野田新首相へ―外交の立て直しを急げ

2011/09/02
--The Asahi Shimbun, Sept. 1
EDITORIAL: Noda needs to rebuild Japan's diplomacy.
野田新首相へ―外交の立て直しを急げ

Newly elected Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda is Japan's new public face.
　野田新首相は、新しい日本の顔である。

Noda has a duty to undertake the onerous challenge of fixing Japan's broken diplomacy as well as its dysfunctional internal politics, which is plagued by a raft of intractable problems.
難問だらけの内政とともに、日本外交を速やかに立て直す重責を担う。

For the three months since Noda's predecessor, Naoto Kan, first announced his intention to resign, Japan's diplomacy has been stagnant.
　菅首相の退陣表明から３カ月、外交は停滞し続けている。

The prime minister's visit to the United States, scheduled for the first half of September, has been postponed.
今月前半の予定だった首相の訪米は延期された。

Dates have not been set, either, for the prime minister's visit to China, which should start fresh efforts to improve the bilateral relations strained by a diplomatic row over the disputed Senkaku Islands, or for South Korean President Lee Myung-bak's trip to Japan under a bilateral agreement on regular mutual visits of the two countries' leaders.
尖閣問題で冷え込んだ日中関係を改善する出発点になる首相の訪中や、シャトル外交による韓国大統領の訪日の日程も決まらない。

Fortunately, however, a series of important international conferences are scheduled to take place in the weeks through November, starting with the United Nations General Assembly meeting, to be held in late September. They also include this year's East Asia Summit, which will be the first to be attended by the United States and Russia as formal members, and meetings of the leaders of the Group of 20 major countries and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum.
　幸い、今月下旬の国連総会を皮切りに、米ロが初参加する東アジアサミット、Ｇ２０、アジア太平洋経済協力会議（ＡＰＥＣ）と、１１月まで各国が集う機会が目白押しだ。

These events will offer great opportunities for Noda to put Japanese summit diplomacy back on track.
首脳外交を展開する好機である。

As he prepares for these meetings, Noda should develop his government's comprehensive foreign and security policy agenda and present it to the public as soon as possible.
　その前提として、新首相は外交・安全保障に関する包括的な考え方を、できるだけ早く国民に示す必要がある。

The global balance of power is in flux due to economic turmoil in major industrial countries and the rise of emerging nations.
　先進各国の経済の混迷と新興国の台頭で、国際社会の力関係は流動化している。

The wave of democratization in the Arab world and new trends in international terrorism should also claim the attention of the international community.
アラブ諸国の民主化や、国際テロなどからも目が離せない。

Japan now needs a grand vision and a grand strategy based on clear ideas about its future and role in the world.
日本の針路をどう定め、どんな国をめざすのか。いまこそ、大きな構想と戦略が求められている。

During the Democratic Party of Japan's leadership race, there was little debate among the candidates on diplomatic issues.
　先の民主党代表選で、外交問題はほとんど素通りだった。

Even more troubling, Noda's political resume doesn't include much diplomatic experience. While he has attended some international economic conferences like meetings of finance ministers and central bankers of the Group of Seven richest countries, he is basically a novice in diplomacy, with his diplomatic prowess an unknown quantity.
しかも野田氏は、財務相としてＧ７などには出たが、どちらかといえば外交の門外漢で、手腕はまったくの未知数である。

But he created an international stir before becoming prime minister by expressing controversial views about Japan's wartime past, symbolized by his argument that the Class-A war criminals are no longer war criminals, and by making remarks that provoked China.
　その一方で、「Ａ級戦犯は戦争犯罪人ではない」という見解に象徴される歴史認識と、中国を刺激する物言いが話題になっている。

In voicing concerns about China's military buildup and naval expansion in the region, Noda recently said China may "whip up nationalism" by making moves that bother Japan.
最近も、中国の軍事力増強や海洋進出に懸念を示し、「ナショナリズムをあおるために、ちょっかいを出される可能性もある」と語っていた。

News media in both China and South Korea have already labeled him as a "hawk" or "hard-liner."
　中韓両国のメディアでは、すでに「タカ派」「強硬派」といった言葉が踊っている。

But it is probably not Noda's intention to go about planting seeds of diplomatic conflict.
　しかし、野田氏もいたずらに摩擦の種をまくのは本意ではあるまい。

It would be wise for him to send out a clear diplomatic message by at least declaring that he will not visit the Yasukuni Shrine, where the Class-A war criminals are enshrined along with the general war dead, while he is in office.
少なくとも、靖国神社参拝について「首相在任中はしない」と明言し、メッセージを発するのが賢明だ。

Next year will see leadership elections and the change of guard in many major countries, including the United States, Russia, China and South Korea.
　来年は米ロ中韓など、世界の主要国で大統領選挙が行われたり、首脳が交代したりする。

Under the heated political climate of an election year, the leaders of these nations will inevitably be very sensitive to public opinion at home.
As a result, they may be tempted to make more political moves and gestures aimed at the domestic audience.
各国とも指導者は国内世論を強く意識せざるを得ず、内向き志向になることが懸念される。

That could complicate the environment for diplomatic efforts.
それだけ、外交は難しさを増す。

The DPJ-led government has lost much of its credibility through diplomatic blunders.
The government of former Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama badly mishandled the issue of relocating the U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma, an American military base located in the middle of a densely populated city in Okinawa Prefecture.
The Kan administration botched its response to the collision between a Chinese trawler and Japan Coast Guard vessels near the Senkaku Islands in September 2010.
　鳩山政権での普天間問題、菅政権での尖閣問題など、民主党は外交の不手際で信用を失ってきた。

Japan has seen so many leadership changes in recent years that foreign media now like to make fun of its "revolving door" or "merry-go-round" of prime ministers.
そして「回転扉」「メリーゴーラウンド」と揶揄（やゆ）されるほどの短命首相続きだ。

Noda has pledged to "say what must be said without restraint" for candid and straightforward conversations with his foreign counterparts.
We hope he will build relationships based on mutual trust with foreign leaders through thoughtful words and actions.
　「言うべきことは、遠慮なく言い合う」という野田氏には、思慮深い言動で首脳間の信頼関係を築いてほしい。