【英语中国】中日韩在天安号事件上存在分歧

Leaders of China, Japan and South Korea on Sunday left their annual summit meeting divided on how to deal with North Korea's alleged sinking of a South Korean warship.

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao didn't give a clear signal whether his country would support South Korea's effort to penalize North Korea at the United Nations Security Council for destroying the Cheonan in March. China, as one of five permanent members of the council, can veto any action.

'What is most pressing right now is to gradually ease any tension created by the Cheonan incident, and we should avoid a clash,' Mr. Wen said at a news conference with South Korean President Lee Myung-bak and Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama.

The three countries have long worked together to prod North Korea into giving up its pursuit of nuclear weapons. But they have at various times taken different approaches to working with Pyongyang economically. Now, South Korea's belief that North Korea is responsible for the sinking of its Cheonan warship has become the most urgent security matter in the region. Forty-six South Korean sailors died in the March 26 incident.

South Korea plans to refer the matter to the U.N. Security Council as soon as this week. Mr. Hatoyama on Sunday said that is a 'natural course' after such an incident and encouraged South Korea to proceed.

Full-throated support by China was too much to expect, analysts say, because the country is North Korea's chief economic benefactor and political ally. But during his three days in South Korea, Mr. Wen took small steps to signal that Beijing remains open to learning more about what happened.

Mr. Wen on Saturday offered condolences to the families of the South Korean victims. A day earlier, he said China will review South Korea's investigation, which turned up evidence of a torpedo blast on the salvaged ship and parts of a North Korean torpedo in the area where it sank, and won't protect anyone responsible for it.

After the summit, Mr. Lee said he believed that Messrs. Wen and Hatoyama 'highly regarded' South Korea's investigation into the sinking, which involved a 74-person committee with both civilian and military experts, including 24 from the U.S., Canada and other countries.

'The leaders of the three countries agreed to continue our consultation on this issue and appropriately respond to this in order to maintain peace and security,' Mr. Lee said.

Mr. Lee's spokesman later told reporters that the South Korean delegation was encouraged that China permitted the joint press release from the summit to mention the sinking.

Mr. Hatoyama said the three countries agreed the sinking is 'a serious matter for peace and stability in Northeast Asia.' On Saturday, he visited the cemetery where the South Korean sailors were buried.

North Korea blames South Korea for the sinking and, since the South Korean investigation was made public on May 20, has issued a series of statements and conducted events to draw attention to its point of view.

In the latest event, thousands of people gathered Sunday at Kim Il Sung Square in the middle of Pyongyang for a protest rally against Seoul and the U.S.

The North's government regularly tells citizens to be fearful of invasion by South Korea, the U.S. and Japan.

It is using the South's implication of it in the Cheonan sinking to stoke war fears at home and boost its legitimacy.

In other developments at the three-way summit, China, Japan and South Korea said they would reduce technical standards that form trade barriers between them. And they formally launched a joint study for a trilateral free-trade agreement with a target completion date in 2012. If the study proves successful, they may subsequently undertake FTA negotiations.

The leaders also said they would step up discussions of law-enforcement cooperation and a dialogue between defense ministries. And they signed a pledge to boost exchanges of students and other groups between the countries.

The three-way meeting was the third within two years, after sessions in Japan in December 2008 and China last October.

一年一度的中日韩三国领导人会议周日闭幕，但三方在如何解决朝鲜涉嫌击沉韩国军舰天安号一事上存在分歧。

中国国务院总理温家宝没有明确表示，中国是否将支持韩国呼吁联合国安理会就朝鲜3月份击沉韩国“天安”号一事制裁朝鲜。作为联合国安理会五个常任理事国之一，中国对联合国安理会的任何行动都拥有否决权。

Xinhua/Zuma Press韩国总统李明博（左）、日本首相鸠山由纪夫（中）和中国总理温家宝周日结束了在韩国的会晤。温家宝在与韩国总统李明博(Lee Myung-bak)和日本首相鸠山由纪夫(Yukio Hatoyama)举行的联合新闻发布会上说，当务之急是要妥善应对天安号事件造成的严重影响，逐步减缓紧张局势，尤其要避免发生冲突。

中、日、韩三国一直在联手敦促朝鲜放弃核武器计划。不过，三国都在不同时期采取不同方式与朝鲜进行经济往来。目前，韩国认定朝鲜对天安号沉没事件负有责任，这成了该地区最急需解决的安全问题。在3月26日的事件中，有46名韩国船员遇难。

韩国计划最早于本周提请联合国安理会审议天安号事件。鸠山由纪夫周日说，在发生了这样的事件后，这是一个“自然的过程”，并鼓励韩国这样做。

分析人士说，希望从中国获得全力支持是期望过高了，因为中国是朝鲜最重要的经济援助国和政治盟友。不过，在韩国逗留的三天期间，温家宝慎重地表示，中国政府对了解事件经过保持开放态度。

温家宝上周六向韩国遇难船员家属表达了哀悼之情。此前一天，他说，中国将评估韩国对“天安”号事件的调查，不会袒护任何对事件负有责任的一方。韩国的调查发现了天安号被鱼雷击中的证据，并在其沉没海域发现了朝鲜鱼雷的残骸。

李明博在峰会上说，他相信温家宝和鸠山由纪夫“高度重视”韩国对沉船事件的调查。这次调查有一个74人委员会参与，其中有来自军方和民间的专家， 24人来自美国、加拿大等国。

李明博说，三国领导人同意继续就此事进行磋商，并对此采取恰当的应对措施，以维护和平与安全。

李明博的发言人后来对媒体记者说，中国允许峰会的联合新闻发布会谈到沉船事件，让韩国代表团受到鼓舞。

鸠山由纪夫说，三国一致认为，沉船事件是关乎东北亚和平与稳定的严重事件。他在上周六参拜了安葬韩国遇难海军官兵的墓地。

朝鲜认为沉船事件是韩国自导自演，自韩国的调查结果于5月20日公布以来，朝鲜已经发布了一系列声明，并通过一些活动来吸引人们对其观点的关注。

在最近的一场活动中，周日有数千人在平壤市中心的金日成广场集会抗议韩国和美国。

朝鲜政府经常告诉国民，要提防韩国、美国和日本入侵。

韩国指责朝鲜造成天安号沉船事件，正被朝鲜政府用来加强国内的备战心态，并提高它的合法性。

这次峰会取得的其他进展包括，中日韩三国说，它们会降低在相互之间形成贸易壁垒的技术标准；三国正式启动了一项有关三方自由贸易协定的联合研究，研究的完成日期定在2012年。如果研究取得成功，中日韩接下来可能就会展开自由贸易谈判。

各国领导人还说，他们会加快执法合作谈判和防务部门之间的对话。此外他们还签署了一份承诺书，以强化学生和其他团体在国与国之间的交流。

这是两年来举行的第三次三方峰会。此前的两次峰会分别于2008年12月在日本、2009年10月在中国举行。