日本首相安倍晉三堅持推進修憲計劃

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, battling scandal at home and facing collateral damage from a possible US-China trade war, has pledged to push ahead with his divisive plan to revise the “peace clause” of Japan’s constitution.

在竭力應對國內的醜聞並面對可能爆發的中美貿易戰的連帶影響之際，日本首相安倍晉三(Shinzo Abe)作出承諾要推進其引起分歧的修改日本憲法“和平條款”的計劃。

His speech on Sunday to the annual meeting of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party came with an apology for a cronyism scandal that has exposed document falsification at the finance ministry, dragged Mr Abe’s approval ratings to their lowest level since 2012 and threatened his hopes of becoming the country’s longest serving postwar prime minister.

週日，安倍在執政的自民黨(LDP)的年度會議上發表講話，並就一起朋黨醜聞致歉。這起曝光了日本財務省曾篡改文件的醜聞，把安倍的支持率拉低至2012年以來的最低水平，並危及他成爲日本戰後在位時間最長的首相的希望。

Nevertheless, Mr Abe told the convention that “now is the time” to amend the constitution, a mission upon which the LDP was founded in 1955 and in which Mr Abe himself is a devoted believer.

儘管如此，安倍還是在大會上表示，“現在是時候”修改憲法了。1955年成立的自民黨以修憲爲自身使命之一，安倍本人也是修憲的忠實信奉者。

The attempt at revision, which will require significant reserves of political capital and the momentum to swing a public referendum, is focused on a wording change that would formally acknowledge the constitutionality of Japan’s military — the “self-defence” force whose annual budget is among the top 10 largest in the world.

修憲需要大量政治資本以及能改變全民公投走向的勢頭。這次修憲嘗試的重點在於改動相關措詞，以正式承認日本擁有軍隊（日本“自衛”隊的年度預算位居世界前十）符合憲法。

While even some opponents may agree with the proposed change, widespread objection arises from a fear that it would provide a gateway for more radical changes to the constitution’s war-renouncing Article Nine.

儘管就連一些對手都可能會認同這一擬議的改動，但該嘗試還是遭遇了普遍反對，因爲人們擔心這一改動會爲更徹底地修改放棄戰爭權的憲法第九條鋪路。

Through its coalition, the LDP has, in theory, a majority large enough to push an amendment through parliament. But the recently revived cronyism scandal has substantially thinned Mr Abe’s esteem with the general public and produced what analysts describe as a huge “trust deficit”.

通過其建立的聯盟，理論上自民黨擁有足以在議會通過憲法修正案的多數席位。但最近再度升溫的朋黨醜聞極大地削弱了安倍在公衆中受到的尊重，並催生了分析人士所說的巨大“信任赤字”。