【英语国际】俄总统视察南千岛 俄日领土纠纷加剧

Moscow reacted angrily to criticism from Tokyo of President Dmitry Medvedev's visit Monday to disputed islands in the Far East, threatening to create another foreign-policy flashpoint for the embattled Japanese government.

Russia and Japan exchanged angry statements and summoned each other's ambassadors for protests after Mr. Medvedev became the first Russian or Soviet leader to visit the small islands, known in Russia as the Southern Kurils and in Japan as the Northern Territories. Soviet troops occupied them at the end of World War II, but Japan still claims them and the dispute has poisoned relations between Tokyo and Moscow for decades.

Monday's visit by Mr. Medvedev fueled the long-simmering tensions, prompting complaints from Prime Minister Naoto Kan and Foreign Minister Seiji Maehara. Japanese news agencies said the government was considering possible retaliatory steps, such as withdrawing its ambassador from Moscow.

Russian officials fired back. Calling Tokyo's reaction 'unacceptable,' Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said, 'This is Russian land and the Russian president is visiting Russian territory.'

On Monday, the U.S. expressed support for Japan in the matter. State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley told reporters, 'We are quite aware of the dispute. We do back Japan regarding the Northern Territories. But this is why the United States, for a number of years, has encouraged Japan and Russia to negotiate an actual peace treaty regarding these and other issues.'

It wasn't clear how far Russia and Japan would allow the dispute to escalate, however. Officials and analysts said Mr. Medvedev appeared to be responding to what Moscow viewed as a hardening in recent months of Japan's rhetoric on the territorial dispute.

对于日本方面批评俄罗斯总统德米特里•梅德韦杰夫(Dmitry Medvedev)周一访问远东地区俄、日间有争议岛屿一事，莫斯科作出了愤怒的回应，威胁要给正四面受敌的日本政府再创造一个外交政策麻烦点。

Xinhua/Zuma Press梅德韦杰夫的南千岛群岛之行在梅德韦杰夫周一访问南千岛群岛(日本称北方领土)后，俄罗斯和日本都发表了针对对方的愤怒声明，并都召见了对方驻本国大使以示抗议。梅德韦杰夫是首位视察南千岛群岛的俄罗斯或前苏联领导人。苏联军队在第二次世界大战结束时占领了南千岛群岛，但日本依然声称对这些岛屿拥有主权，双方的领土主权纠纷几十年来一直困扰着俄日两国关系。

梅德韦杰夫周一的访问使俄日两国长期存在的紧张关系出现加剧，促使日本首相菅直人(Naoto Kan)和外相前原诚司(Seiji Maehara)先后发出了抱怨。日本的新闻通讯社说，日本政府正在考虑实施可能的报复举措，如撤回驻俄罗斯大使等。

俄罗斯官员则予以回击，称东京方面对梅德韦杰夫此访的反应是“不可接受的”。俄罗斯外交部长拉夫罗夫(Sergei Lavrov)说，这是俄罗斯的岛屿，俄罗斯总统是在视察俄罗斯的领土。

美国周一在这件事情上表达了对日本的支持。国务院发言人克劳利(P.J. Crowley)对记者们说，我们很了解这一争端，我们在北方领土问题上切实支持日本；但正因为如此，美国多年来一直鼓励日本和俄罗斯就这一领土问题和其他事宜切实达成和平协议。

虽然尚不清楚俄罗斯和日本会允许这场领土争端升级到何种程度，但官员和分析师们说，在莫斯科看来，日本最近几个月在俄日领土争端问题上言辞趋于强硬，梅德韦杰夫似乎正在对此作出回应。