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发表于 2011-12-29 11:22:24
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在某个人的部落格里抠来的。
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Every once in a while, "politicians' leadership" emerges in Japan, too. For example, the normalization of diplomatic Japan nostalgic for Tanaka-style leadershipties between Japan and China was realized in September 1972, less than three months after the establishment of the Cabinet headed by Prime Minister Kakuei Tanaka (1918-1993). While a growing number of countries were recognizing China, some pro-Taiwan members of the Liberal Democratic Party were against it. Tanaka, who flew to Beijing with Foreign Minister Masayoshi Ohira (1910-1980), braced himself, thinking his and Ohira's powers as politicians would be put to test.
According to recently disclosed diplomatic documents, Tanaka also invited Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai (1898-1976) to Japan, saying, "When a state guest house is completed, we wish to receive you as our first guest."
Politicians decide directions and bureaucrats pave the way for them. This is how it should be.
Perhaps it would be too harsh to compare Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda's recent visit to China with Tanaka's, but I wonder how effective Noda's visit was. Although it may be meaningful to talk with Chinese leaders about North Korea at this juncture, the prime minister's speech and behavior were apparently too "loyal" to scripts prepared by bureaucrats.
Both economically and militarily, the weight China carries in today's international society is far heavier than it was 40 years ago. Because of its overconfident attitude and behavior, Asian seas are turbulent. In many pending issues between Japan and China, including the gas field development in the East China Sea and the lending of pandas, China seems to be taking the initiative.
For a country to face another country under unfavorable circumstances, it needs to doubly step up its diplomatic power, but Japan today has no Tanaka or Ohira at its helm. All it has are prime ministers and foreign ministers who have much smaller political powers and keep changing all the time. Some bureaucrats who gave up on politics are perking up.
Prime Minister Tanaka, who was very popular with the public, was eventually forced to step down because of sharp rise in prices and criticism for his shady political funds. The Lockheed bribery scandal dealt the final blow to him. But despite such problems, in an Asahi Shimbun survey conducted two years ago, he was the most popular among postwar Japanese prime ministers. Politicians with small political powers are not the only ones to blame for the current stalled politics. But yearning for strong leadership by politicians is apparently beyond reason.
--The Asahi Shimbun, Dec. 27
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