2006年VOA标准英语-Families of Missing Keep Pressure on Japan to R

By Steve Herman
Tokyo
26 November 2006

Japan's chief envoy¹ to the six-party talks on the North Korean nuclear program is in Beijing to help plan the next round of negotiations², which are expected next month. In addition, as VOA's Steve Herman reports from Tokyo, he is under pressure to make sure the issue of Japanese kidnapped by North Korea is not forgotten.

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Among the parties to the talks on North Korea's nuclear weapons, Japan has taken the uncharacteristic role of hardliner. Not only do Japanese fear being a first-strike target, but emotions run high over the fate of Japanese abducted³ by North Korean agents during the 1970s and 1980s.

The precise number of those kidnapped is not known. Japan's government recognizes 17 men and women as abduction victims, but support groups say the number could be in the hundreds.

North Korea has acknowledged abducting⁴ 13 Japanese. Five have been allowed to return home, but Pyongyang says the other eight have died.

Relatives of some abductees still unaccounted for met Sunday with a top Japanese government official.

Despite Japan's pressure on North Korea to resolve the issue, through public statements, diplomacy⁵ and sanctions tied to North Korea's nuclear weapons development, the families say the government is not doing enough.

Sakie Yokota is the mother of Megumi Yokota, whom Pyongyang admitted abducting

Sakie Yokota, right, speaks about her reaction following her daughter's husband's press conference in N. Korea, 29 June 2006

when she was 13-years-old. The North Koreans say she later committed suicide.

 

Yokota says, if North Korea continues to take an obstinate⁶ approach, and refuses to release those still being held, then Japan has to firmly tell Pyongyang its attitude is unacceptable.

After meeting with the family members, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuhisa Shiozaki told reporters, Japan will raise the matter at the next round of multi-party talks with North Korea.

Shiozaki admits the administration needs to do a better job at ensuring the families have the latest information, but says the Cabinet of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is serious about resolving this matter.

Mr. Abe is seen as more hardline on the issue than his predecessor⁷, Junichiro Koizumi, who twice visited Pyongyang to meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong Il. Analysts⁸ say Mr. Koizumi was reluctant to take harsh action against the communist state, because North Korea was not completely open on the abduction issue.

North Korea's missile tests this year, and its first nuclear test in October, also produced a firm response from Japan, which imposed harsh economic sanctions against Pyongyang, even beyond those called for in a United Nations resolution.

North Korea agreed to end its year-long boycott⁹, and return to nuclear talks last month, in return for a U.S. promise to discuss its financial crackdown against Pyongyang. The six-party negotiations also include South Korea, Russia and host China.

Japan welcomed North Korea's return to the talks, but stated categorically that it would not accept North Korea as a nuclear power.

Japan's envoy, Vice¹⁰ Foreign Minister Kenichiro Sasae, will start his three-day visit to Beijing meeting Monday with his Chinese counterpart, Wu Dawei. He is also expected to meet with his counterparts from the United States and South Korea, as the envoys¹¹ converge¹² on the Chinese capital to prepare for the talks.

1 envoy   

n.使节，使者，代表，公使

参考例句：

• Their envoy showed no sign of responding to our proposals.他们的代表对我方的提议毫无回应的迹象。
• The government has not yet appointed an envoy to the area.政府尚未向这一地区派过外交官。

2 negotiations   

协商( negotiation的名词复数 )； 谈判； 完成（难事）； 通过

参考例句：

• negotiations for a durable peace 为持久和平而进行的谈判
• Negotiations have failed to establish any middle ground. 谈判未能达成任何妥协。

3 abducted   

劫持，诱拐( abduct的过去式和过去分词 )； 使（肢体等）外展

参考例句：

• Detectives have not ruled out the possibility that she was abducted. 侦探尚未排除她被绑架的可能性。
• The kid was abducted at the gate of kindergarten. 那小孩在幼儿园大门口被绑架走了。

4 abducting   

劫持，诱拐( abduct的现在分词 )； 使（肢体等）外展

参考例句：

• She was charged with abducting a six-month-old child. 她被控诱拐一个6个月大的孩子。
• At the same time, the rate of abducting foreigners is going down. 同时，发生在外国人身上的绑架案正在下降。

5 diplomacy   

n.外交；外交手腕，交际手腕

参考例句：

• The talks have now gone into a stage of quiet diplomacy.会谈现在已经进入了“温和外交”阶段。
• This was done through the skill in diplomacy. 这是通过外交手腕才做到的。

6 obstinate   

adj.顽固的，倔强的，不易屈服的，较难治愈的

参考例句：

• She's too obstinate to let anyone help her.她太倔强了，不会让任何人帮她的。
• The trader was obstinate in the negotiation.这个商人在谈判中拗强固执。

7 predecessor   

n.前辈，前任

参考例句：

• It will share the fate of its predecessor.它将遭受与前者同样的命运。
• The new ambassador is more mature than his predecessor.新大使比他的前任更成熟一些。

8 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。

9 boycott   

n./v.(联合)抵制，拒绝参与

参考例句：

• We put the production under a boycott.我们联合抵制该商品。
• The boycott lasts a year until the Victoria board permitsreturn.这个抗争持续了一年直到维多利亚教育局妥协为止。

10 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。

11 envoys   

使节( envoy的名词复数 )； 公使； 谈判代表； 使节身份

参考例句：

• the routine tit for tat when countries expel each other's envoys 国家相互驱逐对方使节这种惯常的报复行动
• Marco Polo's travelogue mentions that Kublai Khan sent envoys to Malgache. 马可波罗游记中提到忽必烈曾派使节到马尔加什。

12 converge   

vi.会合；聚集，集中；(思想、观点等)趋近

参考例句：

• The results converge towards this truth.其结果趋近于这个真理。
• Parallel lines converge at infinity.平行线永不相交。