Word: shenbiao
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...accepts blame - the U.S. believes it did nothing wrong flying a surveillance mission in international airspace, and has no intention of refraining from doing so in the future. In the battle of wills over the wording of the not-quite-apology, Washington wouldn't even go as far as shenbiao qianyi, a deep apology, for an incident it would be more inclined to blame on the other side. Instead, the U.S. twice used the English phrase "very sorry," first for the loss of the Chinese pilot, Wang Wei, and second for the failure of the pilot of the stricken...
...landing without permission, and feichang wanxi (extreme sympathy) for Wang's family over their loss. Whether or not that was enough for the Chinese was a moot point - Beijing's media simply did their own translation of the English text, in which the double "very sorry" became the very "shenbiao qianyi" (deep expression of apology or regret) that Washington had steered clear of. It's a safe bet that the U.S. embassy's own translation into Chinese is unlikely to get any ink in the Chinese press...
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