VOA标准英语2009年-US Diplomats Engaging Burma in Major Polic

By Daniel Schearf
Bangkok
02 November 2009

Two senior United States diplomats¹ are heading to Burma this week to meet with the military government and detained democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi. The visit is the highest level dialogue between the United States and Burma in more than a decade and has been welcomed as a positive change in Washington's Burma policy. But whether or not Burma will respond constructively² remains³ to be seen.

The U.S. Assistant Secretary of State, Kurt Campbell, and his deputy, Scot Marciel, arrive in Burma Tuesday for two days of high-level meetings.

 
Burma's opposition⁴ leader Aung San Suu Kyi (2008 file photo)
The U.S. officials will hold talks with senior leaders of Burma's military government as well as opposition leaders, including Aung San Suu Kyi, who is currently being held under house arrest.

The visit has been welcomed as a positive change in Washington's Burma policy, from one of isolation⁵ to engagement.

The Secretary General of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, Surin Pitsuwan, recently told VOA that Washington's willingness to talk with Burma, also known as Myanmar, is opening a "new ballgame" for the region. He says countries in Southeast Asia are looking forward to seeing adjustments from both sides.

"This is a new opportunity. And, all of us in ASEAN, every member state, recognizes this new opportunity," he said. "And, I think Myanmar itself recognizes that this is a golden opportunity for engagement, for interaction, for dialogue, which is well and good. And, I think it's going to be good for the region."

The ten members of ASEAN are Brunei, Burma, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.

ASEAN has upheld a policy of engagement with member Burma, while occasionally criticizing the military government's rights abuses.

Earlier this year, President Barack Obama's administration said neither that engagement nor U.S. sanctions had brought about democratic change and that Washington would move to pursue high-level meetings.

Aung San Suu Kyi has welcomed the change in policy and the visit this week by U.S. officials. 

Nyan Win is the spokesman for Aung San Suu Kyi's political party, the National League for Democracy. He says they hope the high level U.S.-Burma meetings will bring about an unconditional⁶ dialogue between the NLD and the military government. 

"She's ready to compromise all the things on economic or political. She hopes, she wants to meet the junta⁷ to compromise about the situation," he said.

The U.S.-Burma meetings this week follow signs of a possible thaw⁸ in relations between the military government and Aung San Suu Kyi.

Aung San Suu Kyi recently said she is prepared to work with Burma's military government to see economic sanctions against the country lifted.

At the ASEAN summit in October, Burma's prime minister indicated they could lift some restrictions⁹ against the detained Nobel prize winner and allow her to play a role in the country's political reconciliation¹⁰ if she behaves.

Although they have not spelled out what they want from Aung San Suu Kyi, Burma's military government has been seeking endorsements¹¹ of elections planned for next year.

Critics say the military has already rigged the constitution to keep themselves in power and rights groups say they have been imprisoning¹² dissidents and opposition supporters.

David Steinberg, a professor of Asian studies at Georgetown University, says he is not very optimistic that Burma's military government will respond positively¹³ to the new U.S. policy or release the country's more than two thousand political prisoners. But, he says U.S. engagement is still needed to get out of the current stalemate.

The military are going to be around in terribly influential¹⁴ positions in that society for the foreseeable future," said Steinberg. "And, it is very important that the United States deal with the military, know who they are, know the individuals, and then be able to appraise¹⁵ how we might affect change."

The United States, the European Union, and others imposed damaging sanctions on Burma for suppressing democracy and human rights.

Washington says, while it will hold dialogue with Burma, the sanctions will remain in place until there are signs of real democratic change in the country.

The United States wants Burma to release political prisoners, including Aung San Suu Kyi, and allow next year's elections to be free and fair.

But few analysts¹⁶ expect Burma's military government would allow Aung San Suu Kyi to participate in the elections. 

The NLD won Burma's last elections in 1990 but the military government ignored the results. They have kept her locked up for most of the time since. 

The last senior American politician to visit Burma was U.S. Senator Jim Webb.  He met with Burma's military leader Than Shwe in August when he secured the release from prison of American John Yettaw. 

Yettaw was facing seven years of hard labor¹⁷ for an uninvited visit to Aung San Suu Kyi's house where she has been detained for most of the last two decades despite international pressure for her release.

Webb was also permitted to visit Aung San Suu Kyi. But, while Yettaw was released, the democracy leader's house arrest was extended by 18 months.

1 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》

2 constructively   

ad.有益的，积极的

参考例句：

• Collecting, by occupying spare time so constructively, makes a person contented, with no time for boredom. 如此富有意义地利用业余时间来进行收藏，会使人怡然自得，无暇烦恼。
• The HKSAR will continue to participate constructively in these activities. 香港会继续积极参与这些活动。

3 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

4 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

5 isolation   

n.隔离，孤立，分解，分离

参考例句：

• The millionaire lived in complete isolation from the outside world.这位富翁过着与世隔绝的生活。
• He retired and lived in relative isolation.他退休后，生活比较孤寂。

6 unconditional   

adj.无条件的，无限制的，绝对的

参考例句：

• The victorious army demanded unconditional surrender.胜方要求敌人无条件投降。
• My love for all my children is unconditional.我对自己所有孩子的爱都是无条件的。

7 junta   

n.团体；政务审议会

参考例句：

• The junta reacted violently to the perceived threat to its authority.军政府感到自身权力受威胁而进行了激烈反击。
• A military junta took control of the country.一个军政权控制了国家。

8 thaw   

v.（使）融化，（使）变得友善；n.融化，缓和

参考例句：

• The snow is beginning to thaw.雪已开始融化。
• The spring thaw caused heavy flooding.春天解冻引起了洪水泛滥。

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 reconciliation   

n.和解，和谐，一致

参考例句：

• He was taken up with the reconciliation of husband and wife.他忙于做夫妻间的调解工作。
• Their handshake appeared to be a gesture of reconciliation.他们的握手似乎是和解的表示。

11 endorsements   

n.背书( endorsement的名词复数 )；（驾驶执照上的）违章记录；（公开的）赞同；（通常为名人在广告中对某一产品的）宣传

参考例句：

• He must make much money on those tennis shoe endorsements he does. 他替那些网球鞋珍重广告，就赚了不少钱。 来自互联网
• But celebrity endorsements remain an important promotional tool for marketers. 尽管如此，邀明星助阵仍是营销人员重要的推广手段之一。 来自互联网

12 imprisoning   

v.下狱，监禁( imprison的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Mr Afwerki may disgust his compatriots by torturing and imprisoning his critics. Afwerki总统拷打和监禁他的反对者已经使的国人生厌。 来自互联网
• Proud and intelligent, it takes great pleasure and imprisoning enemies through psionic exploitation. 它骄傲并狡猾，非常喜欢囚禁敌人并剥夺他们的智力。 来自互联网

13 positively   

adv.明确地，断然，坚决地；实在，确实

参考例句：

• She was positively glowing with happiness.她满脸幸福。
• The weather was positively poisonous.这天气着实讨厌。

14 influential   

adj.有影响的，有权势的

参考例句：

• He always tries to get in with the most influential people.他总是试图巴结最有影响的人物。
• He is a very influential man in the government.他在政府中是个很有影响的人物。

15 appraise   

v.估价，评价，鉴定

参考例句：

• An expert came to appraise the value of my antiques.一位专家来对我的古玩作了估价。
• It is very high that people appraise to his thesis.人们对他的论文评价很高。

16 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。

17 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。