americans are often casual about apologies. "sorry about that" and "excuse me" slip easily from our lips. it is not this way for the chinese and japanese. for them, to make an apology means to lose face. this is a serious matter, hitting at their sense of identity and understandings about relationships. apologies are not taken lightly. in china and japan, apologies require just the right words, spoken in a precise tone of voice. they even require the right clothing. when the united states mistakenly took the chinese embassy in belgrade for a terrorist center and bombed it, president clinton apologized on television. chinese officials were outraged at clinton, and the chinese media refused to broadcast the tape. why? it was too casual to be a "real" apology . when clinton made his statement, he was outdoors and wearing a polo shirt. (henslin, p. 42) title for this paragraph