VOA慢速英语--越南逮捕前石油公司的官员

Vietnam Tries Former Oil Company Officials

Vietnam is trying 22 business leaders on corruption² charges, including a former top Communist Party official.

The trial is part of the campaign against corruption by Communist Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong.

Most of the business leaders on trial are current or former officials of the state-owned PetroVietnam oil company.

Dinh La Thang was a former chairman of PetroVietnam and a former member of Vietnam’s powerful Politburo.

The Politburo is the top political committee in a communist form of government.

Thang is accused of wrongdoing for his part in providing a contract to another company without a required bidding process. He also is accused of involvement in a deal that resulted in a $5.5 million loss to the state.

Thang is the first former Politburo member to face charges in many years. He could receive up to 20 years in prison if found guilty.

Trinh Xuan Thanh is another former chairman of PetroVietnam. He is accused of several charges including taking $186,000 for himself. The crime of embezzlement³ can be punished with a death sentence in Vietnam.

Last August, Germany said the Vietnamese intelligence service kidnapped Thanh from a park in Berlin. Vietnam denied the accusation⁴. Officials said Thanh turned himself in voluntarily. However, the incident caused Germany to expel⁵ two Vietnamese diplomats⁶.

Le Hong Hiep is an expert at the ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute in Singapore. He said, the trial “sends out a stern⁷ warning that there will be no ‘no-go zones’ in this campaign, and corrupt¹ officials, no matter who they are and what position they hold, will be brought to justice.”

Hiep added that, in the past, political power was divided in Vietnam. The division weakened the country’s efforts against corruption. Now the general party secretary has increased powers.

Ngo Quang Hung is a retiree who was among the crowd gathered outside the courthouse. He said, “I’m happy that the government is getting tough on corruption.”

Foreign media, however, are not permitted to attend the trial, which is expected to last two weeks.

Speaking in Berlin, German Foreign Ministry⁸ spokesman⁹ Rainer Breul said embassy¹⁰ representatives were inside the courtroom.

“We will observe it very closely and then evaluate what this means for our policy,” Breul said.

Germany is Europe’s largest economy.

I’m Jonathan Evans.

Words in This Story

contract –n. an official business agreement to provide goods or services

bidding –n. a process in which different companies or individuals compete by offering a lower price for a good or service

embezzlement –n. to steal money you have been trusted with

stern –adj. very serious

zones –n. areas or places that are different than others for some reason

evaluate –v. to judge something giving it careful thought

1 corrupt   

v.贿赂，收买；adj.腐败的，贪污的

参考例句：

• The newspaper alleged the mayor's corrupt practices.那家报纸断言市长有舞弊行为。
• This judge is corrupt.这个法官贪污。

2 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。

3 embezzlement   

n.盗用，贪污

参考例句：

• He was accused of graft and embezzlement and was chained and thrown into prison.他因被指控贪污盗窃而锒铛入狱。
• The judge sent him to prison for embezzlement of funds.法官因他盗用公款将其送入监牢。

4 accusation   

n.控告，指责，谴责

参考例句：

• I was furious at his making such an accusation.我对他的这种责备非常气愤。
• She knew that no one would believe her accusation.她知道没人会相信她的指控。

5 expel   

vt.把...开除，驱逐，放逐，排出，喷出

参考例句：

• They were told at first that they should simply expel the refugees.一开始有人告诉他们应该直接将那些难民驱逐出境。
• The headmaster may expel the boy from the school.校长可能要把那个男孩从学校开除。

6 diplomats   

n.外交官( diplomat的名词复数 )；有手腕的人，善于交际的人

参考例句：

• These events led to the expulsion of senior diplomats from the country. 这些事件导致一些高级外交官被驱逐出境。
• The court has no jurisdiction over foreign diplomats living in this country. 法院对驻本国的外交官无裁判权。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 stern   

adj.严厉的，严格的，严峻的；n.船尾

参考例句：

• The ship was in a blaze from stem to stern.整艘船从头到尾都着火了。
• The headmaster ruled the school with a stern discipline.校长治校严谨。

8 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

9 spokesman   

n.发言人，代言人

参考例句：

• The government spokesman gave a quick briefing to the reporters.政府发言人向记者们作了情况简介。
• They drew lots to decide who should be their spokesman.他们抽签决定谁是他们的发言人。

10 embassy   

n.大使馆，大使及其随员

参考例句：

• Large crowd demonstrated outside the British Embassy.很多群众在英国大使馆外面示威。
• He's a U.S. diplomat assigned to the embassy in London.他是美国驻伦敦大使馆的一名外交官。