2006年VOA标准英语-No Apparent Progress as US, N. Korean, Chinese

By Roger Wilkison
Beijing
29 November 2006

Officials from the United States, North Korea and China have held a second day of talks in Beijing on resuming negotiations¹ aimed at dismantling² North Korea's nuclear weapons program. From the Chinese capital, Roger Wilkison reports there was apparently³ no progress made on when the talks would resume.

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Top American nuclear negotiator Christopher Hill speaks to the media after arriving at Beijing airport Monday 27 Nov. 2006

Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill gave no indication that any progress was made during the two days of talks.

Speaking very briefly⁴ with reporters Wednesday evening, he said he would leave Beijing Thursday, with no follow-up meetings planned with the North Koreans.

Hill, Chinese Vice⁵ Foreign Minister Wu Dawei, and North Korean Vice Foreign Minister Kim Kye Gwan were supposed to lay the foundation for re-launching the negotiations, which have been stalled for more than a year.

A statement by the Chinese Foreign Ministry⁶ said the three men had held both bilateral⁷ and trilateral discussions.

North Korea began boycotting⁸ the six-party negotiations after the United States imposed financial sanctions on Pyongyang. Re-starting the talks have been given a new urgency following North Korea's nuclear test last month.

South Korea's Yonhap wire service and Japan's Kyodo news agency quoted sources at the talks as saying Kim set preconditions for dismantling its nuclear weapons program: that the United States lift its restrictions⁹ on some of North Korea's overseas bank accounts, and bring about an end to the United Nations sanctions imposed on Pyongyang after the nuclear test.

South Korea and Japan, as well as Russia, are also members of the six-party negotiations.

Peter Beck, a Seoul-based analyst¹⁰ for the International Crisis Group, says such demands reduce the chances of the talks resuming.

"…The signals that North Korea is sending is that…they're really not interested in compromising, that they want everything and then they'll talk about giving up their programs, and that's unfortunately going to be a non-starter, so it's hard to be optimistic," he said.

The United States insists North Korea should, without conditions, abide¹¹ by the agreement in principle it made at last year's talks, to abandon all nuclear weapons in exchange for political, economic and security incentives¹².

Beck, however, says now that the North is a nuclear power, it might hold out for additional concessions¹³.

"Given what they've been saying publicly and what they've been telling their own people, they're quite pleased and proud to be a nuclear power, and they're not going to give that up easily unless they get a lot more in return than they were being offered in the past," he said.

Hill assured Kim last month that Washington will address North Korea's concerns about the financial restrictions once the talks resume.

1 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。

2 dismantling   

（枪支）分解

参考例句：

• The new government set about dismantling their predecessors' legislation. 新政府正着手废除其前任所制定的法律。
• The dismantling of a nuclear reprocessing plant caused a leak of radioactivity yesterday. 昨天拆除核后处理工厂引起了放射物泄漏。

3 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

4 briefly   

adv.简单地，简短地

参考例句：

• I want to touch briefly on another aspect of the problem.我想简单地谈一下这个问题的另一方面。
• He was kidnapped and briefly detained by a terrorist group.他被一个恐怖组织绑架并短暂拘禁。

5 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。

6 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。

7 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。

8 boycotting   

抵制，拒绝参加( boycott的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• They're boycotting the shop because the people there are on strike. 他们抵制那家商店，因为那里的店员在罢工。
• The main opposition parties are boycotting the elections. 主要反对党都抵制此次选举。

9 restrictions   

约束( restriction的名词复数 )； 管制； 制约因素； 带限制性的条件（或规则）

参考例句：

• I found the restrictions irksome. 我对那些限制感到很烦。
• a snaggle of restrictions 杂乱无章的种种限制

10 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。

11 abide   

vi.遵守；坚持；vt.忍受

参考例句：

• You must abide by the results of your mistakes.你必须承担你的错误所造成的后果。
• If you join the club,you have to abide by its rules.如果你参加俱乐部，你就得遵守它的规章。

12 incentives   

激励某人做某事的事物( incentive的名词复数 )； 刺激； 诱因； 动机

参考例句：

• tax incentives to encourage savings 鼓励储蓄的税收措施
• Furthermore, subsidies provide incentives only for investments in equipment. 更有甚者，提供津贴仅是为鼓励增添设备的投资。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法

13 concessions   

n.（尤指由政府或雇主给予的）特许权( concession的名词复数 )；承认；减价；（在某地的）特许经营权

参考例句：

• The firm will be forced to make concessions if it wants to avoid a strike. 要想避免罢工，公司将不得不作出一些让步。
• The concessions did little to placate the students. 让步根本未能平息学生的愤怒。