Japanese guns reverberated over(再次响起) the Chinese coast for the first time in more than 60 years(逾60年) yesterday, this time in peace as the destroyer(驱逐舰)(驱逐舰是以导弹，鱼雷，舰炮等为主要武器，具有多种作战能力的中型军舰) Sazanami marked its historic port call with a 21-gun salute(以21响礼炮纪念它对中国的历史性访问).

The Takanami-class ship sounded its greeting before docking for an otherwise low-key reception(低调的欢迎仪式) in Zhanjiang, a backwater port in southern Guangdong province. The Sazanami is the first Japanese naval vessel to visit Chinese shores since the end of the second world war. It was escorted into Zhanjiang harbour by a Chinese warship, with both crews standing at attention(立正致意) on deck.

Although a large bulk and naval port(大型散货及海军港口) in its own right(凭本身的头衔,资格或质量), Zhanjiang is far from(不可同日而语) the bright lights of(繁荣) Hong Kong, Shanghai, Qingdao and other big cities usually favoured(青睐) by foreign navies.

Reflecting the sensitivity that still surrounds any military exchange between the two former enemies, only Japanese and Chinese reporters were allowed dockside for the Sazanami's arrival at a Chinese naval facility. Other overseas and Hong Kong journalists were turned away.

The Sazanami's visit is the latest sign(最新迹象) of improved relations between China and Japan. Beijing and Tokyo last week signed an agreement on joint exploration for natural gas in the East China Sea, to whose waters both countries lay claim.

“[The visit] means Japan and China can start a new page by co-operating in the defence field(防务领域), which has never happened before,” said Gao Haikuan of the Sino-Japanese Historical Society. “It will help Japanese people to understand China better and . . . stop seeing China's rise as a threat.”

Despite the recent détente(指国际关系等的缓和) across the East China Sea, the sight of a Japanese warship off the Chinese coast was always going to be politically sensitive. The encounter can be more easily stage-managed in a remote port such as Zhanjiang, which has also hosted visits by the US and European navies.

In line with its officially pacifist constitution(和平宪法)(adj.pacifistic), Japan maintains a “maritime self-defence force(海上自卫队)” rather than a navy and the Sazanami arrived loaded with relief supplies destined for victims of last month's devastating earthquake in Sichuan province.

Such semantics(此类安排) mean little to(未能打动) a diehard army of hotheads(许多铁杆的强硬派人士) still clinging to(对...耿耿于怀) bitter memories of Japan's occupation of China(侵华史) from the 1930s until the end of the war.

Proposed relief flights to the quake zone by Japanese military aircraft were ruled out last month after the suggestion reopened old wounds(触痛旧伤) among many Chinese. Similarly, this month's sinking of a Taiwanese recreational fishing boat near the disputed Diaoyutai islands, allegedly(据称) after being rammed by(撞击) a Japanese coastguard vessel, also threatened to rekindle old hatreds(也一度威胁重燃旧恨).

“Japan won again and got what it wanted,” one person wrote this week on Tianya, a popular Chinese internet forum, in a posting that managed to evade teams of Chinese government censors patrolling cyberspace for expressions of anti-Japanese sentiment. “The Chinese government missed the opportunity raised by the Diaoyutai incident.”

Zhanjiang residents, however, were relaxed about the visit despite their own city's close encounter with Japanese militarism during the second world war, when it was a French treaty port known as Guangzhouwan. The Japanese army landed at Guangzhouwan on February 16 1943 and seized the city four days later.

“Exchanges like this are positive. We just can't seal off our minds,” said Li Guanggui, a local resident. “It's also a good opportunity to see their technology.”

While China's historic grievances are never far below the surface when the subject of Japan comes up(尽管中国人在日本问题上难免有历史情结), more prosaic concerns loom larger.

“Japan was very cruel during the war but most Japanese are good people,” said Mr Li, who has twice visited a memorial to the victims of the infamous rape of Nanjing, perpetrated by the Imperial Japanese Army in December 1937. “I'm more worried about the weak US dollar, which is why fuel is so expensive.”

http://www.ftchinese.com/sc/story_english.jsp?id=001020193

posted on 2008-06-25 19:06 杏子 阅读(29) 评论(0)  编辑  收藏 网摘收藏