When Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe makes his visit to Pearl Harbor, just after Christmas, it will be a dovish act that masks a hawkish intent.

日本首相安倍晋三(Shinzo Abe)将访问珍珠港(Pearl Harbor)，此举将是一个掩盖鹰派意图的鸽派行为。

There can be no doubt that when Mr Abe stands shoulder to shoulder with US President Barack Obama at the scene of his country’s 1941 attack on Hawaii — the first Japanese leader to go to the site — he will be carrying out a deeply meaningful gesture of reconciliation.

毫无疑问，当安倍与美国总统巴拉克.奥巴马(Barack Obama)并肩站在日本1941年袭击夏威夷珍珠港的现场时————他将展现出具有深远意义的和解姿态。

It reciprocates Mr Obama’s historic visit to Hiroshima in remembrance of up to 80,000 people who died when the US used an atomic weapon against the city in 1945.

这是对奥巴马历史性地访问广岛、纪念1945年死于美国原子弹袭击的8万死难者的礼尚往来。

It also follows Japan’s surprising diplomatic approaches to former foes.

此前，日本还向昔日的敌人作出了令人意外的外交举动，

These include an agreement with South Korea over women forced into prostitution during the second world war, sealed about a year ago.

包括约1年前就二战慰安妇一事与韩国签订的协议。

Tokyo issued an apology and pledged $8m to surviving victims; both sides called the deal final and irrevocable.

东京方面正式道歉并承诺向仍然在世的受害者赔偿800万美元；双方称该协议为最终且不可逆的了结。

Pragmatism appears to be tempering Mr Abe’s rightwing instincts, which include an alarming penchant for historical revisionism regarding wartime Imperial army depredations.

务实主义似乎缓和了安倍的右翼本能（后者包括他对于战时大日本帝国陆军劫掠行为的令人震惊的历史修正主义倾向）。

Yet it may be argued that this very pragmatism is driven by a conservative agenda.

不过或许可以辩称，这种务实姿态恰恰是受保守议程的驱动。

Mr Abe’s dream is to revise Japan’s pacifist constitution, drawn up by the US under postwar occupation, so allowing the country to have a real army.

安倍的梦想是修订日本和平宪法（战后日本被美军占领期间由美国起草），从而让日本拥有真正的军队。

The thumping majority in parliament’s upper house that the prime minister won in July has allowed him to test the waters on achieving that goal.

7月，安倍在日本参议院获得了绝对多数议席，这使得他可以尝试实现修宪目标。

Yet he faces strong opposition among Asian neighbours, many Americans and Japan’s own people to the idea of shedding constitutional restraints on military power — in particular, Article 9 of the constitution, which says land, sea and air forces, as well as other war potential, will never be maintained.

不过，对于摆脱宪法对军力限制的构想——特别是和平宪法第九条永远不保持陆海空军及其他战争力量——他面临着来自亚洲邻国、许多美国人以及日本民众的强烈反对。

The Japanese leader is also already looking beyond Mr Obama to the presidency of Donald Trump, and he is eager to continue the golf club diplomacy

这位日本领导人的视线也已经越过了奥巴马、展望唐纳德.特朗普(Donald Trump)的总统任期，并且迫切希望推进高尔夫球友外交。

that he enjoyed in November as the first foreign leader to visit the incoming president at Trump Tower, in which the two exchanged gifts of golfing gear.

11月，安倍成为首位亲临川普大楼(Trump Tower)拜访美国当选总统的外国领导人，其间两人互赠了高尔夫球装备作为礼物。

On both fronts, visiting Pearl Harbor is shrewd politics.

无论从哪方面看，访问珍珠港都是一个精明的政治举动。

High-profile acts of historical rapprochement, such as paying respects in Hawaii, may go some way to defusing fears about militarism reawakening in Japan under a new charter — and under a leader who makes no secret of his conservative outlook.

高调的历史和解举动，比如在夏威夷向死难者致敬，可能在一定程度上化解外界对新宪法——以及从不掩饰其保守观点的领导人——下日本军国主义抬头的担忧。

The visit will also be an ideal stage on which to reaffirm Japan’s alliance with the US as a volatile incoming American administration sends contradictory signals about its strategic intent in Asia.

在具有不确定性的美国新一届行政当局在亚洲战略意图上发出矛盾信号之际， 此次访问也将是重新确立日美同盟的理想舞台。

The prime minister holds one crucial advantage in pressing for constitutional change — and visiting Pearl Harbor will strengthen that card.

安倍在施压修宪方面掌握着一个关键优势——而访问珍珠港将加强这张牌的效果。

The US, under both Republican and Democratic administrations, has long urged Japan to do just what Mr Abe wants: broaden the role and capabilities of the nation’s military.

无论是由共和党还是民主党执掌行政当局，美国官方长期敦促日本采取的行动正是安倍所希望的：拓宽日本军队的角色，并提升其能力。

It wants Japan to shoulder its share of the Asian security burden.

美方希望日本分担美国在亚洲的安全负担。

The irony is that Mr Trump’s rant that the Japanese can sit home and watch Sony television if America is attacked is a warped, hall-of-mirrors reflection of long-held Washington positions.

讽刺的是，特朗普的咆哮（如果美国遭到攻击，日本可能会坐在家里看索尼电视）只是从一个侧面反映了华盛顿方面的长期立场。

American policymakers since the cold war have complained about Tokyo’s buck-passing as the US kept Japan and the world safe.

自冷战以来，美国政策制定者一直抱怨，在美国维护日本乃至世界的安全之际，东京方面却在推卸责任。

That is simply a more polite expression of Trump’s complaint.

这只是更礼貌地表达了特朗普的抱怨。

The Pearl Harbor visit — standing next to a popular, moderate and statesmanlike president — allows Mr Abe to send the right messages to multiple stakeholders: US veterans, Japan’s neighbours and the Japanese people.

访问珍珠港，站在一位受欢迎、温和、具有政治家风范的美国总统身边，使得安倍可以向多个利益相关方——美国老兵、日本的邻国以及日本民众——传达正确的信息。

Mr Abe’s revisionist tendencies — which in a previous stint as premier included questioning evidence that Korean women were forced into prostitution — are a cause for worry and vigilance is required.

安倍的修正主义倾向——在此前担任日本首相的短暂任期内，他竟然质疑韩国妇女被迫沦为慰安妇的证据——有理由让人担忧，需要对这种倾向保持警惕。

Yet in the 70 years since the end of second world war, Japan has by and large established itself as a responsible global citizen.

不过，在二战结束以来的70年里，日本大体上确立了自己作为负责任的全球公民的地位。

And the current Japanese administration may come across today as rather reassuring, compared with the rabid populism that has become a global trend.

而与已经成为全球趋势的狂热民粹主义相比，当今的日本政府看上去似乎相当令人放心。

In the strange world in which we live, even the arch-conservative Mr Abe, aided by his team’s deep institutional knowledge of governance, may provide geopolitical ballast that will help the centre hold.

在我们所生活的这个奇怪世界里，即使极端保守的安倍在其团队的深层次制度化的治理知识的辅助下，也可能成为地缘政治的镇流器，有助于保持主流中间立场。

Mr Abe alone among recent Japanese leaders enjoys the domestic clout needed to visit Pearl Harbor.

在最近几任日本领导人中，唯独安倍拥有访问珍珠港所必需的国内影响力。

And it is the right thing to do — whatever his strategic imperatives.

而无论他的战略意图是什么，此举都是正确行为。

Even from a centrist perspective, he is also correct to argue that it is time Japan took a greater role in its own security and in that of the region, especially in the face of an increasingly assertive China and an unpredictable North Korea.

即使从中间立场人士的视角看，他认为日本是时候在确保本国乃至地区安全上发挥更大作用，也是正确的，特别是在中国日益强硬、朝鲜愈发难以预料的情况下。

But first Japan must exorcise the demons of its past.

但是首先日本必须赶走昔日的心魔。

A bow from Mr Abe at Pearl Harbor will be a positive step in that direction.

安倍若能在珍珠港鞠躬，将是向这个方向迈出的积极一步。