VOA标准英语2008年-Japan Approves Anti-Terrorism Naval Mission in

By Naomi Martig
Hong Kong
11 January 2008

Japan's lower house of parliament has forced through a controversial anti-terrorism law reviving an Indian Ocean naval¹ mission supporting U.S.-led forces in Afghanistan. The bill's approval came after the more powerful lower house used a rare second vote to override² a rejection³ in the upper house. Naomi Martig reports from VOA's Asia News Center in Hong Kong.

Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda's ruling coalition⁴ took the very rare step of using a two-thirds majority to override a rejection in the upper house of parliament. Such a step has only been used once before, more than 50 years ago. The approval is seen as a victory for Mr. Fukuda, who supports Japan's presence in Southeast Asia.

Japan has supplied fuel to U.S.-led forces in Afghanistan since 2001, under legislation allowing participation⁵ in post-September 11 operations.

Lawmakers had extended the mission repeatedly in the past, but the mission expired last November because of a stalemate in parliament.

The country's opposition⁶ Democratic Party of Japan, which won control of the upper house of parliament last July, refused to back the extension. Opposition lawmakers had argued that the mission lacks a mandate⁷ from the United Nations, and that it goes against the country's pacifist constitution, which forbids it from engaging in warfare⁸ overseas.

Jeff Kingston, a professor of politics at Temple University in Japan, says approval of the new mission is good news for the Japan-U.S. alliance.

"I don't think that the refueling was critical to the operation, but I think symbolically⁹ this is important for the U.S. administration and I think that in that sense it is good," he said.

But, Kingston says there is still some concern in Japan about what the country's security posture¹⁰ should be in the international community.

"And I think this is not a debate that is going to go away. It hasn't been solved today. And I think what they've done is shelved it for another year. But it's still going to be a divisive political issue for some time to come," said Kingston.

Japan has struggled in recent years to reinvent itself as a nation more involved in helping¹¹ to resolve international conflicts.

Tokyo's ships will be allowed to return to the Indian Ocean as soon as next month.

During its six-year mission, Japan provided about 480,000 kiloliters of fuel to coalition warships¹² in the Indian Ocean, including vessels¹³ from the United States, Britain and Pakistan.

Japan's role in the war on terrorism also included a deployment¹⁴ of 600 self-defense forces in southern Iraq, which ended last year.

1 naval   

adj.海军的，军舰的，船的

参考例句：

• He took part in a great naval battle.他参加了一次大海战。
• The harbour is an important naval base.该港是一个重要的海军基地。

2 override   

vt.不顾，不理睬，否决；压倒，优先于

参考例句：

• The welfare of a child should always override the wishes of its parents.孩子的幸福安康应该永远比父母的愿望来得更重要。
• I'm applying in advance for the authority to override him.我提前申请当局对他进行否决。

3 rejection   

n.拒绝，被拒，抛弃，被弃

参考例句：

• He decided not to approach her for fear of rejection.他因怕遭拒绝决定不再去找她。
• The rejection plunged her into the dark depths of despair.遭到拒绝使她陷入了绝望的深渊。

4 coalition   

n.结合体，同盟，结合，联合

参考例句：

• The several parties formed a coalition.这几个政党组成了政治联盟。
• Coalition forces take great care to avoid civilian casualties.联盟军队竭尽全力避免造成平民伤亡。

5 participation   

n.参与，参加，分享

参考例句：

• Some of the magic tricks called for audience participation.有些魔术要求有观众的参与。
• The scheme aims to encourage increased participation in sporting activities.这个方案旨在鼓励大众更多地参与体育活动。

6 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。

7 mandate   

n.托管地；命令，指示

参考例句：

• The President had a clear mandate to end the war.总统得到明确的授权结束那场战争。
• The General Election gave him no such mandate.大选并未授予他这种权力。

8 warfare   

n.战争(状态)；斗争；冲突

参考例句：

• He addressed the audience on the subject of atomic warfare.他向听众演讲有关原子战争的问题。
• Their struggle consists mainly in peasant guerrilla warfare.他们的斗争主要是农民游击战。

9 symbolically   

ad.象征地，象征性地

参考例句：

• By wearing the ring on the third finger of the left hand, a married couple symbolically declares their eternal love for each other. 将婚戒戴在左手的第三只手指上，意味着夫妻双方象征性地宣告他们的爱情天长地久，他们定能白头偕老。
• Symbolically, he coughed to clear his throat. 周经理象征地咳一声无谓的嗽，清清嗓子。

10 posture   

n.姿势，姿态，心态，态度；v.作出某种姿势

参考例句：

• The government adopted an uncompromising posture on the issue of independence.政府在独立这一问题上采取了毫不妥协的态度。
• He tore off his coat and assumed a fighting posture.他脱掉上衣，摆出一副打架的架势。

11 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

12 warships   

军舰，战舰( warship的名词复数 )； 舰只

参考例句：

• The enemy warships were disengaged from the battle after suffering heavy casualties. 在遭受惨重伤亡后，敌舰退出了海战。
• The government fitted out warships and sailors for them. 政府给他们配备了战舰和水手。

13 vessels   

n.血管( vessel的名词复数 )；船；容器；（具有特殊品质或接受特殊品质的）人

参考例句：

• The river is navigable by vessels of up to 90 tons. 90 吨以下的船只可以从这条河通过。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• All modern vessels of any size are fitted with radar installations. 所有现代化船只都有雷达装置。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

14 deployment   

n. 部署,展开

参考例句：

• He has inquired out the deployment of the enemy troops. 他已查出敌军的兵力部署情况。
• Quality function deployment (QFD) is a widely used customer-driven quality, design and manufacturing management tool. 质量功能展开(quality function deployment,QFD)是一个广泛应用的顾客需求驱动的设计、制造和质量管理工具。