Why some 55,000 U.S. military personnel in Japan will be confined to their bases

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Why some 55,000 U.S. military personnel in Japan will be confined to their bases

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For the next two weeks, U.S. military personnel will be confined to their bases. Japan's government last week demanded the U.S. impose stricter measures to stem a surge in COVID-19 cases.

A MARTINEZ, HOST:

Some 55,000 U.S. military personnel will be confined to their bases in Japan for the next two weeks, except for what are deemed essential activities. The restrictions² are intended to beat back a surge in COVID cases in Japan and, as NPR's Anthony Kuhn reports from Seoul, also to defuse tensions in an alliance at the center of the U.S.'s Asia policy.

ANTHONY KUHN, BYLINE³: The restrictions were announced Sunday in a joint⁴ press release by the Japanese government and U.S. Forces Japan - or USFJ. Last week, Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi demanded that the U.S. impose tougher restrictions on U.S. bases. Denny Tamaki, the governor of Okinawa prefecture, where new COVID cases jumped to record highs, told reporters last week he believes that U.S. military bases spread the coronavirus to local communities.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

DENNY TAMAKI: (Non-English language spoken).

KUHN: "I have to say that the rapid increase in the number of positive cases in the U.S. military," he said, "is a sign of inadequate⁵ infection control measures and management systems. And I am infuriated." USFJ's website put the number of positive cases as of Friday at over 2,100. On Sunday, three prefectures, including Okinawa, which hosts U.S. bases, went under states of semi-emergency. Tsugumasa Muraoka, governor of Yamaguchi prefecture, which is home to a U.S. Marine⁶ Corps⁷ air base, blamed the problem on lax U.S. virus control measures.

TSUGUMASA MURAOKA: (Through interpreter) Since early September, personnel coming from the U.S. to bases in Japan were not tested for COVID before departure. What should have been done was not done.

KUHN: In an email, Major Thomas Barger, a spokesperson for USFJ, said that the U.S. CDC, the Pentagon and Indo-Pacific Command stopped requiring pre-departure tests in September but resumed them on December 26. He notes that over 98% of active duty USFJ personnel are now vaccinated⁸. Daniel Sneider, a Stanford University expert on Japan's foreign policy, notes that the COVID issue comes as Tokyo and Washington are tightening⁹ their alliance to deal with shared security challenges, particularly China. Sneider says the U.S. would be making a mistake if it didn't take Japan's concerns about COVID on U.S. bases seriously.

DANIEL SNEIDER: You know, if you start alarming the Japanese population so that they perceive the presence of American troops as a sort of super spreader event for Japan as a whole, that has a real long-term effect just in terms of undermining what are, for the most part, pretty good relations between the U.S. military and Japan and the surrounding communities.

KUHN: Sneider notes that relations are more difficult on the island of Okinawa. It has less than 1% of Japan's land but hosts more than 70% of U.S. military bases in the country. New COVID cases on Saturday in Okinawa jumped 30 times over the previous Saturday. Okinawan anthropologist¹⁰ Hideki Yoshikawa says that when he sees maskless U.S. military personnel on the street, it makes him wonder...

HIDEKI YOSHIKAWA: What kind of prevention measures that the U.S. military as a whole was taking. You have this spread of the coronavirus and then military people going out of their bases and going to their local communities and not wearing masks.

KUHN: Some critics say the root of the problem is the 1960s status of forces agreement between Tokyo and Washington exempting¹¹ U.S. troops from Japanese border controls. Foreign Minister Hayashi said Friday that Tokyo has no plans to change that agreement.

Anthony Kuhn, NPR News, Seoul.

(SOUNDBITE OF MOVE 78 AND AVER'S "PEARLS BEFORE SWINE")

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 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

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 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。

5 inadequate   

adj.(for,to)不充足的，不适当的

参考例句：

• The supply is inadequate to meet the demand.供不应求。
• She was inadequate to the demands that were made on her.她还无力满足对她提出的各项要求。

6 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。

7 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。

8 vaccinated   

[医]已接种的，种痘的，接种过疫菌的

参考例句：

• I was vaccinated against tetanus. 我接种了破伤风疫苗。
• Were you vaccinated against smallpox as a child? 你小时候打过天花疫苗吗？

9 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。

10 anthropologist   

n.人类学家，人类学者

参考例句：

• The lecturer is an anthropologist.这位讲师是人类学家。
• The anthropologist unearthed the skull of an ancient human at the site.人类学家在这个遗址挖掘出那块古人类的颅骨。

11 exempting   

使免除[豁免]( exempt的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• EPA adopted regulations exempting discharges from agricultural activities, with certain exceptions for relatively major pollution sources. 环境保护局采用管制规章，禁止源自农业活动的各种排放，对于一些相关的大型污染源也有例外。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法