2006年VOA标准英语-Okinawans Rally in Opposition to US Milita

By Steve Herman
Okinawa, Japan
05 March 2006

Musical protest in Okinawa    
  
Thousands of people have rallied Sunday on the southern Japanese island of Okinawa to express continuing opposition¹ to the presence of U.S. military bases there. The event was held just weeks before a base realignment plan, negotiated by Japan and the United States, is to be finalized².

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Okinawans on Sunday expressed their feelings about the U.S. military presence here through music, rather than marches. 
 

Shokicni Kina  
  
After singing two anti-war songs, the veteran activist³ musician-politicianShokichi Kina, who represents Okinawa in the Upper House of Parliament, again took the stage to criticize both Washington and Tokyo for their failure to remove the U.S. military presence from the island.

Kina, of the opposition Democratic Party, says it is time for Okinawa to once again be independent of Japan.

Okinawa was once known as the independent Ryukyu kingdom. After centuries of prosperity, it came under Japanese control in 1872 and passed into American hands at the end of World War II. The United States returned Okinawa to Japan in 1972.

Okinawans complain their wishes are being ignored. Okinawa makes up less than one percent of Japan's land mass but hosts the bulk of the U.S. forces in Japan - both in size and number of personnel.

 
Okinawans against US bases in Ginowan rally
  
There are some 25,000 American military personnel assigned to Okinawa at numerous Marine⁴ camps, Naval⁵ bases and smaller facilities as part of the U.S. commitment of a bilateral⁶ alliance to defend Japan.

Okinawans want U.S. military personnel to leave, citing crimes committed by U.S. troops, aircraft noise and the potential danger from crashes of helicopters and jets.

The military presence has long been a sensitive subject on Okinawa, where one in three civilians⁷ perished in World War II, many caught in the crossfire⁸ between the American and Japanese armies.

Teruko Kuwae speaking at rally  
  
Speaking at Sunday's rally, a former Okinawa city bureaucrat⁹, Teruko Kuwae, demanded that the central Japanese government pay more attention to the requests of residents.

Kuwae says Japan is slavish in paying heed¹⁰ to the desires of President Bush and the United States, but it is harsh when it comes to its treatment of Okinawa.

U.S. and Japanese officials say they will announce at the end of this month that some seven thousand U.S. Marines will move from Okinawa to Guam, an American island territory in the western Pacific. But Okinawans complain that falls far short of the type of significant reduction they have long demanded.

Organizers of Sunday's rally say 35,000 people attended. The number appeared to be far short of that despite the fine weather and far lower than had been expected. That could be a sign that Japan's central government will face less resistance to the base realignment plan from the public than some Okinawan politicians and activists¹¹ predict.

1 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

2 finalized   

vt.完成（finalize的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• The draft of this article has been finalized [done]. 这篇文章已经定稿。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• The draft was revised several times before it was finalized. 稿子几经删改才定下来。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

3 activist   

n.活动分子，积极分子

参考例句：

• He's been a trade union activist for many years.多年来他一直是工会的积极分子。
• He is a social activist in our factory.他是我厂的社会活动积极分子。

4 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。

5 naval   

adj.海军的，军舰的，船的

参考例句：

• He took part in a great naval battle.他参加了一次大海战。
• The harbour is an important naval base.该港是一个重要的海军基地。

6 bilateral   

adj.双方的，两边的，两侧的

参考例句：

• They have been negotiating a bilateral trade deal.他们一直在商谈一项双边贸易协定。
• There was a wide gap between the views of the two statesmen on the bilateral cooperation.对双方合作的问题，两位政治家各自所持的看法差距甚大。

7 civilians   

平民，百姓( civilian的名词复数 )； 老百姓

参考例句：

• the bloody massacre of innocent civilians 对无辜平民的血腥屠杀
• At least 300 civilians are unaccounted for after the bombing raids. 遭轰炸袭击之后，至少有300名平民下落不明。

8 crossfire   

n.被卷进争端

参考例句：

• They say they are caught in the crossfire between the education establishment and the government.他们称自己被卷进了教育机构与政府之间的争端。
• When two industrial giants clash,small companies can get caught in the crossfire.两大工业企业争斗之下，小公司遭受池鱼之殃。

9 bureaucrat   

n. 官僚作风的人，官僚，官僚政治论者

参考例句：

• He was just another faceless bureaucrat.他只不过是一个典型呆板的官员。
• The economy is still controlled by bureaucrats.经济依然被官僚们所掌控。

10 heed   

v.注意，留意；n.注意，留心

参考例句：

• You must take heed of what he has told.你要注意他所告诉的事。
• For the first time he had to pay heed to his appearance.这是他第一次非得注意自己的外表不可了。

11 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》