◎俞智敏
Japan recently refused to take back a letter sent by its own prime minister after Seoul said it would not accept delivery of the note, as a row over islands threatened to descend into diplomatic farce.
在南韓政府表示不願接受後，日本最近拒絕收回一封由日本首相親自寄出的信函，日韓兩國為了小島主權所產生的爭執恐惡化為外交鬧劇。
South Korea said earlier it would return the protest from Yoshihiko Noda without answering it, for fear any move to acknowledge the missive would bolster Tokyo’s claim to islands that both sides say they own.
南韓先前表示要退回日相野田所寫的抗議信，因為南韓擔心，如果收下這封正式公文就形同支持日方擁有小島主權的說法，日韓兩國都聲稱島嶼為其所有。
The letter to South Korean President Lee Myung-Bak has not even made it to Seoul, having been kept at the South’s embassy in Tokyo, foreign ministry spokesman Cho Tai-Young said, announcing the intention to hand the note back.
據南韓外交部發言人趙泰永表示，這封寫給南韓總統李明博的信根本就沒有送到首爾，而是保留在南韓駐東京大使館內，趙泰永也宣布南韓打算把信退還給日本。
But in what was beginning to look like a real live game of hot potato, the Japanese foreign ministry turned away a South Korean diplomat, believed to have been carrying Noda’s letter, at the gate of the ministry building. The letter was subsequently put in the post, registered delivery, a spokesman at the foreign ministry in Seoul said.
但在這愈來愈像是一場實況轉播的燙手山芋遊戲中，日本外交部竟然拒絕讓帶著這封信的南韓外交官進入外交部大門。南韓外交部發言人表示，這封信隨後被以掛號信方式郵寄回去。
The relationship between the two countries has sharply worsened since Lee paid a surprise visit to the Seoul-controlled islands, known as Dokdo in Korean and Takeshima in Japan. Tokyo, caught on the hop by the island visit, recalled its ambassador to Seoul, cancelled a planned visit by its finance minister and said it would review a foreign exchange swap agreement.（AFP）
兩國關係在李明博突然登上由南韓控制的獨島（日本稱為竹島）後急轉直下。措手不及的日本政府隨後召回駐南韓大使，並取消財相的訪韓行程，還說會重新審視日韓貨幣互換協議。（法新社）
新聞辭典
hot potato：名詞，指棘手的問題、難題，例句：The abortion issue is a political hot potato in the United States.（墮胎議題在美國是政治的燙手山芋。）
tit for tat：名詞，指以牙還牙、一報還一報，例句：He answered their insults tit for tat.（他對他們的侮辱還以顏色。）形容詞為tit-for-tat，例句：Recent months have seen a pattern of tit-for-tat killings between the two sides.（近月來雙方陣營間出現了以牙還牙的殺戮模式。）
catch sb on the hop：片語，非正式用法，指讓人措手不及、來不及反應，例句：If we attack at the very start of the game, we may just catch their defenders on the hop.（假如我們在比賽一開始就發動攻擊，很可能把對方守備者殺個措手不及。）
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