2007年VOA标准英语-Candidates for Japanese Prime Minister's Job Di

By Claudia Blume
Hong Kong
19 September 2007

On Sunday, Japan's governing Liberal Democratic Party will choose a successor to Shinzo Abe, who last week tendered his resignation as prime minister.  The election will be a head-to-head battle between the conservative head of the party, Taro¹ Aso, and the more moderate former chief cabinet secretary, Yasuo Fukuda. Claudia Blume at VOA's Asia News Center in Hong Kong takes a closer look at the two candidates, who differ, among other things, on foreign policy issues.

Sixty six-year-old Taro Aso has held several cabinet posts including that of foreign minister, and he is currently the Liberal Democratic Party's secretary-general. He tried to become prime minister twice before, but lost to Junichiro Koizumi, and then to Shinzo Abe.
 
Aso is known for being brash, outspoken² and confrontational³. Tomohito Shinoda, a professor of politics at the International University of Japan, says Aso would take a hard-line approach to the issue of North Korea's Cold War abductions of Japanese citizens.

"While he was foreign minister he kept a hard stance against North Korea, and he strongly believes that pressure is the only way to make North Korea to talk to Japan as well as to other nations," Shinoda said.

Fukuda, the 71-year-old former chief cabinet secretary, is seen as a more moderate politician who seeks a diplomatic solution to the abduction issue. Shinoda says the two men's personalities⁴ are very different.

"Mr. Fukuda is a well-balanced person who has strong common sense - which many Japanese politicians do not have (laughs)," Shinoda said.

The two politicians also differ in other areas of foreign policy.  Rei Shiratori is the president of the Institute for Political Studies, a Tokyo-based research institute. He says the main focus of Prime Minister Abe's foreign policy was a strong relationship between Japan and the United States, and Aso would probably continue this policy.  

Aso also favors a self-assertive stance for Japan vis-a-vis East Asia's other economic giant, China.

Shiratori says that while Fukuda also supports strong ties with the U.S., his top priority would be to seek warm relations with China and Japan's other neighbors.

"Fukuda himself, from earlier days, he is trying to strengthen Japan - Asian countries relations.  That is the main difference," Shiratori said.

Both candidates have stressed the importance of continuing Japan's mission to refuel U.S. ships in the Indian Ocean, in support of U.S.-led military operations in Afghanistan.

But Shinoda says that Fukuda is more likely than Aso to discuss the issue with the opposition⁵ Democratic Party, which opposes the mission.

1 taro   

n.芋，芋头

参考例句：

• Main grain crop has taro,corn,banana to wait.主要粮食作物有芋头、玉米、芭蕉等。
• You celebrate your birthday with taro,red bean and butter.用红豆、芋头和黄油给自己过生日。

2 outspoken   

adj.直言无讳的，坦率的，坦白无隐的

参考例句：

• He was outspoken in his criticism.他在批评中直言不讳。
• She is an outspoken critic of the school system in this city.她是这座城市里学校制度的坦率的批评者。

3 confrontational   

adj.挑衅的；对抗的

参考例句：

• Fans love rappers partly because they strike such a confrontational pose. 乐迷热爱这些饶舌艺人一定程度上是因为他们所采取的那种战斗姿态。 来自互联网
• You prefer a non confrontational approach when it comes to resolving disputes. 面对争端，你不喜欢采用对抗性的手段来解决。 来自互联网

4 personalities   

n. 诽谤，（对某人容貌、性格等所进行的）人身攻击； 人身攻击；人格, 个性, 名人( personality的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• There seemed to be a degree of personalities in her remarks.她话里有些人身攻击的成分。
• Personalities are not in good taste in general conversation.在一般的谈话中诽谤他人是不高尚的。

5 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。