10-20-2005

中国警告说中日经济关系可能下降 (China Warns of Declining Economic Relations with Japan)

中国官员说，中国与日本的一系列领土和外交纠纷可能影响两国的经济关系。中国国家统计局发言人星期四在北京说，如果政治关系继续动荡，经济和贸易关系也将受到冲击。

两国之间的矛盾包括日本首相小泉纯一郎参拜靖国神社的活动。为了抗议小泉参拜，中国和韩国取消了同日本高层官员会见的计划。靖国神社供奉着日本的战争亡灵，其中也包括被定罪的战犯。

日本和中国还因为东中国海海底天然气开采权而陷入争端。

Officials in China say a range of territorial and diplomatic disputes with Japan may affect economic relations. Speaking today (Thursday) in Beijing, a spokesman for the National Bureau of Statistics said if political relations continue rocky, economic and trade relations will suffer.

Among the issues dividing the nations is that of Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's visits to the Yasukuni shrine. China and South Korea canceled meetings with top Japanese officials in protest. The shrine honors Japanese war dead, including convicted war criminals.

Japan and China are also feuding over the rights to undersea gas deposits in the East China Sea.

泰国证实又有人死于禽流感 印尼疑似病例 (Thailand Confirms New Bird Flu Death, Suspected Cases in Indonesia)

亚洲各地星期四又报告发现禽流感疫情。泰国宣布，一名48岁的男子因接触染病的家禽死亡。已经有13名泰国人死于禽流感。在印度尼西亚，医生星期四说，一对父子患者因疑似染上禽流感而住进医院，这使人们更加担心禽流感可能会在人与人之间传染。

台湾农业官员星期四核实，上星期在从中国走私入境的一个集装箱内发现的禽鸟感染了H5N1型病毒。所有禽鸟都在当场被销毁。中国农业部说，在本星期发现禽流感的内蒙古地区，有大约9万只禽鸟被宰杀。

自从2003年以来，H5N1型禽流感病毒在亚洲已经夺去了60多人的生命。卫生专家担心，病毒可能会变异成为很容易在人群中间传播的毒株，从而造成全球性的流行病。

There are more reports of bird flu outbreaks across Asia today (Thursday).Thailand announced that a 48-year-old man (from Kanchanburi province) died after contact with infected poultry. Thirteen Thais have died from the disease. In Indonesia doctors said a father and son have been hospitalized with suspected bird flu, raising fears of the possibility of human-to-human transmission.

Taiwan agriculture officials today confirmed that birds found last week in a container smuggled from China were infected with H5N1 avian flu. All the birds were destroyed on the spot.And China's Agriculture Ministry says about 90-thousand birds have been culled in the Inner Mongolia Region were the virus was found this week.

The virus has killed more than 60 people in Asia since 2003. Health experts fear it could mutate into a strain easily spread by humans, creating a worldwide pandemic.