03-06-08

中国称国家主席访日行程未最后敲定 (China Says Schedule for President's Trip to Japan not Finalized)

中国外交部说，中国国家主席胡锦涛对日本进行开拓性的访问还没有最后确定。外交部发言人星期四在北京对记者说，这次访问还在协商之中，这将是中国国家主席10年来首次访日。但是他强调中国致力于改善两国之间的关系。

日本官员说过，胡锦涛将在4月访日，但是日本媒体最近报导表示，胡锦涛的访问可能延期到5月，因为对一桩食品安全纠纷的调查仍在进行。

带毒的中国产饺子今年早些时候在日本导致10人生病，引发一场全国范围的食品恐慌。调查人员说，饺子被人故意用杀虫剂投毒，但是还不清楚投毒是在哪里发生的。

China's Foreign Ministry says a groundbreaking trip by Chinese President Hu Jintao to Japan has not yet been finalized. Speaking with reporters Thursday in Beijing, a ministry spokesman said the visit, the first by a Chinese president in a decade, is still under discussion. But, he also stressed China's commitment to improve relations between the two countries.

Japanese officials have said that Mr. Hu would visit in April, but recent media reports in Japan have suggested the trip might be delayed until May because of an ongoing investigation into a food safety dispute.

Earlier this year, poisoned Chinese-made dumplings made 10 people sick in Japan, sparking a nationwide food scare. Investigators say the dumplings were deliberately poisoned with pesticide, but it is unclear where the poisoning took place.

中国不接受美国有关中国军力扩张报告 (China Dismisses U.S. Report About its Growing Military Power)

中国的共产党党报说，美国夸大中国的军事能力，为对台军售制造理由。人民日报星期四的一篇社论谴责美国军方星期一发布的一份报告。报告说，北京在研制太空武器，而且提高了电脑网络作战能力。

人民日报社论还抨击美国拒绝接受俄罗斯与中国有关限制太空武器条约的联合倡议。中国说，中国将2008年的国防预算增加17%以上，总数达到570多亿美元。美国国防部长盖茨说，中国的军事开支比这个共产党国家承认的数额要高。

China's official Communist Party newspaper says the United States is exaggerating Chinese military capabilities to justify arms sales to Taiwan. An editorial in the People's Daily newspaper Thursday denounced a U.S. military report released Monday.

That report said Beijing was developing space-based weapons, and had increased its ability to conduct cyberwarfare.

The Chinese editorial also slammed Washington for rejecting a joint Russian-Chinese initiative on an anti-space weapons treaty. China says it will increase defense spending in 2008 by more than 17 percent, for a total of more than 57-billion dollars.

U.S. Defense Secretary Gates says China's military spending is higher than the communist state has admitted.