Editorial丨Being an ally no excuse to wink at Japan's move

The wide protests in the Republic of Korea before and after Japan began discharging nuclear-contaminated water from the tsunami-destroyed Fukushima nuclear power plant into the Pacific Ocean should serve to prompt the Yoon Suk-yeol government to rethink its stance.

在日本将核污染水从曾被海啸摧毁的福岛核电站排入太平洋前后，韩国发生的广泛抗议活动应该会促使尹锡悦政府重新考虑其立场。

However, the Yoon government is not the only party that has chosen to put politics above science and facts. Although the Joe Biden administration has praised Japan for handling the matter in a transparent and responsible way, Japan's seafood exports to the United States have experienced the largest reduction over the past half a year among all countries, mainly due to US consumers' safety concerns.

然而，尹锡悦政府并非唯一一个选择把政治置于科学和事实之上的政党。尽管拜登政府赞扬了日本以透明和负责任的方式处理此事，但在过去半年中日本对美国的海产品出口在所有国家中降幅最大，其主要原因是美国消费者的对安全的担忧。

The attitudes of the two governments apparently do not reflect the mainstream view of the public in the two countries.

两国政府的态度显然没有反映出两国公众的主流观点。

It is a similar situation among other countries taking part in the US' "Indo-Pacific" strategy.

其他参与美国印太战略的国家也存在类似的情况。

Apart from manipulating the International Atomic Energy Agency to give the nod to its water discharge plan, Japan had also done tremendous work from March to August to take advantage of multilateral platforms, particularly the G7 Hiroshima summit, following which a de facto Quad summit was also held, and the recent Camp David summit, to lobby other countries to at least seal their mouths over its toxic water discharge arrangements.

除了操纵国际原子能机构认可其核污染水排海计划，3月到8月期间，日本还利用多边平台做了大量工作，特别是七国集团广岛峰会，其之后的四方伙伴关系领导人峰会和最近的戴维营峰会，游说其他国家至少不谈论日本的有毒水排放计划。

The words of Washington and Tokyo on how they care about the well-being of people in Southeast Asia and the Pacific island countries still ring in people's ears. But the outcries of these nations against the move of Japan, which treats the ocean as a sewer, has clearly fallen on the deaf ears of the honeymouthed US and Japanese politicians.

美国和日本关心东南亚和太平洋岛国人民的福祉的话仍然在人们的耳边回响。但这些国家反对日本把海洋当作下水道的强烈呼声，美日政客们充耳不闻。

It is a shame that having pledged generous indemnities to Japanese fishers for their losses as long as the water discharge lasts, the Fumio Kishida government has not mentioned any compensation for the fishing communities and related industries of other countries that will also be impacted by its selfish decision.

日本应该感到羞愧的是，它曾承诺只要持续排海，就会慷慨赔偿日本渔民的损失，但岸田文雄政府没有提到任何对渔区的补偿，其他国家的相关行业也会受其自私决定的影响。

It is the collective silence of the US-led club that has not only emboldened Tokyo to ignore the outcries of neighboring countries but also encouraged it to go so far as to level unfounded countercharges against the justified concerns raised by China, and other non-US club countries, over its irresponsible and dangerous move.

以美国为首的俱乐部集体沉默，其不仅鼓励日本忽视邻国的抗议，也鼓励日本对中国与其他非美国俱乐部国家因其不负责任和危险的举动提出的合理担忧进行毫无根据的反驳。

By smearing other countries for criticizing its move, it is trying to muffle any opposition to its wrongdoing.

通过诋毁其他国家批评其举动的行为，日本试图压制所有对其不当行为的反对。

Nuclear security, nuclear-related emergency responses, food safety, protection of the marine environment and other environmental issues, all are brandished by the US-led club as priority safety issues calling for consultation and cooperation. However, none of the club's members have taken a firm position in opposition to Japan's irresponsible and risky move.

核安全、核相关的应急反应、食品安全、海洋环境保护和其他环境问题，都是由美国领导的俱乐部作为优先安全问题要求协商和合作的。然而，没有一个俱乐部成员坚定立场，反对日本不负责任和冒险的举动。

Their unwillingness to stand against the US on the issue will nail them to history's pole of shame.

他们不愿在这个问题上反对美国，而这将把他们钉在历史的耻辱柱上。

Smear

英/smɪə/美/smɪr/

v.污蔑﹐诽谤