Japanese Deputy Prime Minister Retracts Nazi Comments

　　Japan's Deputy Prime Minister has retracted² his recent comments made in connection with Japan and Nazi³ Germany.

 

　　CRI's Su Yi has more.

 

　　Reporter:

 

　　Taro⁴ Aso issued the statement, after suggesting this week that the current government of Japan could take lessons from how the Nazis⁵ circumvented⁶ the constitution of the-then Weimar Republic to establish an offensive military establishment.

 

　　"I would like to retract¹ my analogy of the Nazi government. I feel it is very unfortunate and regrettable that my comments related to the Nazi government are different from my true intentions and have led to misunderstanding."

 

　　His comments have come amid expected plans by the current Japanese government to try to amend⁷ the country's pacifist constitution to create an offensive military.

 

　　The Chinese government says Taro's Nazi remarks are alarming.

 

　　The South Korean government says the remarks hurt people.

 

　　In reaction to the criticism, the Japanese government has also weighed in.

 

　　Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga:

 

　　"I would like to make it clear that the Abe administration in no way looks positively⁸ at the Nazi government. After the World War II, our nation has consistently built up a society which thoroughly⁹ advocates peace and human rights, and has contributed to the international community. This direction will remain unchanged, going forward."

 

　　Also as part of the speech, Aso says it is natural to visit the Yasukuni shrine¹⁰ to pay tribute to those who sacrificed their lives for the country.

 

　　The shrine in Tokyo which is dedicated¹¹ to honoring Japan's war dead, also enshrines 14 convicted Class-A war criminals.

 

　　Visits to the shrine by Japanese politicians are widely seen as an insult to countries in the region which were invaded by Japan during its years of military expansion.

 

　　Amid the recent remarks made by Japanese politicians, the Chinese government has issued a new statement, calling on the Japanese side to make more "substantial efforts" to improve the relations.

 

　　Foreign Ministry¹² spokeswoman Hua Chunying says "it will not help to solve the problem with only empty slogans calling for a dialogue".

 

　　The Japanese side has repeatedly called for high-level talks with China without any conditions.

 

　　Hua Chunying says a high-level dialogue can come only after adequate preparations.

 

　　She says these have now been hindered by the Japanese side's attitude toward territorial¹³ disputes in the region and the country's history.

 

　　For CRI, I'm Su Yi.

1 retract   

vt.缩回，撤回收回，取消

参考例句：

• The criminals should stop on the precipice, retract from the wrong path and not go any further.犯罪分子应当迷途知返，悬崖勒马，不要在错误的道路上继续走下去。
• I don't want to speak rashly now and later have to retract my statements.我不想现在说些轻率的话，然后又要收回自己说过的话。

2 retracted   

v.撤回或撤消( retract的过去式和过去分词 )；拒绝执行或遵守；缩回；拉回

参考例句：

• He made a false confession which he later retracted. 他作了假供词，后来又翻供。
• A caddy retracted his statement. 一个球童收回了他的话。 来自辞典例句

3 Nazi   

n.纳粹分子，adj.纳粹党的，纳粹的

参考例句：

• They declare the Nazi regime overthrown and sue for peace.他们宣布纳粹政权已被推翻，并出面求和。
• Nazi closes those war criminals inside their concentration camp.纳粹把那些战犯关在他们的集中营里。

4 taro   

n.芋，芋头

参考例句：

• Main grain crop has taro,corn,banana to wait.主要粮食作物有芋头、玉米、芭蕉等。
• You celebrate your birthday with taro,red bean and butter.用红豆、芋头和黄油给自己过生日。

5 Nazis   

n.（德国的）纳粹党员( Nazi的名词复数 )；纳粹主义

参考例句：

• The Nazis worked them over with gun butts. 纳粹分子用枪托毒打他们。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The Nazis were responsible for the mass murder of Jews during World War Ⅱ. 纳粹必须为第二次世界大战中对犹太人的大屠杀负责。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 circumvented   

v.设法克服或避免（某事物），回避( circumvent的过去式和过去分词 )；绕过，绕行，绕道旅行

参考例句：

• By such means the ban against dancing was circumvented. 这样，舞蹈就不至于被禁止。 来自英汉非文学 - 民俗
• It can therefore be circumvented by address manipulation and explicit type conversion. 因而可以通过地址操纵和显式型别转换来绕过此保护功能。 来自互联网

7 amend   

vt.修改，修订，改进；n.[pl.]赔罪，赔偿

参考例句：

• The teacher advised him to amend his way of living.老师劝他改变生活方式。
• You must amend your pronunciation.你必须改正你的发音。

8 positively   

adv.明确地，断然，坚决地；实在，确实

参考例句：

• She was positively glowing with happiness.她满脸幸福。
• The weather was positively poisonous.这天气着实讨厌。

9 thoroughly   

adv.完全地，彻底地，十足地

参考例句：

• The soil must be thoroughly turned over before planting.一定要先把土地深翻一遍再下种。
• The soldiers have been thoroughly instructed in the care of their weapons.士兵们都系统地接受过保护武器的训练。

10 shrine   

n.圣地，神龛，庙；v.将...置于神龛内，把...奉为神圣

参考例句：

• The shrine was an object of pilgrimage.这处圣地是人们朝圣的目的地。
• They bowed down before the shrine.他们在神龛前鞠躬示敬。

11 dedicated   

adj.一心一意的；献身的；热诚的

参考例句：

• He dedicated his life to the cause of education.他献身于教育事业。
• His whole energies are dedicated to improve the design.他的全部精力都放在改进这项设计上了。

12 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

13 territorial   

adj.领土的，领地的

参考例句：

• The country is fighting to preserve its territorial integrity.该国在为保持领土的完整而进行斗争。
• They were not allowed to fish in our territorial waters.不允许他们在我国领海捕鱼。