日本籍的赤根智子在家乡日本度假时得知俄罗斯想要逮捕她。那是2023年，当时赤根智子还是国际刑事法院（ICC）的法官，该法院不久前对弗拉基米尔·普京发出了逮捕令。俄罗斯正在实施报复。但她在去年出版的一本书中回忆道，在她成为该法院院长之后，她对此并不太在意。真正让她担心的是一个更为关乎存亡的危险：美国可能实施制裁，而美国和俄罗斯一样，从未承认国际刑事法院的管辖权。
AKANE TOMOKO was on holiday back home in Japan when she learned that Russia wanted to arrest her. At the time, in 2023, Ms Akane was a judge at the International Criminal Court (ICC), which had recently issued an arrest warrant for Vladimir Putin. Russia was retaliating. But she wasn’t too fussed, she recalled in a book last year, after she had become the court’s president. What really worried her was a more existential danger: that sanctions might be imposed by America, which, like Russia, has never recognised the ICC’s jurisdiction.
当年早些时候，已有数名法官受到美国的制裁。她写道，最坏的情况是法院本身受到制裁。“国际刑事法院实质上将被关闭。”这一设想如今正在成为现实。10月9日，美国国务卿马尔科·卢比奥宣布了一场“一砖一瓦地拆解国际刑事法院”行动的最新阶段。特朗普政府称，国际刑事法院威胁美国主权，因为它声称有权对国际刑事法院成员国领土上发生的战争罪或危害人类罪调查和起诉美国公民。
Several judges had already been put under American sanctions earlier that year. The worst-case scenario would be sanctions on the court itself, she wrote. “The ICC would essentially be shut down.”That scenario is now coming true. On October 9th Marco Rubio, America’s secretary of state, announced the latest stage of a campaign to “dismantle the ICC, brick by brick”. The Trump administration says the ICC is threatening American sovereignty because it claims the power to investigate and prosecute American citizens for war crimes or crimes against humanity committed on ICC member states’ territory.
制裁将冻结国际刑事法院在美国的资产，并禁止美国公司和银行与该法院往来。制裁将在180天后生效，卢比奥期望成员国在这段时间内约束该法院。
The sanctions freeze ICC assets in America and block American firms and banks from engaging with the court. They will take effect after 180 days, a period during which Mr Rubio expects member states to rein in the court.
这让日本陷入两难。日本是国际刑事法院最大的出资方，承担其预算的15%。几十年来，日本一直将国际法治作为其外交政策的支柱之一。但日本在安全上也依赖美国；因此，当赤根智子本人于8月受到制裁时，日本政府最初的回应颇为克制。首相高市早苗称制裁“非常令人遗憾”，但她特意没有呼吁撤销制裁。
This puts Japan in a quandary. It is the largest funder of the ICC, contributing 15% of its budget. And for decades Japan has made the international rule of law a pillar of its foreign policy. But Japan also depends on America for its security; so the government was muted in its initial response when Ms Akane herself was put under sanction in August. Takaichi Sanae, the prime minister, said the sanctions were taihen zannen, “very regrettable”; but she pointedly did not call for their withdrawal.
她措辞谨慎，却引发了反弹。来自高市早苗所在政党的前防卫大臣、现领导一个关注人权的跨党派团体的中谷元指责她“顺从，在关键时刻没有说出该说的话”。在名古屋，茜女士曾于2005至2008年教授法律，她的前学生们已为她征集了超过17.4万个签名。“这对日本不是理想主义，而是安全问题，”其中一位学生社本洋介说。
Her careful wording sparked a backlash. Nakatani Gen, a former defence minister from Ms Takaichi’s party who now heads a cross-party group focused on human rights, accused her of being “docile and not saying what needs to be said at a crucial time”. In Nagoya, where Ms Akane taught law in 2005-08, her former students have gathered more than 174,000 signatures in her support. “It’s not idealism for Japan, it’s security,” says Shamoto Yosuke, one of them.
“日本不能仅靠军事力量来保护自己。这就是为什么我们需要一个基于规则、而不仅仅是实力的国际秩序。”此后，高市早苗更为大胆，称这些制裁与日本的政策不相容。她在9月于纽约向特朗普提出了这个问题。在最新制裁之后，日本与其他国际刑事法院成员国——包括除美国以外的所有七国集团国家——签署了一份支持该法院的联合声明。
“Japan cannot rely on military power alone to protect itself. That is why we need an international order based on rules, not just power.”Since then Ms Takaichi has been bolder, calling the sanctions incompatible with Japanese policy. She raised the issue with Mr Trump in New York in September. After the latest sanctions, Japan signed a joint statement in support of the court with other ICC members, including all G7 countries bar America.
一些人建议，日本可以就管辖权问题讨论国际刑事法院的改革，以安抚特朗普。但空谈不太可能改变其政府的立场。东京国际大学的克里斯托弗·拉蒙特建议，更好地利用这180天的方式是规划如何维持法院的运转：例如，设立不受美国金融体系影响的资金。
Some suggest that Japan could discuss ICC reform over matters of jurisdiction to appease Mr Trump. But talk is unlikely to change his administration’s position. A better use of the 180 days, suggests Christopher Lamont of Tokyo International University, would be to plan how to keep the court running: by setting up funding that isn’t exposed to the American financial system, for instance.
然而，这可能会进一步激怒美国。日本不想在其安全的两个组成部分之间做出选择，一个基于国际法，另一个基于美国的保护。遗憾的是，它正被推向这样做。■
This, though, could anger America further. Japan does not want to choose between two components of its security, one based on international law and the other on American protection. Regrettably, it is being pushed to do so. ■