美国国家公共电台 NPR--Shinzo Abe, an ex-Japanese Prime Minister, is fatally shot while making a speech

Shinzo Abe, an ex-Japanese Prime Minister, is fatally shot while making a speech

Transcript¹

Japan's former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was assassinated² during a campaign appearance on behalf of his former party. A suspected gunman is in custody³.

LEILA FADEL, HOST:

Japan is in shock following the assassination⁴ of one of the country's most powerful politicians, former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. As Japan's longest serving prime minister, Abe has had a lasting⁵ impact on Japanese politics, including since he stepped down in 2020. And the attack is especially shocking in a place with such little gun violence. NPR's Anthony Kuhn joins us from Seoul to update us on what's going on.

Hi, Anthony.

ANTHONY KUHN, BYLINE⁶: Hi, Leila.

FADEL: So describe first exactly what happened.

KUHN: Well, Abe was giving a campaign speech ahead of parliamentary upper house elections on Sunday. And at about 11:30 local time, he was shot in the back. He was rushed to a hospital. Doctors tried to save him, but they were unable to stop the bleeding. And they declared his death just after about 5 p.m. local time. At the scene, security agents tackled a suspect. Police arrested him. Police have identified him as 41-year-old Tetsuya Yamagami, a resident of the city of Nara, where Abe was speaking. And Yamagami formerly⁷ served in Japan's military. Media pictures show that he appeared to be carrying some sort of improvised⁸ firearm, which looks a bit like a two-barrelled shotgun. The man's motive⁹ is at the moment still unclear.

FADEL: Now, this is a place where gun violence is so rare, right?

KUHN: Yes. It feels very safe to most people. The country has very strict gun laws. There are very few gun deaths every year. Handguns are banned outright¹⁰ in this country. And political violence of this sort has not been seen since the 1960s, at which time there were street clashes between the political left and the right. And the head of a Japanese socialist¹¹ party was assassinated in 1960 with a sword. Now, in Japanese politics, you can be sure there's always a lot of sparring, both among and within the political parties. But there's also a consensus¹² to keep that sparring civil, keep it behind closed doors and keep up a sort of harmonious¹³ facade¹⁴.

FADEL: So quite a shock in Japan - how is Japan and the world reacting?

KUHN: With real horror to this. Prime Minister Fumio Kishida flew back from the campaign trail. He said Sunday's election is going to go ahead, be free and fair - and looking very distraught. This is part of what he had to say to reporters.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

PRIME MINISTER FUMIO KISHIDA: (Speaking Japanese).

KUHN: "I'm not aware of the background of this act. But it took place during an election," he said, "which makes it an attack on the core of democracy. It is a contemptible¹⁵ act of barbarism and cannot be tolerated. I condemn¹⁶ it in the strongest words." U.S. Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel called Abe an outstanding leader of Japan and an unwavering ally of the U.S. The White House said it was shocked and saddened; and their thoughts are with his family and Japan's people.

FADEL: And Abe remains¹⁷ a really important figure in the Japanese political scene. Can you tell us about that?

KUHN: Yeah. Well, even after he stepped down as after two terms as prime minister, eight years in total, he remained the head of the largest faction¹⁸ within the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, which has ruled Japan for most of the past seven decades. And his successors, including the current Prime Minister Kishida, have largely stuck to his conservative policies - strengthening the military, tightening¹⁹ the alliance with the U.S. and trying to keep the economy growing despite its aging, shrinking population. Abe's message was that Japan is back, both from two decades of economic stagnation²⁰ and the earlier stigma²¹ of its defeat in World War II. Abe had many critics, but I think many would admit that he articulated his own vision for the nation's future and engineered a real shift in Japan's security and foreign policies.

FADEL: That's NPR's Anthony Kuhn joining us from Seoul. Thank you.

KUHN: Thanks, Leila.

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 assassinated   

v.暗杀( assassinate的过去式和过去分词 )；中伤；诋毁；破坏

参考例句：

• The prime minister was assassinated by extremists. 首相遭极端分子暗杀。
• Then, just two days later, President Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas. 跟着在两天以后，肯尼迪总统在达拉斯被人暗杀。 来自辞典例句

3 custody   

n.监护，照看，羁押，拘留

参考例句：

• He spent a week in custody on remand awaiting sentence.等候判决期间他被还押候审一个星期。
• He was taken into custody immediately after the robbery.抢劫案发生后，他立即被押了起来。

4 assassination   

n.暗杀；暗杀事件

参考例句：

• The assassination of the president brought matters to a head.总统遭暗杀使事态到了严重关头。
• Lincoln's assassination in 1865 shocked the whole nation.1865年，林肯遇刺事件震惊全美国。

5 lasting   

adj.永久的，永恒的；vbl.持续，维持

参考例句：

• The lasting war debased the value of the dollar.持久的战争使美元贬值。
• We hope for a lasting settlement of all these troubles.我们希望这些纠纷能获得永久的解决。

6 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

7 formerly   

adv.从前，以前

参考例句：

• We now enjoy these comforts of which formerly we had only heard.我们现在享受到了过去只是听说过的那些舒适条件。
• This boat was formerly used on the rivers of China.这船从前航行在中国内河里。

8 improvised   

a.即席而作的,即兴的

参考例句：

• He improvised a song about the football team's victory. 他即席创作了一首足球队胜利之歌。
• We improvised a tent out of two blankets and some long poles. 我们用两条毛毯和几根长竿搭成一个临时帐蓬。

9 motive   

n.动机，目的；adv.发动的，运动的

参考例句：

• The police could not find a motive for the murder.警察不能找到谋杀的动机。
• He had some motive in telling this fable.他讲这寓言故事是有用意的。

10 outright   

adv.坦率地；彻底地；立即；adj.无疑的；彻底的

参考例句：

• If you have a complaint you should tell me outright.如果你有不满意的事，你应该直率地对我说。
• You should persuade her to marry you outright.你应该彻底劝服她嫁给你。

11 socialist   

n.社会主义者；adj.社会主义的

参考例句：

• China is a socialist country,and a developing country as well.中国是一个社会主义国家，也是一个发展中国家。
• His father was an ardent socialist.他父亲是一个热情的社会主义者。

12 consensus   

n.(意见等的)一致，一致同意，共识

参考例句：

• Can we reach a consensus on this issue?我们能在这个问题上取得一致意见吗？
• What is the consensus of opinion at the afternoon meeting?下午会议上一致的意见是什么？

13 harmonious   

adj.和睦的，调和的，和谐的，协调的

参考例句：

• Their harmonious relationship resulted in part from their similar goals.他们关系融洽的部分原因是他们有着相似的目标。
• The room was painted in harmonious colors.房间油漆得色彩调和。

14 facade   

n.(建筑物的)正面，临街正面；外表

参考例句：

• The entrance facade consists of a large full height glass door.入口正面有一大型全高度玻璃门。
• If you look carefully,you can see through Bob's facade.如果你仔细观察，你就能看穿鲍勃的外表。

15 contemptible   

adj.可鄙的，可轻视的，卑劣的

参考例句：

• His personal presence is unimpressive and his speech contemptible.他气貌不扬，言语粗俗。
• That was a contemptible trick to play on a friend.那是对朋友玩弄的一出可鄙的把戏。

16 condemn   

vt.谴责，指责；宣判(罪犯)，判刑

参考例句：

• Some praise him,whereas others condemn him.有些人赞扬他，而有些人谴责他。
• We mustn't condemn him on mere suppositions.我们不可全凭臆测来指责他。

17 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

18 faction   

n.宗派，小集团；派别；派系斗争

参考例句：

• Faction and self-interest appear to be the norm.派系之争和自私自利看来非常普遍。
• I now understood clearly that I was caught between the king and the Bunam's faction.我现在完全明白自己已陷入困境，在国王与布纳姆集团之间左右为难。

19 tightening   

上紧，固定，紧密

参考例句：

• Make sure the washer is firmly seated before tightening the pipe. 旋紧水管之前，检查一下洗衣机是否已牢牢地固定在底座上了。
• It needs tightening up a little. 它还需要再收紧些。

20 stagnation   

n. 停滞

参考例句：

• Poor economic policies led to a long period of stagnation and decline. 糟糕的经济政策道致了长时间的经济萧条和下滑。
• Motion is absolute while stagnation is relative. 运动是绝对的，而静止是相对的。

21 stigma   

n.耻辱，污名；(花的)柱头

参考例句：

• Being an unmarried mother used to carry a social stigma.做未婚母亲在社会上曾是不光彩的事。
• The stigma of losing weighed heavily on the team.失败的耻辱让整个队伍压力沉重。