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(回答先: 伊首相がまた失言騒動、中国の共産党統治をやゆ（CNN.co.jp）【赤ちゃんを食べるのではなく煮沸して地面を肥沃にした】 投稿者 gataro 日時 2006 年 3 月 29 日 21:42:16)
http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/europe/03/29/berlusconi.babies.reut/index.html
Italy PM: Boiled baby jibe ironic
'I couldn't stop myself,' says Berlusconi
Wednesday, March 29, 2006; Posted: 9:01 a.m. EST (14:01 GMT)
ROME, Italy (Reuters) -- Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi admitted on Wednesday his assertion Chinese communists boiled babies might have been in poor taste, but denied Italy's relations with China had suffered because of his comments.
However, a defiant Berlusconi refused to withdraw his remarks and dismissed a complaint from the Chinese Foreign Ministry, saying it had merely come from "a bureaucrat."
Berlusconi, campaigning ahead of an April 9-10 general election, told a weekend rally that babies were boiled and used as fertilizer during the rule of Communist dictator Mao Zedong.
China, which is marking 2006 as the Year of Italy, denounced the comments and Italian opposition politicians accused Berlusconi of damaging the country's international standing.
Berlusconi has refused to apologise or retract his statement, although on Wednesday he told reporters he had used "debatable irony" when referring to the babies.
"I couldn't stop myself and I quoted from that historical tract," he said, referring to the 1997 French book, "The Black Book of Communism", which concludes that Communist regimes around the world were much better at killing than governing.
Berlusconi's own publishing house, part of his wide-ranging business empire, released the book in Italy and the prime minister has regularly referred to it in his long-running campaign to demonize Italian communist parties.
But his attempt to smear his domestic opponents, who range from centrists to communists, did not go unobserved in China.
"We are dissatisfied with this groundless talk. Words and deeds by Italian leaders should benefit the stability and development of friendly relations between China and Italy," China's Foreign Ministry said in a fax to Reuters on Tuesday.
'A historical fact'
Berlusconi said on Wednesday the Chinese statement did not amount to an diplomatic crisis. "What are you saying! ... It was only a bureaucrat. We have excellent relations with the Chinese government," he told a scrum of reporters.
"Besides, it's a historical fact that millions and millions and millions of people have been slaughtered in China."
Italy's Foreign Ministry has sought to play down the spat.
"The sentence in question refers to an episode that took place in the past, while it is obvious that there is no intention to have any disputes with the People's Republic of China," it said in a statement released late Tuesday.
But opposition leader Romano Prodi, who is widely expected to win the April election, refused to let the matter drop, saying Berlusconi's comments proved he was unsuitable to represent Italy at the highest levels.
"This sort of thing does terrible damage. It displays an absolute lack of care and an incomprehensible inability to understand the way the world is today," he said.
"This policy of carelessness only damages Italy."
During his five years in power, Berlusconi has strengthened Italy's ties with the United States, Russia and Israel.
However, he has also regularly sparked diplomatic storms with other allies because of his highly unconventional style.
Copyright 2006 Reuters. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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