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(日本共同社)
町村外相:中方解释称核潜艇为\"误入\"日本领海
日本外相町村信孝16日下午就核潜艇潜入日本领海事件透露称,中国副外长武大伟曾就此事向日本驻华大使阿南惟茂承认该核潜艇确为中国潜艇,并对此表示遗憾。据町村外相透露,中方就核潜艇为何潜入日本领海一事的解释是“因为技术上的原因误入(日本领海)”。
China admits sub entered Japan waters, expresses regret
TOKYO, Nov. 16, Kyodo - (EDS: UPDATING WITH KOIZUMI\'S REACTIONS, INCORPORATING STORY HEADLINED \'KOIZUMI URGES CHINA NOT TO REPEAT SUBMARINE INTRUSION\')
China on Tuesday admitted to Japan that one of its nuclear submarines entered Japanese territorial waters last week but not deliberately and expressed regret over the incident, the Japanese government said.
Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Wu Dawei explained the position to Japanese Ambassador to China Koreshige Anami during a meeting at the Chinese Foreign Ministry in Beijing, the Japanese government said.
Later Tuesday in Tokyo, Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi said he took Wu\'s comments as China\'s formal apology for the incident.
The premier also signaled he has no intention of letting the intrusion become a long-running diplomatic issue, telling reporters the submarine entered Japanese waters \'\'by mistake.\'\'
\'\'We\'ll urge China to make sure that similar incidents do not happen so that it will not mar the development of Japan-China friendship,\'\' Koizumi said.
Japanese Foreign Minister Nobutaka Machimura quoted Wu as saying the submarine \'\'mistakenly entered the Ishigaki Strait for a technical reason in the process of a normal exercise.\'\'
The location is near Ishigaki Island in Okinawa Prefecture and also close to Taiwan.
The Chinese side regarded the incident as \'\'regrettable,\'\' Wu was quoted as saying. But Wu did not elaborate on the cause of the incident or specify the submarine in question.
It was China\'s first official reaction to Japan since Tokyo determined Friday that the intrusion was committed by a Chinese submarine, calling on Beijing for an investigation and an apology.
Koizumi dismissed the view that the incident could discourage the two countries from arranging a summit between him and Chinese President Hu Jintao on the sidelines of a meeting of leaders for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum, which will start Saturday in Santiago.
The two countries \'\'are making arrangements\'\' for the summit, Koizumi said.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Zhang Qiyue told a press conference, \'\'The relevant and related issues have already reached an appropriate resolution.\'\'
But she declined to say whether China had taken responsibility for the incident or what caused the incident.
The submarine, believed to be a Han-class vessel, was spotted sailing submerged in Japanese waters for nearly two hours Wednesday morning, the Japanese government said.
Tension rose as the Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force was put on alert under a special high-level security order by Defense Agency Director General Yoshinori Ono.
而路透社的标题却令人奇怪,居然是:
Japan says China apologises over sub intrusion
TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan said China apologised on Tuesday for the intrusion by one of its submarines into Japanese waters last week in a gesture that defuses a dispute and may open the way for a bilateral summit this weekend.
Japan had concluded that a nuclear-powered submarine that intruded into its waters off the Okinawa islands, 1,600 km southwest of Tokyo, on Wednesday belonged to the Chinese navy and demanded an apology from Beijing.
The incident had further frayed Sino-Japanese ties, which have chilled markedly since Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi took office in 2001 and fulfilled his pledge to make annual visits to Tokyo\'s Yasukuni Shrine, where war criminals are honoured along with Japan\'s war dead.
Chinese Deputy Foreign Minister Wu Dawei conveyed Beijing\'s regret over the intrusion by the submarine. He told Japanese Ambassador Koreshige Anami on Tuesday that the submarine was on routine manoeuvres when it accidentally strayed into Japan\'s waters, Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiroyuki Hosoda said.
\"We consider this to be an apology,\" Hosoda told a news conference, adding that Wu said the incident had been due to \"technical causes\".
Koizumi said China should ensure it did not happen again.
\"I want to call for firm steps to prevent a recurrence so this issue does not hinder the development of Japan-China friendship,\" Koizumi told reporters.
China stopped short of publicly acknowledging that it had apologised to Japan, which is viewed with deep resentment by many Chinese for its World War Two actions.
\"Deputy Foreign Minister Wu Dawei has already informed the Japanese ambassador in China of the relevant matters,\" Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Zhang Qiyue told reporters when asked about the incident.
Japan had mobilised its navy for the first time in five years after the submarine was spotted. The intrusion was brief and no warning shots were fired, but the mobilisation was a rare display of a military response by Japan.
Japan\'s ties with China have also been frayed recently by a spat over China\'s exploration for natural gas in an area of the East China Sea that is the subject of a territorial dispute between the two Asian neighbours. |
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