用日本援助建立、北京中日友好医院在簡稱中 “友好”兩字消失

A few weeks ago the Asahi News on-line reported the following:

略称から「友好」消える　日本援助の北京の病院

北京＝倉重奈苗

2015年2月16日22時49分

　日本政府による無償資金援助で建てられ、日中友好のシンボルの一つとされていた（北京市朝陽区）をめぐり、中国衛生当局がこのほど「友好」を除いた「中日医院」を略称とするよう通知していたことが分かった。北京在住の日本人らに当惑が広がっている。

　事の発端は、中日友好医院が１４日、中国版ツイッター「微博」で「衛生当局から『中日医院』を略称とする、との通知があった」と公表したことだった。同医院は根拠や背景については触れていないが、北京在住の日本医療関係者らから「『友好』が消された」と懸念する声が出ている。

　中日友好医院は１９７９年、当時の大平正芳首相と谷牧・中国副首相が合意し、８４年に開院した。現在、医院に掲げられている表札の字は胡耀邦元総書記が揮毫（きごう）した。

　同医院は朝日新聞の取材に対し、「（通知の対象になるのは）略称だけで、正式名称は変わらない。表札も変わらない」と説明。日中関係筋は「会計処理や内部手続きのために統一的な用語にする指示で、対外的な活動に使うものではない」と指摘した。中国外務省の華春瑩副報道局長は１６日の定例会見でこの問題を問われると、「歴史をかがみとし、未来に向けて長期安定的な関係に発展するよう望む。日本側が中国とともに努力し、この目標に向かって進むよう希望する」と述べるにとどめた。（北京＝倉重奈苗）

(試譯文)

About a hospital (Beijing city Zhao Yang District) that was built using a grant aid from the Japanese Government and said to be a symbol of Japan-China friendship, it was made known that the Chinese health authority recently dropped the word "friendship" in its name to abbreviate it into Sino-Japanese Hospital. Confusion spread among the Japanese living in Beijing.

 The incident started when on the 14th (February) it was announced in the ‘Mini-blog’, the officially version of Twitter in China, that about this Sino-Japan Friendship Hospital, "there was a notice from the health authority on using the ‘Sino-Japanese Medical Hospital’ in abbreviation". The said office had not touched on the basis or the background. Anxious voice had gone out from Japanese medical related people residing in Beijing that "‘Friendship’ was deleted".

 After reaching an agreement in 1979 between Prime Minister Ohira Masayoshi at that time and the Chinese deputy Prime Minister Gumu, the Chinese-Japanese friendship hospital was opened in 1984. At present the characters on the nameplate inserted into the hospital was written by Hu Yaobang the former General Secretary.

 Responding to the news coverage to the said hospital by Asahi Shimbun, it was explained that "the official name has not changed; it was only an abbreviation (for the recipients of a notice). The nameplate also has no change". A China-Japan related source pointed out that "the directive was made to unify terminology for accounting procedure and internal procedures. It was not used for external activity". Hua Chunying the deputy news director of the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, when asked about this problem during a regular interview on the 16^th, merely said that "while it was mirroring history, China wishes to develop a long-term stable relation for the future. China requests the Japanese side to make an effort together to advance towards this goal".

It is an interesting incident. It reflects a tense relation between the two countries.