11-15-2005

布希抵達日本開始亞洲之行 (Bush Arrives in Japan at Start of Asia Trip)

布希總統已抵達他8天亞洲之行的第一站日本。除了日本之外，他還將訪問南韓、中國和蒙古。布希在日本古都京都過夜，星期三將在那裏與日本首相小泉純一郎舉行會談，預計會談重點是禽流感以及日本實行了兩年的不準進口美國牛肉的禁令。

布希將出席在南韓舉行的亞太經合組織高峰會。會議期間，預計布希將會晤印度尼西亞和馬來西亞領導人。

Bush Arrives in Japan at Start of Asia Trip

President Bush has arrived in Japan -- the first stop on an eight-day trip to Asia that will also take him to South Korea, China and Mongolia. After an overnight in the capital of Kyoto, Mr. Bush is to meet Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi there Wednesday for talks expected to focus on bird flu as well as the two-year Japanese ban on American beef imports.

President Bush is scheduled to attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit in South Korea -- where he is expected to meet on the sidelines with the leaders of Indonesia and Malaysia.

北京稱中日首腦亞太經合會期間不會晤 (Beijing Says Leaders of Japan and China Will Not Meet at APEC)

中國外交部星期二表示，中國國家主席胡錦濤和日本首相小泉純一郎在亞太經合會首腦會議期間會面。中國外交部星期二說，兩位領導人會面的大氣候還不存在。小泉首相上個月參拜了供奉包括戰犯在內的日本戰爭死者靈位的靖國神社，引起了中國的憤怒抗議。

中國外交部長李肇星星期二在南韓講話時，把小泉參拜靖國神社和德國人朝拜納粹戰爭罪犯的假設相提並論。李肇星說，那樣的行動同樣會激怒歐洲人，因此日本領導人應當停止做有損和亞洲其他國家關係的事。

批評人士說，靖國神社美化日本軍國主義的歷史，但是小泉說，他參拜靖國神社是為了祈禱和平。

China's Foreign Ministry says President Hu Jintao and Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi will not meet on the sidelines of the APEC summit. The ministry said Tuesday that the atmosphere was not right for a meeting between the two leaders. Prime Minister Koizumi sparked angry protests from China last month when he visited the Yasukuni Shrine, which honors Japan's war dead, including war criminals.

Speaking in South Korea today, Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing likened Mr. Koizumi's shrine visits to a hypothetical scenario in which Germans would pay homage to Nazi war criminals. Li said that just as that scenario might offend European people, the Japanese leader should stop doing things that harm relations with Asian countries.

Critics say the shrine glorifies Japan's militaristic past, but Koizumi says he visits the shrine to pray for peace.