VOA标准英语 Clinton Announces US Anti-Piracy Measures

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced on Wednesday a multi-pronged U.S. effort to curb¹ Somali-based maritime² piracy³. Among other things, the United States will move to track and freeze assets of pirate gangs, and press Somali authorities to shut down pirate land bases.
　
Hillary Clinton, 15 Apr 2009

Clinton says she hopes the surge of piracy in recent days, including attacks on two U.S.-flagged vessels⁴, will be a catalyst⁵ for concerted action against pirates and bring an end to the acceptance of ransom⁶-paying as a cost of doing business for shippers off the African east coast.

At the State Department, Clinton said the Obama administration intends to work diplomatically to tackle the piracy problem and to deal with the underlying⁷ instability in Somalia that gives rise to it.

She said she is sending an envoy⁸ to a conference on Somali peacekeeping and development that opens on April 23 in Brussels, and calling a meeting of the more than 30-nation international contact group on Somali piracy to coordinate⁹ an expanded international presence in the region to combat the threat.

Clinton said top U.S. priorities include securing the release of ships and crews currently held by Somali pirates, and eliminating the financial payoff of piracy by tracking and freezing the assets of pirate gangs.

"We track and freeze, and try to disrupt the assets of many stateless groups - drug traffickers and terrorists - just to name two. We have noticed that the pirates are buying more sophisticated equipment, they're buying faster and more capable vessels. They are clearly using their ransom money for their benefit both personally and on behalf of their piracy. And we think we can begin to try to track and prevent that from happening," she said.

The secretary said the poverty and instability in Somalia that underlie¹⁰ the piracy problem are not being forgotten. But depicting¹¹ the surge of maritime hijackings as a raging fire, she said you "have to try to put out the fire before rebuilding the house."

Clinton said she has directed U.S. diplomats¹² to engage officials of Somalia's Transitional Federal Government and regional leaders of the autonomous¹³ Puntland region, where many pirates are based, to press them to take action against what she termed "armed gangs on the seas".
　
Somali President Sharif Sheikh Ahmed (file)

She said the transitional administration's new president, Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, in particular, should be taken up on his expressed determination to curb lawlessness in his troubled country.

"We want to listen to them. The indications are that Sheikh Ahmed, the president of the Transitional Federal Government, understands that these pirates are a threat to the stability and order within Somalia that he is attempting to reassert. We want to hear from him and from other partners in the region what would be useful to help them," she said.

Clinton said the key to the problem is closing pirate land bases and said the United States "has a pretty good idea" where they are located.

She said she assumes that Somali tribal¹⁴ leaders would not like to have the international community "bearing down on them" and that they may be willing to cooperate in ridding their territory of the bases.

Clinton said the Obama administration will convene¹⁵ a high-level U.S. government interagency meeting on piracy this Friday.

1 curb   

n.场外证券市场，场外交易；vt.制止，抑制

参考例句：

• I could not curb my anger.我按捺不住我的愤怒。
• You must curb your daughter when you are in church.你在教堂时必须管住你的女儿。

2 maritime   

adj.海的，海事的，航海的，近海的，沿海的

参考例句：

• Many maritime people are fishermen.许多居于海滨的人是渔夫。
• The temperature change in winter is less in maritime areas.冬季沿海的温差较小。

3 piracy   

n.海盗行为，剽窃，著作权侵害

参考例句：

• The government has already adopted effective measures against piracy.政府已采取有效措施惩治盗版行为。
• They made the place a notorious centre of piracy.他们把这地方变成了臭名昭著的海盗中心。

4 vessels   

n.血管( vessel的名词复数 )；船；容器；（具有特殊品质或接受特殊品质的）人

参考例句：

• The river is navigable by vessels of up to 90 tons. 90 吨以下的船只可以从这条河通过。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• All modern vessels of any size are fitted with radar installations. 所有现代化船只都有雷达装置。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

5 catalyst   

n.催化剂，造成变化的人或事

参考例句：

• A catalyst is a substance which speeds up a chemical reaction.催化剂是一种能加速化学反应的物质。
• The workers'demand for better conditions was a catalyst for social change.工人们要求改善工作条件促进了社会变革。

6 ransom   

n.赎金，赎身；v.赎回，解救

参考例句：

• We'd better arrange the ransom right away.我们最好马上把索取赎金的事安排好。
• The kidnappers exacted a ransom of 10000 from the family.绑架者向这家人家勒索10000英镑的赎金。

7 underlying   

adj.在下面的，含蓄的，潜在的

参考例句：

• The underlying theme of the novel is very serious.小说隐含的主题是十分严肃的。
• This word has its underlying meaning.这个单词有它潜在的含义。

8 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。

9 coordinate   

adj.同等的，协调的；n.同等者；vt.协作，协调

参考例句：

• You must coordinate what you said with what you did.你必须使你的言行一致。
• Maybe we can coordinate the relation of them.或许我们可以调和他们之间的关系。

10 underlie   

v.位于...之下，成为...的基础

参考例句：

• Technology improvements underlie these trends.科技进步将成为此发展趋势的基础。
• Many facts underlie my decision.我的决定是以许多事实为依据的。

11 depicting   

描绘，描画( depict的现在分词 )； 描述

参考例句：

• a painting depicting the Virgin and Child 一幅描绘童贞马利亚和圣子耶稣的画
• The movie depicting the battles and bloodshed is bound to strike home. 这部描写战斗和流血牺牲的影片一定会取得预期效果。

12 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》

13 autonomous   

adj.自治的；独立的

参考例句：

• They proudly declared themselves part of a new autonomous province.他们自豪地宣布成为新自治省的一部分。
• This is a matter that comes within the jurisdiction of the autonomous region.这件事是属于自治区权限以内的事务。

14 tribal   

adj.部族的，种族的

参考例句：

• He became skilled in several tribal lingoes.他精通几种部族的语言。
• The country was torn apart by fierce tribal hostilities.那个国家被部落间的激烈冲突弄得四分五裂。

15 convene   

v.集合，召集，召唤，聚集，集合

参考例句：

• The Diet will convene at 3p.m. tomorrow.国会将于明天下午三点钟开会。
• Senior officials convened in October 1991 in London.1991年10月，高级官员在伦敦会齐。