美国和越南洽谈贸易

 　　Washington and Hanoi agreed on a partnership¹ to further ties in trade, science and education after Vietnam President Truong Tan Sang met US President Barack Obama on Thursday in Washington.

　　Chinese observers said the move is designed to enhance ties as Vietnam seeks more international support to guard its interests in the South China Sea while the United States expands its presence in the Asia-Pacific region in line with its strategic pivot² to Asia.

　　Sang is only the second head of state from Vietnam to visit Washington since relations were normalized in 1995. Former Vietnamese president Nguyen Minh Triet was the first, visiting the US in 2007.

　　The two leaders discussed a global trade pact³ called the Trans-Pacific Partnership that aims to create a vast free trade collective. Twelve nations covering 40 percent of the world economy are taking part in the pact, including Vietnam and most recently Japan.

　　At the meeting, Obama spoke⁴ of the "steady progression and strengthening" of bilateral⁵ ties and the " extraordinarily⁶ complex history" between the two countries. He called Truong's visit a move that "signifies the maturing and the next stage of the development between the United States and Vietnam".

　　The two presidents also discussed maritime⁷ issues in the South China Sea.

　　Qi Jianguo, former Chinese ambassador to Vietnam, said Sang's visit shows the two countries are strengthening relations. High-ranking officials from both sides rarely make visits to each nation, Qi said.

　　"Before visiting Washington, the Vietnam leader also paid visits to other big powers including China and Russia, so the Washington visit shows the diplomatic balance that Vietnam hopes to reach in its foreign policy," he said.

　　Li Guoqiang, deputy director of the Center for Chinese Borderland History and Geography at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said both Washington and Hanoi want to enhance ties.

　　"Hanoi not only seeks ways to resolve the South China Sea issue with China, but hopes to strengthen its maritime power with the support of powers outside the region," Li said.

　　Washington aims to become more deeply involved in South China Sea territorial⁸ issues in order to help contain China and maintain dominance in the region, he added.

　　During the meeting with Sang, Obama said he "very much" appreciated Vietnam's commitment to working with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and the East Asia Summit to establish a code of conduct to resolve issues "peacefully and fairly".

　　Although the US said it remains⁹ neutral on territorial disputes related to the South China Sea, its rhetoric¹⁰ on the issue has sounded alarms in China, Li said.

　　"It is hard for the US to get away with the more and more complicated situation in the South China Sea," he added.

　　Obama has focused more heavily on Southeast Asia in recent years and sees it as a region with large economic potential that has been neglected by US policymakers in the past.

　　Sang is the fourth Southeast Asian leader to visit the White House this year.

　　Xinhua and AFP contributed to this story.

1 partnership   

n.合作关系，伙伴关系

参考例句：

• The company has gone into partnership with Swiss Bank Corporation.这家公司已经和瑞士银行公司建立合作关系。
• Martin has taken him into general partnership in his company.马丁已让他成为公司的普通合伙人。

2 pivot   

v.在枢轴上转动；装枢轴，枢轴；adj.枢轴的

参考例句：

• She is the central pivot of creation and represents the feminine aspect in all things.她是创造的中心枢轴，表现出万物的女性面貌。
• If a spring is present,the hand wheel will pivot on the spring.如果有弹簧，手轮的枢轴会装在弹簧上。

3 pact   

n.合同，条约，公约，协定

参考例句：

• The two opposition parties made an electoral pact.那两个反对党订了一个有关选举的协定。
• The trade pact between those two countries came to an end.那两国的通商协定宣告结束。

4 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

5 bilateral   

adj.双方的，两边的，两侧的

参考例句：

• They have been negotiating a bilateral trade deal.他们一直在商谈一项双边贸易协定。
• There was a wide gap between the views of the two statesmen on the bilateral cooperation.对双方合作的问题，两位政治家各自所持的看法差距甚大。

6 extraordinarily   

adv.格外地；极端地

参考例句：

• She is an extraordinarily beautiful girl.她是个美丽非凡的姑娘。
• The sea was extraordinarily calm that morning.那天清晨，大海出奇地宁静。

7 maritime   

adj.海的，海事的，航海的，近海的，沿海的

参考例句：

• Many maritime people are fishermen.许多居于海滨的人是渔夫。
• The temperature change in winter is less in maritime areas.冬季沿海的温差较小。

8 territorial   

adj.领土的，领地的

参考例句：

• The country is fighting to preserve its territorial integrity.该国在为保持领土的完整而进行斗争。
• They were not allowed to fish in our territorial waters.不允许他们在我国领海捕鱼。

9 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

10 rhetoric   

n.修辞学，浮夸之言语

参考例句：

• Do you know something about rhetoric?你懂点修辞学吗？
• Behind all the rhetoric,his relations with the army are dangerously poised.在冠冕堂皇的言辞背后，他和军队的关系岌岌可危。