12-29-2005

中国批日本有关外交官自杀指称 (China Criticizes Japanese Allegations on Diplomat's Suicide)

中国对日本声称中国安全部门对去年一名日本外交官自杀事件负有部份责任一事发起猛烈抨击。一名日本外务省发言人星期三说，中国特工为了获取秘密信息，要挟一名日本领事。这名领事官员在2004年5月自杀。报导援引日本外务省发言人的话说，那名外交官之死由“中国安全当局无法令人接受的行为”所导致。

中国外交部发言人星期四对这一指称做出愤怒回应，指称这是日本政府“刻意诋毁中国形像”的“恶意行为”。

北京和东京的关系近月来由于多起纠纷而恶化，其中包括两国在东海天然气资源分配以及日本首相小泉纯一郎多次参拜供奉战争亡灵的靖国神社的争端。

China has lashed out at Japan over allegations that Chinese security authorities were partly to blame for the suicide last year of a Japanese diplomat. On Wednesday, a Japanese foreign ministry spokesman said the consular officer had killed himself in May 2004 after Chinese agents blackmailed him in order to obtain secret information. The Japanese spokesman was quoted as saying the diplomat's death was due to "an impermissible act by the Chinese security authorities."

China's Foreign Ministry Thursday responded angrily to the allegation, accusing Japan of "vile behavior" and deliberately trying to smear China's image.

Relations between Beijing and Tokyo have worsened in recent months over several disputes, including allocation of gas reserves in the East China Sea and the Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's repeated visits to the Yasukuni Shrine honoring Japan's war dead.

韩警察总监因抗议者死亡辞职 (South Korean Police Chief Resigns Over Protesters' Deaths)

韩国警察总监因为两名农民上个月在首尔抗议中被防暴警察殴打后死亡辞职。韩国总统卢武炫接受了许准荣的辞职。卢武炫曾就这起事件星期二公开道歉。一个人权小组的报告认为，那两名农民是警察暴力的受害者，随后要求许准荣辞职的公众压力越来越大。

许准荣起初拒绝辞职，但是他在星期四发表的声明中说，他不想在政治繁忙时期成为总统的负担。他再次为两名农民抗议者之死表示道歉，不过他还说，他们的死是意外事故。

那两名农民参加了反对韩国计划向国际竞争开放大米市场的抗议。在11月中旬的冲突中，他们被警察打伤，几个星期后死亡。

South Korea's police chief has resigned over the deaths of two farmers who were beaten by riot police at a protest in Seoul last month. Huh Joon-young's resignation was accepted by South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun, who made a public apology for the incident on Tuesday.

Mr. Huh faced growing public pressure to quit after a human rights panel said the farmers were victims of police brutality. He initially refused to step down. But in a statement Thursday, Mr. Huh said he did not want to be a burden on the president during a busy political period. He apologized again for the farmers' deaths, but he also said they were accidental.

The two farmers were protesting plans to open South Korea's rice market to international competition. They died several weeks after being beaten by police in the mid-November clash.