方針を公表した。

Meanwhile, Beijing last spring expanded its claimed area of "core interests," which had been limited to Taiwan and Tibet, to the South China Sea.
　昨年春には、台湾とチベットに限っていた「核心的利益」の適用範囲を南シナ海にも拡大した。

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Freedom of seas paramount

Concerning this development, U.S. President Barack Obama stressed in front of Chinese President Hu Jintao at a joint press conference, held Wednesday after U.S.-China summit talks, that the United States has a fundamental interest in "maintaining freedom of navigation" in East Asia.
　これに関し、オバマ米大統領は先の米中首脳会談後の記者会見で、中国の胡錦濤国家主席を前に、「東アジアでの自由航行権の確保」は米国にとって重要な利益だ、と強く訴えた。

The South China Sea is an important area where the interests of Japan, Southeast Asian countries and the United States coincide. Beijing's stance of treating the area as if it were China's own territory cannot be tolerated.
　南シナ海は東南アジアや米国、日本など各国の利害が錯綜(さくそう)する重要な海域だ。これを自国領のように扱う中国の姿勢は、断じて受け入れられるものではない。

China's defense spending has seen double-digit increases every year for 21 years through 2009. Its navy and air force now have greatly enhanced hardware at their command.
　中国国防費は、一昨年までの２１年間、２ケタ増を記録し、海、空軍の装備も大幅に強化された。

China is said to be pursuing a long-term maritime strategy. Its initial aim is to gain command of the seas and airspace inside the so-called "first island chain," a strategic defense line that runs from the Japanese archipelago to the South China Sea via Okinawa Prefecture and Taiwan.
　中国は長期的な海洋戦略を立てている。日本列島―沖縄―台湾―南シナ海を結ぶ「第１列島線」の内側で、制海権や制空権を確保するのが当面の目標だ。

To achieve this goal, Beijing has developed an antiship ballistic missile dubbed an "aircraft carrier killer" and is building a few aircraft carriers of its own. It also has carried out trial flights of a next-generation stealth fighter.
　そのため“空母キラー”と言われる対艦弾道ミサイルを開発し、複数の航空母艦を建造中だ。次世代ステルス戦闘機の試験飛行も始めている。

The country also wants to expand its military control to the "second island chain" that runs from the Ogasawara Islands down to Guam, beyond the East China Sea. This is to keep U.S. forces at bay in the western Pacific, with the eventual absorption of Taiwan in mind.
　さらに台湾統一を念頭に、西太平洋への米軍の接近を阻止すべく「第２列島線」まで軍事的支配を拡大させることを狙っている。

Japan's Senkaku Islands are located in an area within the "first island chain" where China is developing oil fields beneath the seabed.
　尖閣諸島は「第１列島線」の内側に位置し、中国が海底油田の開発を進めている海域でもある。

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Strong response appropriate
　◆経済力背景に強硬姿勢

Since a Chinese fishing boat rammed two Japan Coast Guard patrol ships in waters off the Senkaku Islands in September, China has frequently dispatched fisheries patrol boats to the area, apparently based on its maritime strategy.
　昨年９月の中国漁船衝突事件の発生以降、中国が尖閣近海に漁業監視船を頻繁に送り込んでいるのも、こうした海洋戦略に沿ったものだろう。

It was appropriate that the government decided to enhance the defense of the Nansei Islands and the other islands in the new National Defense Program Outline adopted at the end of last year.
　政府が昨年末、新たな「防衛計画の大綱」を決定し、南西諸島など島嶼(とうしょ)防衛の強化を打ち出したのは適切な判断だった。

It is also reasonable that the Japan Coast Guard is seeking revisions, including enhancement of maritime police authority, to relevant laws to strengthen its patrol and warning systems in response to the incident off the Senkaku Islands.
　また、海上保安庁が尖閣での事件を受け、海上警察権の強化など関係法令を改正し、監視や警戒態勢を強めることも当然である。

Through diplomatic channels, the government must also demand that China honor Article 1 of the Japan-China Peace and Friendship Treaty, which says that each country shall respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the other.
　互いの主権と領土保全の尊重を決めた日中平和友好条約１条の履行を中国側に求める日本の外交努力も欠かせない。

Meanwhile, for the sake of regional security including the safety of sea lanes, Tokyo must further deepen its partnerships with Australia, India, South Korea, the United States and other countries that share its concerns over China's military buildup.
　米国や韓国、豪州、インドなど中国の軍備増強に懸念を共有する国々と、海上交通路の安全確保など域内の安全保障分野で一層、連携を深めなければならない。

China recently has started taking a harder stance because it has changed its diplomatic policy.
　最近、中国が特に強硬な姿勢を示すようになったのは、外交方針を変更したためだ。

Beijing has recently emerged from 20 years of following a policy, advocated by late Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping, of keeping a low profile without showing its true colors.
　これまでの過去２０年余りの方針は、最高権力者だったトウ小平氏が唱えた、実力を隠して低姿勢を保つという「韜光養晦(とうこうようかい)」だった。

The policy aimed to avoid friction with other countries and concentrate the nation's resources on domestic development as socialism ebbed away with the collapse of the Soviet Union.
　ソ連崩壊で社会主義が退潮したため、対外的摩擦を避け、国内建設に集中する狙いがあった。

However, the Hu administration changed this policy in the summer of 2009 to a diplomatic stance of voicing its national interests more loudly.
　しかし、胡錦濤政権は一昨年夏、自国の国益を積極的に主張する外交姿勢へと切り替えた。

The biggest reason for this change was China's accumulation of economic power, with a gross domestic product that was set to overtake that of Japan for the rank of second-largest in the world.
　国内総生産（ＧＤＰ）が日本を抜いて世界２位になった、と確実視されるほど経済力を蓄えたことが一番の理由だろう。

With its wealth of foreign currency reserves, China has become the largest purchaser of U.S. Treasury bonds. Also, the country has recently been purchasing government bonds of some European countries in fiscal crisis.
　豊富な外貨準備を使って、米国国債の最大の購入国となっているのに加えて、最近は財政危機にあえぐ欧州諸国の国債まで買い付ける勢いだ。

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China faces domestic unease
　◆総合的な対中戦略を

Members of China's current leadership under Hu, chief of the Chinese Communist Party as well as president of the country, are likely to retire at the party congress to be held in autumn 2012. Xi Jinping, vice president of the country, is likely to succeed to the post of general secretary.
　胡党総書記（国家主席）が率いる現指導部は、来年秋の共産党大会で引退し、習近平国家副主席に総書記を引き継ぐと見られる。

In China, a small number of businesspeople, along with government and party bureaucrats, monopolize wealth and power, while some of the public continues to suffer from dire poverty.
　中国では、少数の実業家と党・政府官僚が富と権力を独占する一方で、国民の一部は貧困にあえいでいる。

Frustration within Chinese society over widespread corruption, oppression of ethnic minorities such as Tibetans and Uighurs, and other issues is said to be approaching its limit.
　汚職の蔓延(まんえん)や、チベット族やウイグル族への少数民族弾圧などで、社会の不満は限界に近づいているとされる。

If China neglects political reform, puts priority only on economic development and continues a high-handed approach to its international relationships, it could become a destabilizing factor for East Asia.
　経済開発を優先して政治改革を怠り、高圧的な対外姿勢を続けるようでは、東アジアの不安定要因になりかねない。

The international community must patiently keep urging China to respect universal values such as democracy and human rights and to fulfill responsibilities commensurate with its national power.
　国際社会は、中国が民主主義・人権といった普遍的な価値観を尊重し、その国力に見合った責任を果たすよう、粘り強く働きかけて行かなければならない。

Japan needs to construct a new strategy against China based on a comprehensive vision including diplomatic, security and economic considerations.
　日本は、外交・安保、経済を含む総合的な観点に立った対中国戦略を構築する必要がある。

(From The Yomiuri Shimbun, Jan. 23, 2011)
（2011年1月23日01時13分 読売新聞）