美国国家公共电台 NPR--President Biden will welcome Japan's prime minister at the White House

President Biden will welcome Japan's prime minister at the White House

Transcript¹

The first official visit to the White House by Japan's prime minister comes as the U.S. praises the country's move toward its biggest military buildup since World War Two.

LEILA FADEL, HOST:

President Biden will welcome Japan's prime minister, Fumio Kishida, to the White House today for his first visit since taking office over a year ago. It comes on the heels of Japan's decision to embark² on its biggest military buildup since the end of World War II. As NPR's Anthony Kuhn reports from Tokyo, the summit is likely to look at how that shift will affect the two countries and their decades-old military alliance.

ANTHONY KUHN, BYLINE³: In meetings in Washington ahead of the summit, Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Defense⁴ Lloyd Austin met with their Japanese counterparts. Blinken praised Japan's surge in investment in its military.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

ANTONY BLINKEN: We applaud Japan's pledge to double defense spending by 2027.

KUHN: While Secretary Austin praised its decision to get long-range missiles.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

LLOYD AUSTIN: We strongly endorse⁵ Japan's decision to acquire a counterstrike capability⁶.

KUHN: Japan's constitution forbids it from waging war. In past, the alliance has been described as the U.S. wielding⁷ the spear while Japan holds the shield. But recent events, including Russia's invasion of Ukraine, tensions in the Taiwan Strait and North Korea's barrage⁸ of missile tests, have all accelerated Japan's policy shift.

MIRNA GALIC: Japan has just seriously upgraded their shield.

KUHN: Mirna Galic is a senior policy analyst⁹ focusing on East Asia at the U.S. Institute of Peace in Washington, D.C.

GALIC: So that means that as a whole, the alliance is stronger. The U.S. can use its resources better with Japan. And so they'll be looking at how to do that.

KUHN: Japan is shifting its military resources south in preparation for what it sees as the most likely contingency¹⁰, an attack by mainland China on Taiwan. Japan has islands close to Taiwan. The U.S. will create a new Marine¹¹ Corps¹² regiment¹³ to help Japan defend them. Here's Defense Secretary Austin again.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

AUSTIN: We're replacing an artillery¹⁴ regiment with an outfit¹⁵ that's more lethal¹⁶, more agile¹⁷, more capable.

KUHN: Military bases in Japan are increasingly within reach of North Korean and Chinese missiles. So U.S. and Japanese troops are working on spreading out and presenting a smaller target.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

KUHN: Last month, U.S. and Japanese military personnel took part in command post exercises in Japan aimed at improving their ability to work together.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

XAVIER BRUNSON: We can't operate the way we once did.

KUHN: Lieutenant¹⁸ General Xavier Brunson, commanding general of the U.S. Army's First Corps, spoke¹⁹ after the drills.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

BRUNSON: The way that our army has operated over the past 20-plus years in Afghanistan and Iraq. We've got to get smaller. And this exercise allowed us to do that.

KUHN: Beneath the official pronouncements, tensions within the alliance remain. Japan's military buildup is in part to show its determination to defend itself and be the kind of nation allies want to support. But it may also be a hedge, says the U.S. Institute of Peace's Mirna Galic, against a return to a president like Donald Trump²⁰, who is openly skeptical²¹ of U.S. allies.

GALIC: That might have been percolating²² under the surface and is still kind of a fear and a concern, that a different U.S. president might pull that again.

KUHN: And as Japan's military clout²³ grows, it may demand a greater say in who calls the shots within the alliance. Shigeru Ishiba is a ruling party lawmaker and former defense minister.

SHIGERU ISHIBA: (Through interpreter) I believe that having the Japan-U.S. relationship as equal as possible will enhance the sustainability of the alliance.

KUHN: It's taken Japan more than seven decades to gradually loosen some of the post-war restraints on its military. Reaching an equal footing with its current ally and former occupier is likely to be a long haul as well.

Anthony Kuhn, NPR News, Tokyo.

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 embark   

vi.乘船，着手，从事，上飞机

参考例句：

• He is about to embark on a new business venture.他就要开始新的商业冒险活动。
• Many people embark for Europe at New York harbor.许多人在纽约港乘船去欧洲。

3 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。

4 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

5 endorse   

vt.(支票、汇票等)背书，背署；批注；同意

参考例句：

• No one is foolish enough to endorse it.没有哪个人会傻得赞成它。
• I fully endorse your opinions on this subject.我完全拥护你对此课题的主张。

6 capability   

n.能力；才能；(pl)可发展的能力或特性等

参考例句：

• She has the capability to become a very fine actress.她有潜力成为杰出演员。
• Organizing a whole department is beyond his capability.组织整个部门是他能力以外的事。

7 wielding   

手持着使用（武器、工具等）( wield的现在分词 )； 具有； 运用（权力）； 施加（影响）

参考例句：

• The rebels were wielding sticks of dynamite. 叛乱分子舞动着棒状炸药。
• He is wielding a knife. 他在挥舞着一把刀。

8 barrage   

n.火力网，弹幕

参考例句：

• The attack jumped off under cover of a barrage.进攻在炮火的掩护下开始了。
• The fierce artillery barrage destroyed the most part of the city in a few minutes.猛烈的炮火几分钟内便毁灭了这座城市的大部分地区。

9 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。

10 contingency   

n.意外事件，可能性

参考例句：

• We should be prepared for any contingency.我们应该对任何应急情况有所准备。
• A fire in our warehouse was a contingency that we had not expected.库房的一场大火是我们始料未及的。

11 marine   

adj.海的；海生的；航海的；海事的；n.水兵

参考例句：

• Marine creatures are those which live in the sea. 海洋生物是生存在海里的生物。
• When the war broke out,he volunteered for the Marine Corps.战争爆发时，他自愿参加了海军陆战队。

12 corps   

n.(通信等兵种的)部队；(同类作的)一组

参考例句：

• The medical corps were cited for bravery in combat.医疗队由于在战场上的英勇表现而受嘉奖。
• When the war broke out,he volunteered for the Marine Corps.战争爆发时，他自愿参加了海军陆战队。

13 regiment   

n.团，多数，管理；v.组织，编成团，统制

参考例句：

• As he hated army life,he decide to desert his regiment.因为他嫌恶军队生活，所以他决心背弃自己所在的那个团。
• They reformed a division into a regiment.他们将一个师整编成为一个团。

14 artillery   

n.(军)火炮，大炮；炮兵(部队)

参考例句：

• This is a heavy artillery piece.这是一门重炮。
• The artillery has more firepower than the infantry.炮兵火力比步兵大。

15 outfit   

n.（为特殊用途的）全套装备，全套服装

参考例句：

• Jenney bought a new outfit for her daughter's wedding.珍妮为参加女儿的婚礼买了一套新装。
• His father bought a ski outfit for him on his birthday.他父亲在他生日那天给他买了一套滑雪用具。

16 lethal   

adj.致死的；毁灭性的

参考例句：

• A hammer can be a lethal weapon.铁锤可以是致命的武器。
• She took a lethal amount of poison and died.她服了致命剂量的毒药死了。

17 agile   

adj.敏捷的，灵活的

参考例句：

• She is such an agile dancer!她跳起舞来是那么灵巧！
• An acrobat has to be agile.杂技演员必须身手敏捷。

18 lieutenant   

n.陆军中尉，海军上尉；代理官员，副职官员

参考例句：

• He was promoted to be a lieutenant in the army.他被提升为陆军中尉。
• He prevailed on the lieutenant to send in a short note.他说动那个副官，递上了一张简短的便条进去。

19 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

20 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

21 skeptical   

adj.怀疑的，多疑的

参考例句：

• Others here are more skeptical about the chances for justice being done.这里的其他人更为怀疑正义能否得到伸张。
• Her look was skeptical and resigned.她的表情是将信将疑而又无可奈何。

22 percolating   

n.渗透v.滤( percolate的现在分词 )；渗透；（思想等）渗透；渗入

参考例句：

• Bubbles simply supply a short cut for the faster-moving percolating gas. 气泡不过是对快速运动的渗透气体提供了一条捷径。 来自辞典例句
• I' ll percolate some coffee, ie make it by percolating. 我去用过滤法煮些咖啡。 来自辞典例句

23 clout   

n.用手猛击；权力，影响力

参考例句：

• The queen may have privilege but she has no real political clout.女王有特权，但无真正的政治影响力。
• He gave the little boy a clout on the head.他在那小男孩的头部打了一下。