Japan Adopts Major Defense Changes

 

By Steve Herman

Japan has taken another step towards freeing itself from military restrictions¹ in place since the end of World War II. The changes are a significant retreat from the pacifist policies that have kept the role of Japan's Self Defense² Forces limited in scope.

Japan's cabinet on Friday eased a 1976 ban on exporting arms and approved joint³ development of a missile defense system with the United States. Although limited in scope, the actions are part of a steady move away from the country's self defense-only military policy.

Defense Agency Director General Yoshinori Ono says sweeping⁴ changes are needed because the nature of the threat to the country has changed. Mr. Ono says Japan has to be able to respond effectively to such new threats as terrorism and large-scale natural disasters. He adds the country also has to be more involved in international peacekeeping activities.

Despite the changes, the Defense Agency failed to avoid a reduction in military personnel. The powerful Finance Ministry⁵, which has final say over government budgets, insisted on cuts of five-thousand ground troops from the total force of 160,000.

Spending was also cut by about 3.25 percent, to $233 billion over the next five years.

The approval of the new defense guidelines comes a day after the government extended the controversial deployment⁶ of non-combat troops to Iraq for another year.

The dispatch of the 550 troops marked the first time Japan has sent its forces to a country at war in more than 50 years.

The defense report for the first time names China and North Korea as security concerns, although government officials were quick to say that does not mean Japan considers those Asian neighbors a military threat. However, the government on Friday filed a protest with Beijing over a Chinese vessel⁷ allegedly intruding⁸ on Japan's exclusive economic zone earlier in the day.

Analysts⁹ say the military changes will greatly increase security cooperation with U.S. forces. The new budget allocates¹⁰ nearly $5 billion over five years to develop the new missile defense system.

Japan began joint research on missile defense with the United States in 1998. The move was prompted by North Korea's launching of a ballistic missile over Japan that year.

Japan's always tenuous¹¹ relations with North Korea took a step backward Friday when a parliamentary task force of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party approved a non-binding resolution calling for a cutoff of aid to the communist state.

Japanese are furious that human remains¹² handed over by Pyongyang, supposedly those of two Japanese kidnapped by North Korea during the Cold War, were determined¹³ this week to be those of other people.

Friday's resolution demands a suspension of all food and humanitarian¹⁴ aid to the impoverished¹⁵ North until Pyongyang provides a full and honest accounting¹⁶ of the fate of all Japanese abductees.

Foreign Minister Nobutaka Machimura on Friday told a special committee of Japan's lower house of parliament that the country will not give further food aid to North Korea, even if asked to do so by the World Food Program.

注释：
restriction 限制
pacifist 和平主义者
scope 范围
peacekeeping 维护和平的
reduction 约简
guideline 指导方针
controversial 有争议的
vessel 船, 舰
alleged 所谓的
allocate 划拨
ballistic missile 弹道导弹
tenuous 微妙的
impoverished 穷困的

1 restrictions   

约束( restriction的名词复数 )； 管制； 制约因素； 带限制性的条件（或规则）

参考例句：

• I found the restrictions irksome. 我对那些限制感到很烦。
• a snaggle of restrictions 杂乱无章的种种限制

2 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。

3 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。

4 sweeping   

adj.范围广大的，一扫无遗的

参考例句：

• The citizens voted for sweeping reforms.公民投票支持全面的改革。
• Can you hear the wind sweeping through the branches?你能听到风掠过树枝的声音吗？

5 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。

6 deployment   

n. 部署,展开

参考例句：

• He has inquired out the deployment of the enemy troops. 他已查出敌军的兵力部署情况。
• Quality function deployment (QFD) is a widely used customer-driven quality, design and manufacturing management tool. 质量功能展开(quality function deployment,QFD)是一个广泛应用的顾客需求驱动的设计、制造和质量管理工具。

7 vessel   

n.船舶；容器，器皿；管，导管，血管

参考例句：

• The vessel is fully loaded with cargo for Shanghai.这艘船满载货物驶往上海。
• You should put the water into a vessel.你应该把水装入容器中。

8 intruding   

v.侵入，侵扰，打扰( intrude的现在分词)；把…强加于

参考例句：

• Does he find his new celebrity intruding on his private life? 他是否感觉到他最近的成名侵扰了他的私生活？
• After a few hours of fierce fighting,we saw the intruding bandits off. 经过几小时的激烈战斗，我们赶走了入侵的匪徒。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。

10 allocates   

分配，分派( allocate的第三人称单数 )； 把…拨给

参考例句：

• The state allocates huge funds for the development of aid-agriculture industries. 国家拨出大批资金，发展支农工业。
• The value that then I create value allocates part to discuss. 于是我把价值创造的价值分配分别开来论述。

11 tenuous   

adj.细薄的，稀薄的，空洞的

参考例句：

• He has a rather tenuous grasp of reality.他对现实认识很肤浅。
• The air ten miles above the earth is very tenuous.距离地面十公里的空气十分稀薄。

12 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。

13 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。

14 humanitarian   

n.人道主义者，博爱者，基督凡人论者

参考例句：

• She has many humanitarian interests and contributes a lot to them.她拥有很多慈善事业，并作了很大的贡献。
• The British government has now suspended humanitarian aid to the area.英国政府现已暂停对这一地区的人道主义援助。

15 impoverished   

adj.穷困的，无力的，用尽了的v.使（某人）贫穷( impoverish的过去式和过去分词 )；使（某物）贫瘠或恶化

参考例句：

• the impoverished areas of the city 这个城市的贫民区
• They were impoverished by a prolonged spell of unemployment. 他们因长期失业而一贫如洗。 来自《简明英汉词典》

16 accounting   

n.会计，会计学，借贷对照表

参考例句：

• A job fell vacant in the accounting department.财会部出现了一个空缺。
• There's an accounting error in this entry.这笔账目里有差错。