Diaoyu Island, Land of Controversy
釣魚島,是非之地
China suspended high-level government exchanges with Japan, significantly escalating the two countries' worst dispute in five years, after Japanese authorities extended the detention of the captain of a Chinese fishing boat detained near disputed islands in the East China Sea.
在日本官方延押從中國東海雙方爭議島嶼附近抓捕的中國漁船船長后,中國已暫停與日本的高級別政府往來,此舉大大加深了中日兩國間五年來的最大爭端。
Beijing also threatened‘strong countermeasures'following Japan's decision, which could provoke fresh nationalist protests across China this week and potentially damage commercial relations between the world's second- and third-largest economies.
北京方面對日本做出延押中國船長的決定表示將采取“強烈反制措施” ,此舉可能于本周在中國各地激起新一輪的反日情緒,甚至可能損害世界第二和第三大經濟體之間的商貿往來。
China and Japan have frequently clashed over the unpopulated islands, known as the Diaoyu in China, and the Senkaku in Japan, whose waters are thought to contain substantial natural-gas reserves, but this year's row has graver implications for both—and the U.S.—as China is rapidly acquiring the naval power to enforce its claims.
中國將這片無人居住的島嶼稱為“釣魚島” ,而日本稱為“尖閣諸島” 。人們相信島嶼附近的海域藏有儲量極其豐富的天然氣資源,中日雙方就此島嶼的歸屬問題頻繁產生沖突,不過今年兩國的沖突對中日雙方和美國有著更為深刻的含意──中國正在快速依靠海軍力量,希望強制執(zhí)行其主權要求。
It is being closely watched by many other Asian countries-including India, Vietnam and the Philippines-which have territorial disputes with China, and which have concerns about China's expanding naval power.
印度、越南和菲律賓等亞洲其他各國也在密切關注事態(tài)的發(fā)展。它們與中國都有領土紛爭,也都對中國日益強大的海軍實力憂慮重重。
The decision was all the more provocative in China's eyes as it followed small demonstrations outside Japanese diplomatic missions in several Chinese cities on Saturday-the anniversary of Japan's invasion of China in 1931.
中國認為日本的這一決定完全是挑釁,此前就在周六的9月18日,中國好幾個城市的日本領事館外都舉行了小型的示威活動,紀念1931年日本侵華戰(zhàn)爭的開始。
China responded on Sunday by suspending ministerial and provincial-level bilateral exchanges, halting talks on increasing flights between the two countries and postponing a meeting about coal, according to China's state—run Xinhua news agency.
中國方面,據(jù)官方媒體新華社消息,作為回應,周日中國宣布暫停兩國省部級以上交往,中止雙方有關增加航班的會談,推遲就煤炭問題的會見等。