This takes me back to the first time I read the word sorry that was not an apology, but rather an expression of regret or sorrow.

There was further debate over the exact meaning of the Chinese translation issued by the U.S. Embassy. A senior administration official was quoted as saying "What the Chinese will choose to characterize as an apology, we would probably choose to characterize as an expression of regret or sorrow".[32]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hainan_Island_incident