【英语国际】联合国将谴责韩国天安舰沉没事件

The United Nations Security Council is expected Friday to formally condemn the sinking of a South Korean warship, with a carefully worded statement that avoids directly blaming North Korea or imposing penalties on it.

The product of a month of wrangling, the statement bears China's imprint, according to diplomats familiar with the negotiations. But it appears to represent a late-hour linguistic, if not diplomatic, victory for the U.S.

(This story and related background material will be available on The Wall Street Journal Web site, WSJ.com.)

The statement, which is to be read by the council president at a open meeting at the U.N. on Friday morning, will 'condemn' the sinking of South Korea's Cheonan warship near the North Korean border in March.

'The Security Council deplores the attack' and 'determines that such an incident endangers peace and security in the region and beyond,' says the statement, which was reviewed by the The Wall Street Journal.

A U.S. official said Washington was pleased with the statement because it was a 'clear condemnation' of the March 26 attack that killed 46 South Korean sailors.

Chinese, North Korean and South Korean officials couldn't be immediately reached for comment.

According to diplomats familiar with the negotiations, the language marks a shift from China, which until as recently as this week objected to including the words 'condemn' or 'attack,' preferring to call the sinking an 'incident' and 'event.' That left the council with little room for wording a document that required the consensus of all 15 members.

In early June, following an international investigation that blamed the sinking on North Korea, South Korea asked the Security Council to condemn the attack, and demand an apology and compensation from Pyongyang. China, a Security Council permanent member, rejected the last two conditions, say diplomats familiar with the negotiations.

In an apparent compromise with Beijing, the statement also avoids directly blaming North Korea. Instead, it refers to the international investigation that concluded that North Korea had deliberately torpedoed the Cheonan.

'In view of the findings of the Joint Civilian-Military Investigation Group led by the ROK with the participation of five nations, which concluded that the DPRK was responsible for sinking the Cheonan, the Security Council expresses its deep concern,' the statement said. 'Therefore, the Security Council condemns the attack which led to the sinking of the Cheonan.'

Without naming the North, it 'calls for appropriate and peaceful measures to be taken against those responsible for the incident.'

President Barack Obama became directly involved in the negotiations over the Security Council statement, having what he called a 'blunt' talk about it with President Hu Jintao at the Group of 20 summit last month.

Obama had called for the Security Council to send a 'crystal clear' message to the North. He said that China had demonstrated 'willful blindness' to 'consistent problems' coming from the North.

The statement ignores the threat by North Korea, which vowed to go to war in a 'do-or-die battle' if the Security Council reacted to the incident.

联合国安理会预计将于周五发表精心措辞的声明，正式谴责韩国军舰沉船事件，但声明中将避免直接指责朝鲜或对其施以惩罚。

据了解谈判的外交官说，这份声明承载着中国的烙印，是争吵了一个月之后的产物。但它显然代表着美国在最后一刻取得了语言上的（若非外交上的）胜利。

声明中将对3月韩国天安号军舰在邻近朝鲜边境海域发生的沉船事件进行“谴责”。周五上午，安理会主席将在联合国大会上宣读这份声明。

声明中说，安理会强烈反对此次袭击，并认为此类事件危及该地区内外的和平与安全。《华尔街日报》阅读了这一声明。

一位美国官员说华盛顿方面对声明感到满意，因为这是对3月26日袭击的“明确谴责”。此次袭击导致46名韩国水兵身亡。

未能立即联系到中国、朝鲜和韩国官员发表评论。

了解谈判的外交官说，声明中的措词标志着中国立场的变化。直到本周之前，中国还反对在声明中使用“谴责”或“袭击”的字样，更倾向于称之为沉船“事故”或“事件”。由于这份文件需要安理会15个成员国的一致同意，中国原先的态度让安理会的措词空间极小。

6月初，国际调查小组指责朝鲜应为沉船事件负责。之后，韩国要求安理会谴责此次袭击，并要求平壤方面进行道歉并提供赔偿。了解谈判的外交官说，作为安理会常任理事国，中国驳回了后两项条件。

声明还避免直接指责朝鲜，但提及国际调查小组的结论。这显然是向北京方面作出了妥协。国际调查小组断定朝鲜蓄意用鱼雷袭击了天安号。

声明说，鉴于由韩国牵头、五个国家参与的军民联合调查小组根据其发现的证据断定朝鲜应为天安号沉船事件负责，安理会表达出深切的关切，因此，安理会对导致天安号沉没的袭击表示谴责。

在不点名朝鲜的情况下，声明要求采取适当及和平的措施处理应为此事件负责之人。

美国总统奥巴马(Barack Obama)称他在上个月20国集团峰会之后与中国国家主席胡锦涛就此事进行了“坦率的”讨论，从而变成了安理会声明谈判的直接参与者。

他要求安理会传递一个“清晰明确”的信息，并说中国的表现说明它故意无视于朝鲜一贯出现的问题。

朝鲜誓言，若安理会对这一事件做出回应，它将决一死战。声明未理会朝鲜的威胁。