By the time Shinzo Abe and Donald Trump teed off at the Mobara Country Club south-east of Tokyo in May 2019, it was the fifth time the two had played golf together. Diplomatic triumphs, as Japan’s current prime minister Shigeru Ishiba is about to discover, are a relentless slog.
2019年5月，安倍晋三(Shinzo Abe)和唐纳德•特朗普(Donald Trump)在东京东南部的茂原乡村俱乐部开球时，这已经是两人第五次一起打高尔夫球了。正如日本现任首相石破茂(Shigeru Ishiba)即将发现的那样，外交上的胜利是一场无情的跋涉。
The pictures from Mobara showed two good friends enjoying the spring sunshine; the atmosphere on the back of the golf cart was described by Japan’s foreign ministry as “cosy”. Lunch in the clubhouse was a double cheeseburger — made with US beef.
来自茂原的照片显示，两位好朋友在春日阳光下享受时光；日本外务省形容高尔夫球车后座的氛围为“温馨”。俱乐部的午餐是用美国牛肉制作的双层芝士汉堡。
During Trump’s first term, Abe was universally acknowledged to have delivered a masterclass on handling the mercurial US president-elect. The lessons are being studied by a new generation of leaders who realise that Trump’s easily aggrieved personality will be as important a factor as political measures and economic inducements in dealing with his second administration.
在特朗普的第一任期内，安倍晋三被普遍认为在应对这位性情反复无常的美国当选总统方面表现出色。新一代领导人正在研究这些经验，他们意识到，特朗普容易受到冒犯的个性在应对他的第二届政府时，将与政治措施和经济诱因同样重要。
The basic elements of a Trump strategy: flattery, distraction and golf. These formed Abe’s playbook from the moment that Trump was elected for the first time in 2016.
特朗普战略的基本要素：奉承、分散注意力和高尔夫。从2016年特朗普首次当选的那一刻起，这些就构成了安倍晋三的策略手册。
As the rest of the world reeled in disbelief, Abe scrambled on to a plane to ensure he was the first major leader to rush to the US to greet Trump on his election victory. He presented the president-elect with a gold-plated putter — the first of three clubs that Abe would give Trump during his presidency.
当世界其他国家震惊不已时，安倍晋三匆忙登上飞机，确保他是第一位赶赴美国迎接特朗普当选胜利的主要领导人。他向当选总统赠送了一支镀金推杆——这是安倍晋三在特朗普总统任期内赠送的三支球杆中的第一支。
Abe’s deft handling of Trump is credited with averting threatened US tariffs on Japanese car imports and softening demands for Japan to pay more for its own defence.
安倍晋三巧妙地应对特朗普，被认为避免了美国对日本汽车进口征收关税的威胁，并软化了要求日本支付更多国防费用的压力。
Many US allies are eyeing a similar strategy with Trump as they await the sharp protectionist swerve expected from Washington. The EU, as well as worrying about the future of Nato, is concerned that a stubborn €158bn annual trade surplus with the US may present a bullseye for Trump, who said last month that the “most beautiful word in the dictionary is tariff”.
许多美国的盟友正密切关注特朗普的类似策略，因为他们在等待华盛顿预期的强硬保护主义转变。欧盟不仅担心北约的未来，还担心与美国之间每年高达1580亿欧元的贸易顺差可能成为特朗普眼中的靶子。特朗普上个月曾表示，“字典中最美丽的词是关税”。