とても恥ずかしい事実

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/04/13/AR2010041304461.html

Among leaders at summit, Hu's first

By Al Kamen
Wednesday, April 14, 2010

After all the chatter about nukes, loose and otherwise, 36 heads of state are heading home from Washington to tout their world leadership chops and their influence with the Obama administration.

The winners at this week's nuclear summit were easily identified: They were the ones who got bilats with President Obama -- not a bodybuilding term, it stands for bilateral, or one-on-one, chat -- showing their prestige and importance. Chinese President Hu Jintao obviously heads the list, having chatted with Obama for 90 minutes. (And what is with this bowing business? [See photo below.] Okay, so Obama's a natural bower. And Hu owns the U.S. economy. But really.)

The other winners include King Abdullah II of Jordan, Prime Minister Najib Razak of Malaysia, President Viktor Yanukovich of Ukraine and President Serzh Sargsian of Armenia, all of whom got a private meet, as did acting Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan, here because the elected president is gravely ill, who got a meeting with Obama on Sunday.

Included in the winner group is Ahmed Aboul Gheit of Egypt, who is not really a world leader but only a foreign minister.

By far the biggest loser of the extravaganza was the hapless and (in the opinion of some Obama administration officials) increasingly loopy Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama. He reportedly requested but got no bilat. The only consolation prize was that he got an "unofficial" meeting during Monday night's working dinner. Maybe somewhere between the main course and dessert?

A rich man's son, Hatoyama has impressed Obama administration officials with his unreliability on a major issue dividing Japan and the United States: the future of a Marine Corps air station in Okinawa. Hatoyama promised Obama twice that he'd solve the issue. According to a long-standing agreement with Japan, the Futenma air base is supposed to be moved to an isolated part of Okinawa. (It now sits in the middle of a city of more than 80,000.)

But Hatoyama's party, the Democratic Party of Japan, said it wanted to reexamine the agreement and to propose a different plan. It is supposed to do that by May. So far, nothing has come in over the transom. Uh, Yukio, you're supposed to be an ally, remember? Saved you countless billions with that expensive U.S. nuclear umbrella? Still buy Toyotas and such?
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Meanwhile, who did give Hatoyama some love at the nuclear summit? Hu did. Yes, China's president met privately with the Japanese prime minister on Monday.

鳩山首相が「最大の敗者」「不運で愚か」とワシントン・ポスト紙が酷評

http://sankei.jp.msn.com/politics/policy/100415/plc1004150109000-n1.htm

【ワシントン＝佐々木類】米紙ワシントン・ポストは１４日付で、核安全保障サミットで最大の敗者は日本の鳩山由紀夫首相だと報じた。最大の勝者は約１時間半に わたり首脳会談を行った中国の胡錦濤国家主席とした。鳩山首相について同紙は、「不運で愚かな日本の首相」 と紹介。「鳩山首相はオバマ大統領に２度にわたり、米軍普天間飛行場問題で解決を約束したが、まったくあてに ならない」とし、「鳩山さん、あなたは同盟国の首相ではなかったか。核の傘をお忘れか。その上で、まだトヨタを買えというのか。鳩山首相を相手にしたのは、胡主席だけだ」と皮肉った。

extravaganza

ex・tra・va・gan・za  /ɪkstrvəgnzə, eks‐/

―【名】【C】

1 エクストラバガンザ 《19 世紀米国で流行した奇抜なコミックオペラの類》.

2 奇抜なもの; 豪華なショー.

hapless

háp・less

―【形】 不運な，不幸な.

loopy

loop・y  /lúːpi/

―【形】

1 輪のある.

2 《俗》

a 変わった; 狂った.

b 混乱した，ばかな.