By Chen Qinhan
陈沁涵
The in-person meeting between Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga and US President Joe Biden on April 16 lasted 20 minutes, which was later expanded into a group meeting that lasted another two and a half hours.
16日，日本首相菅义伟16日与美国总统拜登举行一对一会谈持续了20分钟，随后扩大为小组会议，整个过程共持续了两个半小时。
Both American and Japanese media reported that the topic high on the meeting agenda was China, which was well expected. Still, the people who are concerned also noticed a difference in the two leaders' stance on several China-related issues.
美日媒体报道均指出，会谈的首要议题是中国。这在很多人意料之中，但与此同时，他们也注意到，菅义伟和拜登对多个涉华议题的立场存在“温差”。
Half a century on, Japan has developed an increasingly close economic and trade relation with China, and it has to be careful about the immense shocks that might result from a rupture of bilateral relations. According to a report by The New York Times on April 17, Mr. Suga stuck carefully to his script when he talked about “China’s influence”. Issuing no warnings to China, he simply said the two leaders agreed to “the importance of peace and stability” of the Taiwan Strait, as written in the joint statement.
经过近半个多世纪的发展，日本与中国的经贸关系日益密切，因而日本不得不忌惮与中国关系破裂可能带来的巨大冲击。《纽约时报》17日报道称，菅义伟在记者会上谈及“中国影响”时小心翼翼地对照资料宣读，关于台湾问题，菅义伟并没有对中国发出警告，仅简单重复联合声明中的内容。
In comparison, Biden was more outspoken about his stance on China. According to a BBC report, many analysts believed the Biden administration had released definite strategic signals – the US is committed to reinforcing its alliance with Japan while simultaneously urging for a quad alliance of the US, Japan, Australia, and India to respond to the so-called all-round threats from China.
相比之下，拜登全然不避讳自身对华立场。英国广播公司（BBC）报道称，多方分析认为，拜登政府释放的战略信号十分明确——美国将致力于重新巩固美日同盟核心，并同时促成“美日澳印四国统一战线，以对应中国的全方位挑战”。
In the latest US-Japan joint leaders’ statement, the two countries underscore “the importance of peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait”. The last time Taiwan was mentioned in a US-Japan joint leaders’ statement was in November 1969, the heyday of the Cold War, when the then US President Nixon met with visiting Japanese Prime Minister Eisaku Sato in Washington.
在最新美日联合声明中，美日再度强调“台湾海峡和平稳定的重要性”，而上次美日首脑联合声明提及台湾还是冷战高峰时期的1969年11月，彼时时任美国总统尼克松在华盛顿会晤了到访的时任日本首相佐藤荣作。
Ben Ascione, a research associate at the Japan Centre for International Exchange and Assistant Professor at the Graduate School of Asia-Pacific Studies, Waseda University, said in an interview with The Paper that from Japan’s perspective, the wording about Taiwan in the joint statement was nothing more than a “standard expression” used by Japanese Foreign Ministry. “It was mentioned at the US-Japan two-plus-two meeting in March this year, and now it’s put into the statement. There is report that Washington hoped for Japan to make a more aggressive statement about Taiwan, but Tokyo refused because it wants to keep things the way they are.”
日本国际交流中心研究员、早稻田大学大学院亚太研究科助理教授本•阿西奥内（Ben Ascione）在接受澎湃新闻采访时表示，从日方的角度来看，联合声明中针对台湾的话语属于日本外务省一直以来的“标准表述”，“今年3月‘美日2+2’会议中就说过，这次只是将其写入声明。有报道称美国希望日本对台湾问题有更强势的表态，显然日方不答应，因为日本只希望维持现状。”
Compared with the Taiwan question, what Tokyo is more concerned with may be the Diaoyu Island issue. The United States just restated in the joint statement that Article V of the U.S.-Japan Treaty of Mutual Cooperation and Security applies to the Diaoyu Island. Nakanishi Hiroshi, professor of the Graduate School of Law at Kyoto University, held that Japan actually hoped for a tougher statement from the US regarding this issue, but it was obviously disappointed.
相比台湾问题，日本更为关心的议题或许是钓鱼岛问题。在联合声明中，美国再次重申钓鱼岛适用于《美日安保条约》第5条。对此，京都大学法学研究科教授中西宽认为，日本其实希望美国在钓鱼岛问题上有更强硬的表态，期待美国可有关于钓鱼岛主权归属的表态，然而美国并没有这么做。
The US-Japan joint statement also pointed fingers at human rights issues in China. In response, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Wang Wenbin said at the regular press conference on April 19 that “on human rights issues, Japan and the US are in debt to the Chinese people and the world’s people…What Japan and the US should do is to reflect on their aggression in history and redress wrong actions that violate human right in other countries, rather than meddling in China’s internal affairs under the disguise of human rights.”
另外，美日联合声明还对中国的人权问题指手画脚。对此，中国外交部发言人汪文斌在4月19日的例行记者会上表示，在人权问题上，日美两国对中国人民和世界人民是有欠账的，“日美应该做的是切实反省，并纠正自己的侵略行径和侵犯他国人权的错误行为，而不是打着人权幌子行干涉中国内政之事。”
“Despite deepening cooperation between the US and Japan, Tokyo, restricted by its Constitution, won’t make any radical change in its security policy,” said Ben Ascione. He held that although the Biden administration hasn’t formed a full-fledged Asia policy yet, all signs are pointing to the Asia Pacific as a priority in its diplomatic framework, with China at the core. “Japan has the potential to act as a bridge between China and the US and spur on the sound competition.”
“虽然日美合作将进一步深化，但日本因受限于宪法，故在安保政策上不会做出激进的改变。”阿西奥内认为，尽管眼下拜登政府的亚洲政策还未成形，但可以看出亚太地区是其外交政策的一个重点，而中国又是重中之重，“日本有潜力在中美竞争之间扮演桥梁角色，推动良性竞争。”
“Between China and the US, Japan has obviously picked the US’ side, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it will be antagonistic toward China. One of Japan’s missions is to consolidate America’s influence in Asia,” Toshihiro Nakayama, a professor at the Faculty of Policy Management at Keio University, told The Paper.
“在中美之间，虽然日本很显然选择了美国，但这并不意味着日本要与中国为敌。日本的使命之一是巩固美国在亚洲的影响力。” 庆应义塾大学综合政策学部教授中山俊宏对澎湃新闻表示。
Given its close economic relations with China, Japan has a strong will to avoid a deterioration of bilateral ties. Nakanishi Hiroshi from Kyoto University analyzed that except in a few areas, Japan is unwilling to delink from China and expects to “become the window and bridge for China-US dialogue.”
由于日本在经济层面与中国关系紧密，故避免日中关系恶化的意愿也很强烈。京都大学法学研究科教授中西宽对澎湃新闻分析称，除部分领域外，日本都不愿与中国“脱钩”，“日本期待尽可能成为中美对话的窗口和桥梁。”
Editor's note: This article is an excerpt from an article written by thepaper.cn based on interviews with Japanese scholars, and has been edited and translated from Chinese into English by the China Military Online. The information, ideas or opinions appearing in this article do not necessarily reflect the views of eng.chinamil.com.cn.
