美日取消冲绳基地2014年迁移期限

The United States and Japan have agreed to drop a 2014 deadline for completing the relocation of a critical U.S. Marine base on the southern Japanese island of Okinawa. The agreement, aimed at easing a thorny issue in bilateral relations, came at meeting of the two countries’ foreign and defense ministers in Washington.

美国和日本同意取消以2014年为美军在冲绳基地完全迁移的最后期限。这项共识是美日外交和国防首长在华盛顿会谈中达成的，目的在于缓和双边关系中的一个棘手问题。

Implementation of the base deal, intended to ease the impact of U.S. forces on Okinawa, has been delayed by Japanese politics, including protests by islanders that it does not go far enough to reduce base-related noise and pollution.

为了舒解美国驻军对冲绳形成的压力而达成的基地搬迁协议，已经由于日本方面的政情而延缓执行。这些政治情势，包括冲绳岛居民因为协定内容，不足以减低美军基地造成的噪音和污染问题而引发的抗议活动。

The agreement announced here is a recognition that the 2014 completion date cannot be met. But it also commits Japan to complete the costly project “at the earliest possible date” after 2014, and to help underwrite the relocation of some U.S. troops to Guam.

美日双方这次在华盛顿公布的协议承认以2014年为迁移完成期限一点无法做到。但是协议也要求日本承诺在2014年之后，尽早完成这项耗资巨大的迁移计划，并且资助部分美军人员调往关岛。

The anticipated compromise deal was announced at a closing news conference of a two-day meeting of the Pacific allies’ foreign and defense ministers, hosted by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

这项预期中的协议，是在为期两天的美日外交国防部长级会议结束后的记者会上宣布的。会议的东道主是美国国务卿克林顿。

Defense Secretary Robert Gates said he and Clinton raised a recent letter by key U.S. Senators suggesting the base deal be re-examined because of delays and cost-overruns.

美国国防部长盖茨说，他和克林顿国务卿提出了美国资深参议员最近的一封信，信中对基地迁移协定的延搁和费用超支表示不满，建议重新考量。

“The letter from Senators [Jim] Webb and [Carl] Levin about the realignment is really a manifestation of growing Congressional impatience with the lack of progress. We both reaffirmed the U.S. government’s commitment to the 2006 realignment plan, but at the same time emphasized the importance of concrete progress over the next year,” Gates said.

盖茨说：“韦布和莱文参议员有关重新部署协定的来信，确实反映出国会对此事缺乏进展日益感到不耐烦。我们双方重申美国政府对2006年拟订的重新部署驻军计划的承诺，但同时也强调明年开始稳定进展的重要性。”

The so-called two-plus-two meeting was the first between the two allies in four years, and the first involving ministers of the Democratic Party of Japan, which has been often been critical of the U.S. military presence.

这项所谓二加二会议，是四年来美日双方首次举行的此类会议，也是首次包括了日本民主党籍的部长级官员。日本民主党经常批评美军在日本驻扎的问题。