AP EXPLAINS: Japan’s Long Wait to Address US Congress

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

WASHINGTON — Washington honors America's closest friends by inviting their leaders to address a joint meeting of Congress. But until Thursday, when House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner invited Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, no Japanese leaders had been invited. That's striking considering the tight U.S.-Japan alliance in the 70 years since World War II ended. British, South Korean and German leaders have been invited multiple times. So have two Liberian presidents and a Latvian one - more than 100 invitations overall since the war. So why not Japan? The answers have to do with underlying friction that has been a part of U.S.-Japanese relations and, more recently, frequent changes of Japanese leaders.

IN HIS GRANDFATHER'S FOOTSTEPS

The modern practice of a foreign leader speaking to both houses of Congress began with Winston Churchill in December 1941, just after the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. After the war, Japanese leaders were not entirely shunned. Abe's grandfather, Nobusuke Kishi, in 1957 addressed Congress, but it was to just one chamber, which was still common for visiting foreign leaders until the 1960s. Kishi had been detained as a war crimes suspect but was never indicted for his role as a wartime Cabinet minister. However, he became a strong advocate of closer relations with Washington, like his grandson, pushing through a 1960 security treaty that shaped the alliance as it stands today, committing the U.S. to assist Japan if it comes under attack. Kishi's successor, Hayato Ikeda, made a very short address to the House in 1961. No Japanese premier has since.

IF NOT CONGRESS, THEN GRACELAND

Since 1951, Japanese prime ministers have made 37 working or official visits to the United States, according to a State Department tally. While defense and diplomatic relations have been very close, from the 1970s through to the 1990s there was trade friction and American anxiety that its economy could be eclipsed. Some lawmakers have also expressed concerns over Japan's attitude to its wartime past. When Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi visited in 2006, there was expectation he would be invited to address Congress, an honor given to other U.S. allies in the Iraq War. But Rep. Henry Hyde, chair of the House International Relations Committee, objected in a letter to the House speaker, saying Koizumi should forgo future visits to the Yasukuni shrine in Tokyo where war criminals are among those memorialized. Japan denied it ever requested that the prime minister to speak to Congress. Koizumi still made an impression in America — by impersonating Elvis Presley on a trip to Graceland.

WHY ABE?

Abe also has hawkish views, and a December 2013 visit to Yasukuni angered neighboring China and South Korea, raising tensions and complicating U.S. diplomacy. But Abe is the first prime minister since Koizumi to stay in office more than 16 months, and he has invested considerable political capital to forge stronger ties with the U.S. Despite domestic opposition, he propelled Japan into negotiations on a pan-Pacific free trade pact, and plans to loosen the binds on the nation's military under its pacifist constitution. That could allow Japan for the first time to come to the defense of U.S. forces. U.S. lawmakers still have been quietly urging that Abe should address the war's legacy when he makes his speech April 29.

美、日真是麻吉？ 看「演說邀約」便知道

二戰落幕七十年，美日緊密的聯盟關係也已持續七十年，但直到本月廿六日，美國才首度邀請日本領袖赴國會參眾兩院聯席會議發表演說，與美日關係存在根本摩擦，及日本老在更換首相有關。

美聯社報導，邀請外國領袖赴參眾聯席會議發表演說，是美國推崇緊密盟友的表現方式之一，但日相安倍晉三卻是七十年來獲邀的第一位日本領袖，以美日關係而言相當令人震驚。安倍計畫四月廿九日發表這項演說。

美國國會迄今對外送出的參眾聯席會議演說邀約不下百次，何以獨缺日本？第一次邀約始於1941年12月的首相邱吉爾，在日本偷襲珍珠港不久。二戰後，安倍的外祖父、前日相岸信介（1957年）和前日相池田勇人（1961年）均曾到美國國會演說，但僅在眾院院而非同時對兩院發表演說。

岸信介是與美國建立較密切關係的強力鼓吹者，1960年還與美國簽署美日安保條約，形成迄今屹立不搖的聯盟關係。

儘管在國防與外交上美日關係始終緊密，1970年代到1990年代間，美日貿易摩擦時起，美國對經濟可能遭日本侵蝕焦慮不已。

此外，日本扭曲二戰史實的態度也開始引起美國國會議員關切。2006年，前日相小泉純一郎訪美時，外界原認為他會在參眾聯席會議發表演說，但因眾院國際關係委員會主席海德致函眾院議長，要求小泉承諾未來必須停止參拜奉祀二戰甲級戰犯的靖國神社，日本因此否認小泉想到國會發表演說。

安倍在靖國神社一事上也持鷹派立場。2013年12月他參拜神社，惹惱中共與南韓，也讓美日關係更加複雜。但安倍是小泉之後，第一個在位逾十六個月的日相，且儘管國內反對，安倍仍投入可觀的政治資本，強化與美關係，包括日本加入泛太平洋夥伴協議談判，及計畫放寬和平憲法中的軍事束縛。

美國國會議員目前仍暗中要求安倍在參眾聯席會議發表演說時，能解決參拜靖國神社問題。

原文參照：
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2015/03/27/us/politics/ap-us-ap-explains-japanese-speech-to-congress.html

2015-03-29．聯合報．A13．國際．編譯王麗娟