美国国家公共电台 NPR--Biden alters his overseas travel plans because of the debt limit standoff

Biden alters his overseas travel plans because of the debt limit standoff

Transcript¹

President Biden will head to Japan to meet with G7 leaders. He canceled plans to travel on to Australia because of the looming² debt ceiling deadline. He also planned to stop in Papua New Guinea.

LEILA FADEL, HOST:

President Biden is headed for Japan for the G-7 summit, but without a debt ceiling deal with House Republicans, Biden switched up his itinerary³. Biden says the prospect⁴ of default would be catastrophic, but he told reporters just minutes ago he's confident the two sides will come together.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN: To be clear, this negotiation⁵ is about the outlines of what the budget will look like, not about whether or not we're going to in fact pay our debts. The leaders will all agree. We will not default. Every leader has said that.

FADEL: Earlier we spoke⁶ with NPR's Scott Detrow in Hiroshima, Japan, awaiting Biden's arrival and looking at what Biden's decision to scuttle⁷ part of his overseas trip, a visit to Australia and Papua New Guinea.

SCOTT DETROW, BYLINE⁸: Australia was going to be a meeting - what's called the quad⁹. That's the U.S., Japan, Australia and India. It's a group of like-minded democracies in the region that's all about containing China. So Biden and the other leaders were going to be meeting at the Sydney Opera House. Sounds really picturesque¹⁰, right? So that's not going to happen. But Biden will see these other leaders at the G-7 and will likely talk to them there.

FADEL: And Papua New Guinea, what was that intended - how was that intended to fit into Biden's travels?

DETROW: Yeah, that was supposed to be an effort to extend U.S. friendship and economic support to Pacific Island nations like Papua New Guinea. China has been aggressively courting Pacific Island nations in recent years, delivering a ton of economic assistance, in some cases military assistance and agreements. And that has led the U.S. and its allies, like Australia, to really scramble¹¹ to also make and keep friends in places like Papua New Guinea. I talked to Patricia Kim about this. She's a China expert at the Brookings Institution. And she says all of this maneuvering¹² is happening because both China and the U.S. see the South Pacific as a key strategic area. They both want to have influence and also have the ability to move around military assets and ships as needed.

PATRICIA KIM: And to do this, you need to have a good relationship with island states in the region, to be able to patrol the waterways, to be able to dock, refuel and restock naval¹³ vessels¹⁴.

DETROW: And in this big picture, Papua New Guinea is a really interesting country because it's been developing increasingly close economic ties with China. And as those have tightened¹⁵, Papua New Guinea withdrew ties to Taiwan. So suddenly, you had this scramble from Australia and the U.S. to keep pace. And this canceled trip is really a setback¹⁶ to that effort. This had been major news in Papua New Guinea, even though Biden was only going to spend about three hours there. The country had declared the day of the visit a national holiday, and now it's been cancelled.

FADEL: Oh, wow. That's tough. Now, Biden is still going to Japan, though, where you are. What's the focus going to be at the G-7?

DETROW: It's going to be a long list. Japan's ambassador to the U.S., Koji Tomita, has worked at several of these G-7 summits. And he joked at a recent press conference that the final statements that leaders issue always grows and grows and grows and grows.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

KOJI TOMITA: We officials always start with the ambition that we will produce something short and punchy. But our ambition is always defeated somehow, you know? We end up producing a, you know, 20-page-plus document.

FADEL: (Laughter) That's true.

DETROW: A little too real as a journalist, huh?

FADEL: Right.

DETROW: (Laughter) But, you know, Japan is the host country here. And its leaders have talked a lot about wanting to make sure that the G-7 focuses on helping¹⁷ less wealthy countries. So Japan will be pushing for firm commitments on food security and infrastructure¹⁸ funding. But front and center, you're going to be hearing a lot of talk about the rules-based international order, which is foreign policy speak for countering aggressive actions by Russia and China. So once again, this will be a meeting where the war in Ukraine will be a top focus. You'll see a push from the U.S. to really end the summit with more steps to further isolate¹⁹ Russia from the rest of the world economy. And Biden will also be working to try and continue getting other nations on board to have countering China as a top issue in their minds.

FADEL: White House correspondent Scott Detrow in Hiroshima, Japan. Scott, I hope you get some time to enjoy the food and the country in between work. Thanks for your reporting.

DETROW: I hope so, too. Thank you.

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 looming   

n.上现蜃景（光通过低层大气发生异常折射形成的一种海市蜃楼）v.隐约出现，阴森地逼近( loom的现在分词 )；隐约出现，阴森地逼近

参考例句：

• The foothills were looming ahead through the haze. 丘陵地带透过薄雾朦胧地出现在眼前。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Then they looked up. Looming above them was Mount Proteome. 接着他们往上看，在其上隐约看到的是蛋白质组山。 来自英汉非文学 - 生命科学 - 回顾与展望

3 itinerary   

n.行程表，旅行路线；旅行计划

参考例句：

• The two sides have agreed on the itinerary of the visit.双方商定了访问日程。
• The next place on our itinerary was Silistra.我们行程的下一站是锡利斯特拉。

4 prospect   

n.前景，前途；景色，视野

参考例句：

• This state of things holds out a cheerful prospect.事态呈现出可喜的前景。
• The prospect became more evident.前景变得更加明朗了。

5 negotiation   

n.谈判，协商

参考例句：

• They closed the deal in sugar after a week of negotiation.经过一星期的谈判，他们的食糖生意成交了。
• The negotiation dragged on until July.谈判一直拖到7月份。

6 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。

7 scuttle   

v.急赶，疾走，逃避；n.天窗；舷窗

参考例句：

• There was a general scuttle for shelter when the rain began to fall heavily.下大雨了，人们都飞跑着寻找躲雨的地方。
• The scuttle was open,and the good daylight shone in.明朗的亮光从敞开的小窗中照了进来。

8 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

9 quad   

n.四方院；四胞胎之一；v.在…填补空铅

参考例句：

• His rooms were on the left-hand side of the quad.他的房间位于四方院的左侧。
• She is a 34-year-old mother of quads.她是个生了四胞胎的34岁的母亲。

10 picturesque   

adj.美丽如画的，（语言）生动的，绘声绘色的

参考例句：

• You can see the picturesque shores beside the river.在河边你可以看到景色如画的两岸。
• That was a picturesque phrase.那是一个形象化的说法。

11 scramble   

v.爬行，攀爬，杂乱蔓延，碎片，片段，废料

参考例句：

• He broke his leg in his scramble down the wall.他爬墙摔断了腿。
• It was a long scramble to the top of the hill.到山顶须要爬登一段长路。

12 maneuvering   

v.移动，用策略( maneuver的现在分词 )；操纵

参考例句：

• This Manstein did, with some brilliant maneuvering under the worse winter conditions. 曼施坦因在最恶劣的严冬条件下，出色地施展了灵活机动的战术，终于完成了任务。 来自辞典例句
• In short, large goals required farsighted policies, not tactical maneuvering. 一句话，大的目标需要有高瞻远瞩的政策，玩弄策略是不行的。 来自辞典例句

13 naval   

adj.海军的，军舰的，船的

参考例句：

• He took part in a great naval battle.他参加了一次大海战。
• The harbour is an important naval base.该港是一个重要的海军基地。

14 vessels   

n.血管( vessel的名词复数 )；船；容器；（具有特殊品质或接受特殊品质的）人

参考例句：

• The river is navigable by vessels of up to 90 tons. 90 吨以下的船只可以从这条河通过。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• All modern vessels of any size are fitted with radar installations. 所有现代化船只都有雷达装置。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

15 tightened   

收紧( tighten的过去式和过去分词 )； （使）变紧； （使）绷紧； 加紧

参考例句：

• The rope holding the boat suddenly tightened and broke. 系船的绳子突然绷断了。
• His index finger tightened on the trigger but then relaxed again. 他的食指扣住扳机，然后又松开了。

16 setback   

n.退步，挫折，挫败

参考例句：

• Since that time there has never been any setback in his career.从那时起他在事业上一直没有遇到周折。
• She views every minor setback as a disaster.她把每个较小的挫折都看成重大灾难。

17 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

18 infrastructure   

n.下部构造，下部组织，基础结构，基础设施

参考例句：

• We should step up the development of infrastructure for research.加强科学基础设施建设。
• We should strengthen cultural infrastructure and boost various types of popular culture.加强文化基础设施建设，发展各类群众文化。

19 isolate   

vt.使孤立，隔离

参考例句：

• Do not isolate yourself from others.不要把自己孤立起来。
• We should never isolate ourselves from the masses.我们永远不能脱离群众。