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Relations between U.S. military personnel and Japanese communities that host military bases are growing emotional following a spate¹ of crimes committed by U.S. servicemen. The incidents have prompted calls by Japan's opposition² party for a re-evaluation of defense³ pacts⁵, and have led U.S. commanders to clamp down on their troops.

随着美军士兵近来出现一连串犯罪，美军和驻日美军基地附近日本居民之间的关系愈发紧张。日本反对党呼吁重新评估两国间的防务协议。此外，美军指挥官也对部下采取整顿措施。

In early April, Japanese authorities arrested a U.S. sailor on charges of killing⁶ and robbing a taxi driver near Tokyo. The serviceman had deserted⁷ from the U.S. Yokosuka Naval⁸ Base.

4月初，日本当局逮捕了一名美国水兵，罪名是在东京附近谋杀并抢劫了一名出租车司机。此前，这名美国军人从横须贺海军基地开小差逃走。

Before that, in February, U.S. military police on the island of Okinawa took a Marine⁹ into custody¹⁰ following allegations that he raped¹² a Japanese teenager. The girl's family decided¹³ not to press charges, but the Marine faces a possible court martial¹⁴.

今年2月，美国军警在冲绳岛拘捕了一名美国海军陆战队士兵。他被控强奸了一名日本少女。虽然这名少女的家人决定不提出起诉，但是这名士兵可能面临军事法庭审判 。

And next month the military plans to court-martial four Marines accused of gang-raping a woman in the western Japanese city of Hiroshima.

下个月，美国军方打算把4名海军陆战队成员送上军事法庭。他们被控在日本西部城市广岛强暴一名妇女。

Each incident has inflamed¹⁵ emotions in the Japanese communities around U.S. bases, and has renewed an old debate about how to keep U.S. troops in line.

每次事件都激发了美军基地周围日本居民的愤慨，而且再度引发如何整治驻日美军的争议。

More than 47,000 U.S. troops are stationed in Japan, about half of them on Okinawa, Japan's smallest prefecture. Residents there are especially sensitive to the latest incidents, because it brings back memories of a 1995 case, when three U.S. servicemen kidnapped and raped a 12-year-old Okinawan schoolgirl.

驻日美军人数总共有四万七千多人，其中有近一半人在日本最小的县冲绳。当地居民对最近发生的事件特别敏感。早在1995年，就曾发生一起美军士兵绑架并强暴一名十二岁的小女孩的案件。

That prompted large anti-base protests and strained U.S.-Japan relations.

那一案件激发了大规模的反基地抗议，并导致美日关系紧张。

Lieutenant¹⁶ Colonel Douglas Powell is the Marine spokesman on Okinawa. He says although the crime rate among U.S. Marines is far lower than that of the general population, the military is fully¹⁷ responsible for any crime committed by its troops.

道格拉斯.鲍威尔中校是美军驻冲绳的海军陆战队发言人。他说，虽然美国海军陆战队的犯罪率比一般人口的犯罪率低得多，但是美国军方仍然要对部下犯下的任何罪行承担全部责任。

"We are guests here in Japan," he said. "Even though we as U.S. military here in Japan have very low crime rate, half that of the local population, still we are guests here and one incident is one too many."

他说：“我们在日本是客人。即使驻日美军的犯罪率很低，只有一般人口犯罪率的一半，但是我们在这里是客人，即使只出一件事也是不可容许的。”

Powell says that in 2007 around one percent of all crimes on Okinawa were committed by U.S. personnel, who make up about three percent of the prefecture's population.

鲍威尔说，在2007年，在冲绳地区的全部犯罪案例中，有百分之一是美军士兵所为，而美军人数占冲绳县总人口的百分之三。

The crime rate for the military on Okinawa has declined in recent years. The Okinawa Prefectural Police say the number of arrests for felonies or serious misdemeanors by troops and their dependents fell to 46 in 2006 from 133 in 2003.

近年来冲绳美军的犯罪率下降。冲绳县警方说，2006年美军部队及其家属因重罪或严重犯罪行为而被捕的案例有四十六起，而2003年则有一百三十三起。

But to improve relations with Okinawans and to reduce the chances of new problems, after this latest rape¹¹ allegation the military imposed a sweeping¹⁸ curfew on service members, civilian¹⁹ employees and family members. The military also restricted alcohol purchases. The restrictions²⁰ were eased after two weeks, but servicemen are still subject to a night-time curfew.

但是在最近的这起强暴案之后，美国军方为了改善和冲绳居民的关系并降低更多犯罪事件爆发的可能性，对军人、文职人员及其家属全面施行宵禁。美国军方还限制酒类销售。有关禁令在两周后被解除，但是军人仍然必需遵守宵禁规定。

Powell says U.S. commanders and Okinawa officials are discussing other ways to reduce problems, such as joint²¹ police patrols in bar districts.

But for some people who live near bases, such as Suzuyo Takazato, those measures are not enough. Takazato is a co-founder of the Okinawa Women's Act Against Military Violence. She says residents of Okinawa think U.S. and Japanese officials have let them down, especially after this latest incident.

然而对某些住在军事基地附近的居民，例如高里说来，那些措施还不够。高里是冲绳妇女反对驻军暴力行动组织的共同创办人。她说，冲绳居民认为，美国和日本官方辜负了他们的期望，尤其是在最近的事件发生之后更是如此。

She says apologies by U.S. officials, including one in February by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, are appreciated. But she says they do not solve the problem. What would solve the problem, she says, is for the U.S. military to leave Okinawa.

她说，感谢美国官方的道歉，包括美国国务卿赖斯2月的道歉。但是她说，那些道歉没有解决问题。她说，解决问题的办法是美军撤离冲绳。

"We feel always they promise that they are so respectful and that they will train, they will discipline their soldiers, but it's really repeatedly it's happening, we don't see the new solution," she said.

她说：“我们觉得他们老是保证他们会遵纪守法，会训练并管好自己的士兵，但是这种事情却再三发生，我们并没有看到新的解决方法。”

However, many people on Okinawa are hesitant to call for closing the bases, because of the jobs they create for residents of one of Japan's poorest areas.

The larger issue for U.S. and Japanese officials is whether these incidents will affect defense ties.

美日官方面临的大问题是这些事件是否将影响防务关系。

The outcry after the 1995 rape case was a factor in negotiations²² between the two countries that led to a decision to move about 8,000 Marines from Okinawa by 2012.

两国已经决定在2012年前把八千名美国海军陆战队撤离冲绳。而1995年强奸案也是两国在谈判中考虑的一个因素。

Brandon Taylor is a lecturer at the Strategic and Defense Study Center at Australian National University. He says the outcry could intensify²³ if U.S. crimes are not brought under control. But he says it is unlikely to affect U.S. and Japanese defense relations because of regional security issues.

布兰登.泰勒是澳大利亚国立大学战术及防御研究中心的讲师。他说，如果不能制止美军犯罪的话，这一抗议浪潮将进一步高涨。但是他说，美日防务关系不大可能受地方安全问题的影响。

"There's a great degree of apprehension²⁴ regarding the North Korean nuclear problem and more broadly the prospect²⁵ of a unified²⁶ Korea in the future," he said. "And I think that the U.S. alliance is seen as pretty critical to Japan in terms of countering those perceived threats."

他说：“北韩的核问题以及未来朝鲜半岛统一这些问题都是十分棘手的问题。我觉得日本认为，与美国的联盟关系对于对付这些人们担心的威胁是相当关键的。”

Taylor says Japanese policy makers²⁷ could be pressured into changing the defense relationship only if domestic anger increases to a point of social instability.

泰勒说，日本的决策者只有在国内的愤慨情绪高升到引发社会动乱的地步，才可能不得不改变美日防务关系。

"It remains²⁸ to be seen, I suppose, whether the protests will continue at the domestic level and that will be the difficulty, I suppose, for the Japanese government - (it) will be to play that little game of balancing that domestic pressure with pressures of the alliance," Taylor said.

Opposition parties, which control the upper house of parliament, have petitioned to revise the pact⁴ that governs the status of U.S. forces in Japan.

控制日本参议院的反对党派已提出修改有关驻日美军法律地位的美日防务条约。

Under the agreement, military suspects do not have to be handed over to local authorities until charged by Japanese prosecutors²⁹. After the 1995 rape, Washington agreed to consider handing over suspects in serious cases even if they have not been charged. But the agreement has never actually been changed. Officials in Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda's government, however, say the agreement does not need to be changed.

根据有关协议，美国军方嫌疑人在受到日本检察人员起诉前，不必被交给地方当局。在1995年的强暴案后，华盛顿方面同意考虑在正式受到起诉前交出涉及重大犯罪案件中的美军嫌疑人。但是这一协议实际上却从来没被改动。福田康夫总理的政府官员认为不必改动有关协议。