2007年VOA标准英语-US-North Korea Financial Sanctions Talks End Fi

By Daniel Schearf
Beijing
30 January 2007

A second round of talks between U.S. and North Korean officials on U.S. financial sanctions have ended its first day in Beijing with little sign of progress. China has announced that parallel talks on North Korea's nuclear weapons programs will resume February 8, but Pyongyang has said there will be no progress until the financial sanctions are lifted. Daniel Schearf reports from Beijing.

Daniel Glaser

Daniel Glaser, the U.S. Treasury¹ Department's assistant secretary for terrorist financing and financial crimes, says he met with the leader of North Korea's Foreign Trade Bank, O Kwang Chol, for about three hours Tuesday.

Late Tuesday, Glaser said they discussed North Korean financial activity at a Macau bank, Banco Delta² Asia, and U.S. concerns about counterfeiting³. He said recent documents confirm a lot of "troubling activity" at the Macau bank.

He said, "The working group today gave us the opportunity to discuss those issues with our counterparts from North Korea and hopefully as we move forward will give us the opportunity to shed more light upon some of the issues that we are concerned about."

Glaser says the two sides will continue talks Wednesday morning at the North Korean embassy. Earlier in the day he had said the discussions would last at least two days.

The U.S. imposed sanctions on Banco Delta Asia in 2005, alleging⁴ it was supporting North Korean money laundering⁵ and other illicit⁶ financial activities.

As a result of those sanctions, many banks in other countries have limited their dealings with North Korea, effectively blocking the already isolated⁷ nation from the international banking⁸ system.

The U.S. financial sanctions have been a major obstacle to six-nation talks aimed at ending North Korea's nuclear programs.

North Korea had boycotted⁹ those talks for a year but returned to negotiations¹⁰ in December after the U.S. agreed to discuss the sanctions at separate meetings held at the same time. No breakthrough was made during either set of talks.

China, the host of the six-nation negotiations, which also include South Korea, Japan, and Russia, announced Tuesday they would resume on February eighth.

However, it is not clear how much progress can be made.

Pyongyang has said it wants the financial sanctions lifted before it will to give up its nuclear programs in return for aid and security guarantees.

1 treasury   

n.宝库；国库，金库；文库

参考例句：

• The Treasury was opposed in principle to the proposals.财政部原则上反对这些提案。
• This book is a treasury of useful information.这本书是有价值的信息宝库。

2 delta   

n.（流的）角洲

参考例句：

• He has been to the delta of the Nile.他曾去过尼罗河三角洲。
• The Nile divides at its mouth and forms a delta.尼罗河在河口分岔，形成了一个三角洲。

3 counterfeiting   

n.伪造v.仿制，造假( counterfeit的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• He was sent to prison for counterfeiting five-dollar bills. 他因伪造5美元的钞票被捕入狱。 来自辞典例句
• National bureau released securities, certificates with security anti-counterfeiting paper technical standards. 国家质量技术监督局发布了证券、证件用安全性防伪纸张技术标准。 来自互联网

4 alleging   

断言，宣称，辩解( allege的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• His reputation was blemished by a newspaper article alleging he'd evaded his taxes. 由于报上一篇文章声称他曾逃税，他的名誉受到损害。
• This our Peeress declined as unnecessary, alleging that her cousin Thornhill's recommendation would be sufficient. 那位贵人不肯，还说不必，只要有她老表唐希尔保荐就够了。

5 laundering   

n.洗涤（衣等），洗烫（衣等）；洗（钱）v.洗（衣服等），洗烫（衣服等）( launder的现在分词 )；洗（黑钱）（把非法收入改头换面，变为貌似合法的收入）

参考例句：

• Separate the white clothes from the dark clothes before laundering. 洗衣前应当把浅色衣服和深色衣服分开。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He was charged with laundering money. 他被指控洗钱。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 illicit   

adj.非法的，禁止的，不正当的

参考例句：

• He had an illicit association with Jane.他和简曾有过不正当关系。
• Seizures of illicit drugs have increased by 30% this year.今年违禁药品的扣押增长了30%。

7 isolated   

adj.与世隔绝的

参考例句：

• His bad behaviour was just an isolated incident. 他的不良行为只是个别事件。
• Patients with the disease should be isolated. 这种病的患者应予以隔离。

8 banking   

n.银行业，银行学，金融业

参考例句：

• John is launching his son on a career in banking.约翰打算让儿子在银行界谋一个新职位。
• He possesses an extensive knowledge of banking.他具有广博的银行业务知识。

9 boycotted   

抵制，拒绝参加( boycott的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Athletes from several countries boycotted the Olympic Games. 有好几国的运动员抵制奥林匹克运动会。
• The opposition party earlier boycotted the Diet agenda, demanding Miyaji's resignation. 反对党曾杯葛国会议程，要宫路下台。

10 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。