美国国家公共电台 NPR Pence Starts Asia Trip Amid Signs Of Strain With South Korea

 

ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:

Vice¹ President Pence has started his five-day trip in Asia. The idea is to highlight two longstanding alliances the U.S. has in the region and send a message to North Korea. The alliance with one Asian partner is smoother than the other. His first stop today was Japan, and NPR's Elise Hu has more.

ELISE HU, BYLINE²: Vice President Mike Pence landed here in Tokyo to begin a tour with two stops - Japan and then South Korea for the opening of the Winter Olympics. Both countries are considered cornerstones of the U.S. security and economic relationships in Asia.

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VICE PRESIDENT MIKE PENCE: I look forward to reinforcing the important priority that President Trump³ and the United States places on the relationship with these two nations.

HU: But because of North Korea, there are signs these relationships seem to be going in different directions. The U.S., led by Donald Trump, and Japan, led by Shinzo Abe, both favor hard-line policies toward Pyongyang. Earlier today, Pence announced the U.S. would again ramp⁴ up economic sanctions aimed at starving the North Korean regime of resources. Koichi Nakano of Tokyo's Sophia University says the U.S. and Japan have stayed in lockstep in this approach.

KOICHI NAKANO: It's all about pressure. It's all about military might and strong posture⁵ and very negative about dialogue.

HU: South Korea, the other longtime ally, is trying the dialogue route. It's engaged with North Korea frequently in this new year all in an effort to eventually talk toward peaceful resolutions to the nuclear and missile problem here.

NAKANO: South Koreans are increasingly feeling that the U.S. and Japan are being unrealistic in just sort of, you know, choosing the hardline vis-a-vis North Korea.

DAVID STRAUB: There, there are some significant differences.

HU: David Straub is a Northeast Asia specialist and a 30-year veteran of the State Department.

STRAUB: Under the best of circumstances, it's going to be incredibly hard to get North Korea to give up nuclear weapons short of the use of military force. So we need everybody working together. And currently, the United States and South Korea are not entirely⁶ working together.

HU: Signs of strain show up as South Korea pushes ahead with what it wants to call the Peace Olympics, which start Friday. At the same time, the U.S. vice president is sharpening rhetoric⁷ against the North.

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PENCE: We'll be there to cheer on our American athletes, but we'll also be there to stand with our allies and remind the world that North Korea is the most tyrannical and oppressive regime on the planet.

HU: Nakano says this kind of relationship tension among U.S. allies helps North Korea.

NAKANO: North Korea has been always good at sort of dividing and conquering and making advances. And so what North Korea would not want to have is a united front against it.

HU: Pence said in Tokyo the three allies still stand shoulder to shoulder. But in practice, there's distance among them. South Korea and Japan are still working on unresolved issues dating back to the beginning of the last century. All the while, the three countries must together confront a North Korea problem that David Straub says really hasn't changed.

STRAUB: The two Koreas have not made any real progress yet. I mean, this is just simply a matter of allowing the North Koreans to participate in an Olympics in which they've basically not qualified⁸.

HU: He says the real test will come later.

STRAUB: What really matters I think is what will happen after the Olympics and the Paralympics here in Korea are over.

HU: That's when the U.S. and South Korea are expected to start up joint⁹ military exercises again. North Korea calls these war games provocations¹⁰. South Korea says its relationship with the North is fragile, so keeping the peace will require careful coordination¹¹. Elise Hu, NPR News, Tokyo.

1 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

2 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。

3 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

4 ramp   

n.暴怒，斜坡，坡道；vi.作恐吓姿势，暴怒，加速；vt.加速

参考例句：

• That driver drove the car up the ramp.那司机将车开上了斜坡。
• The factory don't have that capacity to ramp up.这家工厂没有能力加速生产。

5 posture   

n.姿势，姿态，心态，态度；v.作出某种姿势

参考例句：

• The government adopted an uncompromising posture on the issue of independence.政府在独立这一问题上采取了毫不妥协的态度。
• He tore off his coat and assumed a fighting posture.他脱掉上衣，摆出一副打架的架势。

6 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。

7 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。

8 qualified   

adj.合格的，有资格的，胜任的，有限制的

参考例句：

• He is qualified as a complete man of letters.他有资格当真正的文学家。
• We must note that we still lack qualified specialists.我们必须看到我们还缺乏有资质的专家。

9 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。

10 provocations   

n.挑衅( provocation的名词复数 )；激怒；刺激；愤怒的原因

参考例句：

• We cannot ignore such provocations. 对于这种挑衅，我们不能置之不理。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• They must immediately cease all their provocations. 他们必须停止一切挑衅。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

11 coordination   

n.协调，协作

参考例句：

• Gymnastics is a sport that requires a considerable level of coordination.体操是一项需要高协调性的运动。
• The perfect coordination of the dancers and singers added a rhythmic charm to the performance.舞蹈演员和歌手们配合得很好，使演出更具魅力。