VOA标准英语2009年-Vietnam's Prime Minister Declares All Prop

By Stefan Bos
Budapest
19 September 2009

 
Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung (r) and his Hungarian counterpart Gordon Bajnai inspect the honor guards in front of the Parliament building in Budapest, 18 Sep 2009
Vietnam's Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung says his government will not accept demands from the Vatican to return confiscated¹ properties to the Catholic Church in Vietnam. Mr Dung made the comments in Budapest Friday, following trade talks with his Hungarian counterpart Gordon Bajnai.

Answering questions from VOA News, Prime Minister Dung defended Vietnam's policy to stop the Catholic Church from taking back church buildings and other properties that were confiscated by the state since 1954. 

In recent weeks Vietnamese Catholics have held demonstrations² in several parts of the country to demand the return of church properties.

However, Mr. Dung said Vietnam would not accept any pressure, including from the Vatican, on this issue.
 
He says that all properties in Vietnam belong to the country and the government. And all the property claims have to be carried out according to the law. He adds that every citizen in Vietnam, including religious groups have to respect the law and the constitution of the country. Mr. Dung also warns that he rejects the idea of any religious groups working against the law. He says the property claims of the Vatican go against the Vietnamese constitution and the law.

His comments came as Vietnamese President Nguyen Minh Triet reportedly planned to visit Italy and to meet with Pope Benedict XVI in November or December as part of efforts re-establish diplomatic relations between Vietnam and the Vatican.  

Yet, activists³ claim Mr. Dung's arguments have been misused⁴ by the government to crackdown on both Catholics and Protestants, amid reports that several church leaders and individual Christians⁵ have been detained.   

Mr. Dung spoke⁶ after talks with Hungarian Prime Minister Gordon Bajnai on improving economic relations, including an $88 million loan agreement between the two nations for the building of a hospital in Vietnam.

Hungarian Prime Minister Bajnai told VOA News however that despite the improved economic relations, Hungary and the European Union will continue discussions with Vietnam about international concerns over its human rights record.

"We do appreciate greatly that human rights discussion that is going on between Vietnam and the European Union," he said. "Hungary is part of that active discussion. We consider the European Union an alliance of values, including human values and human rights." 

"We share the opinion of our European partners. And we expect that this cooperation and discussion between Vietnam and the European Union will lead to an improving relationship between our countries and alliances," he added.

Mr. Bajnai's comments about Vietnam are closely watched by the European Union as Hungary will take over the rotating EU presidency⁷ in 2011.

The country is already part of the 'EU Presidential Troika', which consists of next year's EU presidents Spain and Belgium as well as Hungary.

Vietnam has Southeast Asia's second largest Catholic community after the Philippines, with at least six million followers⁸.

Catholic activists have criticized Washington for scrapping⁹ Vietnam from its list of Countries of Particular Concern regarding religious rights, saying the move would legitimize the Communist government and what they view as the war on religion.

1 confiscated   

没收，充公( confiscate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Their land was confiscated after the war. 他们的土地在战后被没收。
• The customs officer confiscated the smuggled goods. 海关官员没收了走私品。

2 demonstrations   

证明( demonstration的名词复数 )； 表明； 表达； 游行示威

参考例句：

• Lectures will be interspersed with practical demonstrations. 讲课中将不时插入实际示范。
• The new military government has banned strikes and demonstrations. 新的军人政府禁止罢工和示威活动。

3 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 misused   

v.使用…不当( misuse的过去式和过去分词 )；把…派作不正当的用途；虐待；滥用

参考例句：

• He misused his dog shamefully. 他可耻地虐待自己的狗。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He had grossly misused his power. 他严重滥用职权。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 Christians   

n.基督教徒( Christian的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Christians of all denominations attended the conference. 基督教所有教派的人都出席了这次会议。
• His novel about Jesus caused a furore among Christians. 他关于耶稣的小说激起了基督教徒的公愤。

6 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

7 presidency   

n.总统(校长，总经理)的职位(任期)

参考例句：

• Roosevelt was elected four times to the presidency of the United States.罗斯福连续当选四届美国总统。
• Two candidates are emerging as contestants for the presidency.两位候选人最终成为总统职位竞争者。

8 followers   

追随者( follower的名词复数 )； 用户； 契据的附面； 从动件

参考例句：

• the followers of Mahatma Gandhi 圣雄甘地的拥护者
• The reformer soon gathered a band of followers round him. 改革者很快就获得一群追随者支持他。

9 scrapping   

刮，切除坯体余泥

参考例句：

• He was always scrapping at school. 他在学校总打架。
• These two dogs are always scrapping. 这两条狗总是打架。