【英语中国】朝鲜边防部队枪杀三名中国居民

China's government said three Chinese residents were shot and killed by North Korean border guards last week in an incident that could complicate ties between the reclusive dictatorship in Pyongyang and its chief benefactor and ally.

The three people were killed during what appears to have been an intrusion into North Korea during a smuggling operation, a spokesman for China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said at a regular press briefing Tuesday, responding to a question about South Korean media reports of the incident.

The spokesman, Qin Gang, didn't elaborate on the circumstances of the incident, and it wasn't immediately clear whether those killed were Chinese citizens. But Mr. Qin said that China 'has attached great importance to' the incident and had 'immediately made serious representations to the North Korean side.' He said China continues to investigate it.

Analysts said the incident doesn't appear likely to rupture relations between Pyongyang and Beijing.

But some said that the rare outbreak of violence on the Chinese-North Korean border and Beijing's decision to acknowledge it and to break the extreme secrecy that normally governs relations with Pyongyang could indicate tensions between the longtime allies since the sinking of a South Korean warship in March that Seoul has blamed on North Korea.

'Illegal trafficking of this kind has been going on for many years, but this is the first time the North Koreans have taken such very harsh measures against smugglers,' said Shi Yinghong, professor of International Relations at Renmin University of China. 'I think this shows that relations have entered a very tense period.'

Seoul announced on May 20 that an international investigation showed North Korea was behind the sinking of the vessel, the Cheonan, which killed 46 South Korean sailors. North Korea has denied involvement, and China has so far refused to publicly accept the investigation's findings.

Some in China had pointed to initial reports about last week's shooting on the North Korean border as an attempt to cause trouble between Beijing and Pyongyang. The Global Times, a Chinese paper whose coverage often reflects a nationalist bent, picked up South Korean and Japanese reports of the incident on its website under the headline 'South Korean and Japanese media stir up 'shooting incident' as excuse to disturb Chinese-North Korean relations.'

But China's official confirmation Tuesday was notably similar to an account of the incident by NK Intellectual Solidarity, a North Korean defectors group in Seoul. The organization said that North Korean border guards fired shots at a boat of Chinese smugglers around 11 p.m. on June 3 near the North Korean coastal city of Sinuiju, leaving three dead. Mr. Qin's statement was consistent with that, except that he said it occurred on June 4.

Daniel Pinkston, Korea analyst at International Crisis Group in Seoul, said the incident stands out in part because it happened in the busiest part of the North Korean border with China.

Still, Mr. Pinkston said that on its own the incident is unlikely to change the fundamental relationship between the two countries. 'A lot of people outside of the two countries wonder about every little thing they see, wonder if it'll be the final straw,' he said. 'It's definitely not that.'

Mr. Shi said that China likely has little choice but to continue acting as Pyongyang's chief supplier of food and energy because Beijing fears the consequences of a destabilized North Korea on its own security.

'Based on the past pattern of many years, it is very unlikely that China will support harsh sanctions or a strong condemnation of North Korea in the United Nations Security Council, even with the death of Chinese citizens,' he said.

中国政府说三名中国居民上周遭朝鲜边防部队枪杀，这一事件有可能把秘密的平壤独裁政府与其主要捐助国及盟国之间的关系复杂化。

在周二的例行记者会上，中国外交部发言人在回答相关问题时说，辽宁省丹东市居民因涉嫌越境从事边贸活动遭到朝鲜边防部队枪击，造成3人死亡，1人受伤。韩国媒体对这一事件进行了报道。

Associated Press从辽宁丹东附近的鸭绿江沿岸看过去，一名朝鲜士兵走在朝鲜新义州沿岸中国外交部发言人秦刚未详细解释这一事件的情况，尚不清楚被杀的三人是不是中国公民。但秦刚说中国高度重视这一事件，立即向朝方进行严正交涉。他说中国正继续调查此事。

分析师说，这一事件显然不太可能导致平壤与北京之间的关系破裂。

但部分人士说中朝边境罕有暴力事件发生，而北京方面决定确认此事并打破中朝关系通常高度秘密的状态可能意味着，自3月韩国军舰沉没事件之后，这两个长期盟友之间的关系变得紧张。韩国指责朝鲜应为其军舰沉没事件负责。

中国人民大学国际关系学院时殷弘教授说，此类非法走私已经进行了很多年，但朝鲜采取如此严厉的措施对待走私者还是第一次。我认为这显示出中朝关系进入非常紧张的阶段。

首尔方面5月20日宣布，国际调查显示朝鲜应对导致46名韩国海员死亡的天安号(Cheonan)沉船事件负责。朝鲜否认与此事有关，中国至今拒绝公开接受调查结果。

部分在华人士指出有关上周中朝边境枪击事件的初步报道是企图制造中朝之间的麻烦。内容经常具有国家主义倾向的中文报纸《环球时报》在其网站上引述了韩国和日本对此事的报道，并配以标题《韩日媒体炒作“枪击事件” 或借此挑拨中朝关系》。

但周二中国对此事的正式确认与首尔的朝鲜叛逃者组织朝鲜知识分子联盟(NK Intellectual Solidarity)对此事的描述非常相似。这一组织说，6月3日晚11点左右，朝鲜边防部队在朝鲜口岸城市新义州附近向一艘中国走私者的船只开枪，导致三人死亡。秦刚的叙述与之一致，但称此事发生在6月4日。

国际危机组织(International Crisis Group)驻首尔的朝鲜问题分析师平克斯顿(Daniel Pinkston)说这一事件引人关注在一定程度上是由于它发生在中朝边境最繁忙地带。

尽管如此，平克斯顿说他认为这一事件不太可能改变中朝两国之间的根本性关系。他说，两国之外的许多人都对他们见到的每一件小事感到好奇，想知道这是否就是最后一根稻草。绝对不是。

时殷弘说中国很可能别无选择，只能继续充当平壤的粮食和能源的主要供应国，因为北京方面害怕朝鲜政局不稳会对其自身的安全造成不良后果。

他说，基于过去多年的情况，即使有中国公民死亡，中国也不太可能在联合国安理会支持对朝鲜进行严厉的制裁或强烈的谴责。