2006年VOA标准英语-Shooting of Japanese Fisherman Triggers Dispute

By Steve Herman
Tokyo
16 August 2006

		Taro1 Aso, left, shakes hanads with Acting2 Ambassador of Russia Mikhail Y. Galuzin prior to their meeting at his office in Tokyo Wednesday, August 16, 2006" src="/upimg/allimg/070416/1429380.jpg" width="210" border="0" /> Japanese FM Taro Aso, left, shakes hanads with Acting Ambassador of Russia Mikhail Y. Galuzin prior to their meeting at his office in Tokyo Wednesday, August 16, 2006

In the first such incident in half a century, a Japanese fisherman in disputed waters has been shot dead by Russian maritime³ border guards. Japan's Foreign Ministry⁴ has lodged⁵ a diplomatic protest and is demanding apologies and compensation, but Russia says the Japanese fishing boat involved in the incident was at fault. 

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A diplomat⁶ row broke out between Japan and Russia on Wednesday following the shooting death of a Japanese fisherman in waters claimed by both countries.

Russia confirms its border patrol shot dead a Japanese fisherman earlier in the day aboard a vessel⁷ suspected of illegally fishing for lucrative⁸ crab⁹. Mitsuhiro Morita, 35, was one of four men aboard the Japanese vessel. The other three have been taken into custody¹⁰ by the Russians.

The incident took place near the island chain the Russians call the Kurils, and the Japanese call the Northern Territories. The islands were seized by the Soviet¹¹ Union in the closing days of World War II, and have been under Russian control ever since, but Japan still claims them.

Foreign Minister Taro Aso, after summoning Russia's deputy ambassador, told reporters in Tokyo that the killing¹² of the Japanese fisherman was an outrageous¹³ act.

Aso says he lodged a strong protest with the acting head of the Russian Embassy, Mikhail Galuzin, telling him the shooting was inexcusable and calling for the quick release of the crew and vessel.

Galuzin, speaking Japanese, told reporters at the Foreign Ministry that the vessel was apprehended¹⁴ in Russian waters, in accordance with Russian law.

Galuzin says the Russian border patrol fired warning shots at the suspected poachers' vessel, and was not intending to hit any of the crew.

Russian media say the five-ton vessel was acting suspiciously and had no identification markings. The reports say several tons of crab, some 25 crab traps and 10 kilograms of octopus¹⁵ were found on board, and the Japanese crew had thrown some of its catch overboard while being pursued.

Wednesday's incident is the first since 1956 in which a Japanese fisherman has been shot dead by Russian border guards, although there have been numerous incidents of Russian authorities in that area apprehending¹⁶ Japanese fishing boats and their crews.

The Japan Coast Guard says the Number 31 Kisshin Maru was fishing near Kaigara island, off the eastern tip of Japan's northern island of Hokkaido.

The Soviets¹⁷ attacked Japan 61 years ago this month, and took control of the northern Japanese islands. The area remains¹⁸ under Russian control, but claimed by Japan, and the dispute has prevented the two countries from signing a peace treaty formally ending the Second World War.

1 taro   

n.芋，芋头

参考例句：

• Main grain crop has taro,corn,banana to wait.主要粮食作物有芋头、玉米、芭蕉等。
• You celebrate your birthday with taro,red bean and butter.用红豆、芋头和黄油给自己过生日。

2 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

3 maritime   

adj.海的，海事的，航海的，近海的，沿海的

参考例句：

• Many maritime people are fishermen.许多居于海滨的人是渔夫。
• The temperature change in winter is less in maritime areas.冬季沿海的温差较小。

4 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

5 lodged   

v.存放( lodge的过去式和过去分词 )；暂住；埋入；（权利、权威等）归属

参考例句：

• The certificate will have to be lodged at the registry. 证书必须存放在登记处。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Our neighbours lodged a complaint against us with the police. 我们的邻居向警方控告我们。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 diplomat   

n.外交官，外交家；能交际的人，圆滑的人

参考例句：

• The diplomat threw in a joke, and the tension was instantly relieved.那位外交官插进一个笑话，紧张的气氛顿时缓和下来。
• He served as a diplomat in Russia before the war.战前他在俄罗斯当外交官。

7 vessel   

n.船舶；容器，器皿；管，导管，血管

参考例句：

• The vessel is fully loaded with cargo for Shanghai.这艘船满载货物驶往上海。
• You should put the water into a vessel.你应该把水装入容器中。

8 lucrative   

adj.赚钱的，可获利的

参考例句：

• He decided to turn his hobby into a lucrative sideline.他决定把自己的爱好变成赚钱的副业。
• It was not a lucrative profession.那是一个没有多少油水的职业。

9 crab   

n.螃蟹，偏航，脾气乖戾的人，酸苹果；vi.捕蟹，偏航，发牢骚；vt.使偏航，发脾气

参考例句：

• I can't remember when I last had crab.我不记得上次吃蟹是什么时候了。
• The skin on my face felt as hard as a crab's back.我脸上的皮仿佛僵硬了，就象螃蟹的壳似的。

10 custody   

n.监护，照看，羁押，拘留

参考例句：

• He spent a week in custody on remand awaiting sentence.等候判决期间他被还押候审一个星期。
• He was taken into custody immediately after the robbery.抢劫案发生后，他立即被押了起来。

11 Soviet   

adj.苏联的，苏维埃的；n.苏维埃

参考例句：

• Zhukov was a marshal of the former Soviet Union.朱可夫是前苏联的一位元帅。
• Germany began to attack the Soviet Union in 1941.德国在1941年开始进攻苏联。

12 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

13 outrageous   

adj.无理的，令人不能容忍的

参考例句：

• Her outrageous behaviour at the party offended everyone.她在聚会上的无礼行为触怒了每一个人。
• Charges for local telephone calls are particularly outrageous.本地电话资费贵得出奇。

14 apprehended   

逮捕，拘押( apprehend的过去式和过去分词 )； 理解

参考例句：

• She apprehended the complicated law very quickly. 她很快理解了复杂的法律。
• The police apprehended the criminal. 警察逮捕了罪犯。

15 octopus   

n.章鱼

参考例句：

• He experienced nausea after eating octopus.吃了章鱼后他感到恶心。
• One octopus has eight tentacles.一条章鱼有八根触角。

16 apprehending   

逮捕，拘押( apprehend的现在分词 )； 理解

参考例句：

• China has not been totally unsuccessful apprehending corruption suspects. 在逮捕腐化分子方面，中国并非毫无进展。
• Apprehending violence is not an easy task. 惧怕暴力不是一件容易的事。

17 soviets   

苏维埃（Soviet的复数形式）

参考例句：

• A public challenge could provoke the Soviets to dig in. 公开挑战会促使苏联人一意孤行。
• The Soviets proposed the withdrawal of American ballistic-missile submarines from forward bases. 苏联人建议把美国的弹道导弹潜艇从前沿基地撤走。

18 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。