By Lian Degui
廉德瑰
The Fumio Kishida administration and the visiting Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and Defense Minister Gen. Phan Van Giang have recently reaffirmed their commitment to a so-called “free and open Indo-Pacific” and the opposition to changing the regional status quo through the use of force. So far, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi have separately held talks with leaders of many countries, including the US, Britain, India, Indonesia, Singapore and Denmark, on issues such as the so-called “free and open Indo-Pacific”. Japan is obviously adopting a diplomatic approach of “befriending distant states and attacking neighbors”.
岸田内阁正在接待越南总理范明政和防长潘文江等政要来访，双方重申所谓“自由开放的印太”和反对使用武力改变现状。迄今为止，首相岸田和外相林芳正已分别同美国、英国、印度、印尼、新加坡、丹麦等多国领导人通话，就所谓“自由开放的印太”等问题进行沟通。日本外交越来越显示出明显的远交近攻特点。
The online talks with China and the Republic of Korea (ROK) didn’t seem to turn around Japan’s relations with its two neighbors, and the trilateral summit has been suspended for two years without any sign of resumption in the near term.
尽管日本与中国和韩国也有线上会谈，但相互关系依然没有显著好转迹象，中日韩三国首脑会谈机制已经连续两年停顿，短期内也看不出有恢复的可能。
The lingering tension in Northeast Asia is mainly caused by Tokyo’s hardline attitude toward China and the ROK in recent years – closely following in America’s steps to forging a strategic containment against China while implementing high-tech sanctions on the ROK. The China-Japan-ROK summit has yielded plenty of results over the years, but it hasn’t been resumed since the last one in December 2019, for which the complicated internal and external political factors should bear the blame although the pandemic did play a part.
东北亚的局势持续紧张。日本政府近年对中、韩两国态度强硬，在对华方向上积极跟随美国构筑战略包围圈，对韩则实施高科技制裁，是导致这种紧张的主要原因。本来，中日韩三国持续多年的首脑会谈取得不少成果，但2019年12月最后一次三国首脑会谈后至今没有重启迹象。疫情虽然一时增加了障碍，但复杂的内外政治原因才是症结所在。
The conflict between Japan and the ROK is focused on historical and territorial issues. Bilateral relations deteriorated because the ROK Supreme Court’s ruling over the case of compensation for forced labor was considered by the Japanese side as against the Agreement on the Settlement of Problems Concerning Property and Claims and on Economic Co-operation between Japan and the ROK signed in 1965 as the issue had long been resolved. Tokyo acted very tough this time and refused to resume bilateral talks unless the ROK changed the court ruling.
日韩之间的矛盾主要集中在历史问题和领土问题上。两国关系的恶化源于韩国大法院对强制劳工赔偿案件的审判结果，日方认为韩方判决违反1965年的“请求权协定”，称该问题早已解决，韩方判决违反国际协议。这次日方态度十分强硬，认为韩方如不解决劳工判决问题，就不恢复日韩会谈。
The conflict between Japan and China is attributable to a list of moves by the Japanese side. It has hyped up the “China threat theory” on the ground of China’s cruise of the Diaoyu Islands, colluded with the US to smear China on such issues as human rights and maritime affairs, played an active part in forming a so-called strategic alliance aimed at besieging China, and assisted the US in roping in all forces possible both inside and outside the region to join their anti-China “chorus” and stall China’s rise.
中日之间，主要是因日方在钓鱼岛问题上借口中国巡航大肆鼓噪“中国威胁论”，并配合美国在人权、涉海等问题上大做文章，还在外交战略上积极构建旨在包围中国的所谓战略同盟，试图协助美国拉拢一切可以拉拢的域内外力量加入反华“大合唱”，阻止中国崛起。
Behind Japan’s hard-ball foreign policy is America’s increasingly overt policy to contain China. The Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) right wing, which is hostile toward China, is egging their mouthpiece Shinzo Abe to take sides, believing that joining hands with the US to contain China is in the interests of Japan’s national security. The right wingers also leverage America’s anti-China policy and instigate the Japanese government to suppress the ROK that doesn’t want to choose a side, attempting to force it to stop using the historical card and give up the anti-Japan policy.
日本强硬对外政策的背景是美国日益露骨的对华遏制政策。日本自民党右派极力推动其代理人安倍晋三选边站队，他们敌视中国，认为跟随美国遏制中国符合日本国家安全利益。对于不愿选边站的韩国，日本自民党右派借助美国的反华政策，怂恿日本政府对韩国进行打压，旨在迫使韩国放弃打历史牌的“反日”政策。
In 2007, Yasuo Fukuda called for finding and consolidating the common ground between the Japan-US alliance and Asian diplomacy, but his successors – Taro Aso, Shinzo Abe and Yoshihide Suga – have all turned to the US side. When Fumio Kishida came into office the second time, he appointed Yoshimasa Hayashi the new foreign minister in defiance of the objection from Abe and Taro. Will the new Kishida-Hayashi team take a strong foothold and break away from the right-wing’s restrictions, give up the current strategy of “befriending distant states and attacking neighbors”, and restart the China-Japan-ROK cooperation mechanism? Will it be able to truly safeguard Japan’s security and economic interests amid the complex and changing international landscape and make more contributions to regional stability and world peace? Let’s wait and see.
2007年，福田康夫曾主张强化日美同盟和亚洲外交的共鸣，但之后，麻生、安倍和菅义伟内阁都表现出“向美一边倒”倾向，岸田第二次组阁，力排众议，不顾安倍、麻生反对，提拔林芳正出任外相，“岸田-林”体制能否在站稳脚跟之后摆脱右派束缚，放弃当前这种惯性的“远交近攻”战略，重启中日韩合作机制，进而在复杂的国际大变局中真正维护日本的安全与经济利益，同时也为地区稳定乃至世界和平做出更多贡献，人们拭目以待。
(Professor Lian Degui is the director of the School of Japanese Studies at Shanghai International Studies University)
（作者是上海外国语大学日本研究中心主任、教授）
Editor's note: This article is originally published on huanqiu.com, and is translated from Chinese into English and edited 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.
