If the Americans and Japanese went in for that kind of thing they might describe themselves as being as close as lips and teeth. In actual fact, that it is how China and North Korea have traditionally categorised their relationship. Washington and Tokyo prefer to talk soberly about their “shared values” as fellow democracies and market economies. Yet, despite the lack of colourful language, theirs has been one of the closest and most enduring of postwar relationships. They stand shoulder to shoulder on most issues from terrorism to intellectual property.
如果美國人和日本人說話也那么生動有趣,他們也許會稱彼此之間親密如唇齒相依。事實上,中國和朝鮮傳統上一直這么形容彼此間的關系。相比之下,美國和日本則寧愿嚴肅地談論同為民主國家和市場經濟的“共同價值觀”。不過,雖然缺乏生動的語言描繪,日美兩國間的關系卻已成為戰后最密切、最持久的關系之一。從反恐到知識產權,大多數問題上兩國都是并肩戰斗。