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Start 2/5/2000 |
2001年3月5日 01時17分 March 5th, Mon. 「英語は受験のためならず！ TAhira really means it!」 解説は無しだが、何度でも読み返して欲しい。TA。 Bush Envoy Will Visit Families of Fishing Boat Victims _____Commentary_____ • We've Apologized Enough to Japan by Richard Cohen (2/27/01) By Doug Struck Washington Post Foreign Service Wednesday, February 28, 2001; 11:12 AM TOKYO, Feb. 28 -- In an effort to "help the families achieve closure," a special envoy from President Bush said he will go to the home port of a sunken Japanese training vessel on Thursday to meet relatives of the nine victims. "I come seeking their understanding, seeking their acceptance of our apology," said Adm. William J. Fallon, who had been dispatched here by Bush. Fallon met Japanese cabinet members, parliament members, military officials and two representatives of the victims' families today in his effort to limit the resentment from the Feb. 9 collision of the USS Greeneville submarine and the Ehime Maru high school fisheries training ship near Hawaii. That resentment first centered on the actions of the ship and crew, but now is focused on dissatisfaction with the statement of regret from the submarine's captain, Scott Waddle. Fallon acknowledged that his chief task is to convince Japan of the sincerity of the U.S. apologies. "I'm aware we have many things in common between these two nations, but there are fundamentally some cultural differences," he said. "My understanding of Japanese feelings and sensitivities [is] that there is a very, very strong need to have those in authority, with some responsibility for the events, [make an] expression of apology." He said he will do that in Uwajima, the fishing town 420 miles southwest of Tokyo, which is home to the fisheries vocational high school that trained students aboard the Ehime Maru. Four teenage students, two teachers, and three crewmen were lost in the accident; 26 others were rescued. Fallon also said he has assured Japanese officials and the victims' representatives of the "determination to undertake" the raising of the Ehime Maru to recover any bodies in the wreckage. American and Japanese Navy officials are working with a salvage company to see if the job is possible. Fallon said there never has been such a large ship raised from 2,000 feet of water, where the Ehime Maru lay. At a press conference with foreign and Japanese press, Fallon sidestepped questions about the role of civilians in the control room of the submarine, but he defended the practice of taking civilians on demonstration drills. "This was not a joy ride. We need to demonstrate the capabilities of our forces to our people," he said. "The exposure of our operations to civilians, particularly those in key leadership and positions of key influence in society, is very worthwhile." Fallon was met in Japan today by controversy stirred by a Washington Post opinion article by columnist Richard Cohen, who wrote that "the United States has apologized enough," and cited Japan's failures to apologize for wartime crimes. The column was quoted and broadcast in much of the Japanese media, and prompted numerous complaints. "Whenever America says 'Remember Pearl Harbor,' we will say 'Remember the Ehime Maru,' " said one angry caller to the Post's Tokyo bureau. "To connect this accident to the war problem does not make sense. I am surprised there are people who think that way," said another caller, Tadahi Tomioka, 63, of Suzuka City. In Washington, the Japanese ambassador, Shunji Yanai, also criticized the article. "I want to ask Mr. Cohen this: did Americans apologize for all they did in the past? I don't think so," Yanai was quoted as saying by Kyodo news agency. © 2001 The Washington Post Company 3月のカレンダーに戻る ----次の日を見る |
