美国国家公共电台 NPR--As Biden and Xi meet in Bali, rest of Asia watches closely, too

As Biden and Xi meet in Bali, rest of Asia watches closely, too

Transcript¹

President Biden talks to China's President Xi Jinping at the G20 meeting in Bali while the two countries' tensions are high. Disagreements includes status of Taiwan, trade and Russia's war in Ukraine.

LEILA FADEL, HOST:

President Biden and China's leader, Xi Jinping, sat down for three hours today on the sidelines of the G-20 meeting in Indonesia. Biden later told reporters he doesn't want tensions over Taiwan to lead to even more strained relations between the world's two largest economies.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN: I absolutely believe there's need to be a new cold war. We - I've met many times with Xi Jinping, and we were candid² and clear with one another across the board. And I do not think there's any imminent³ attempt on the part of China to invade Taiwan. And I made it clear that our policy on Taiwan has not changed at all.

FADEL: The White House says Biden did object to increasingly aggressive actions toward Taiwan and raised human rights concerns regarding Xinjiang, Tibet and Hong Kong. Beijing, for its part, says both sides need to tackle what officials there call unprecedented⁴ challenges. To give us a broader regional perspective, let's bring in Anthony Kuhn, who covers Northeast Asia from Seoul, and NPR's China correspondent, John Ruwitch from Shanghai. Welcome to you both.

ANTHONY KUHN, BYLINE⁵: Morning, Leila.

JOHN RUWITCH, BYLINE: Good morning.

FADEL: Good morning. So, John, I want to start with you. The two leaders exchanged warm words before they sat down today. But the China-U.S. relationship is in bad shape. U.S. officials, including President Biden, have said they want to put a floor under the relationship, keeping it from veering⁶ into conflict. And that - it seems like a pretty low bar to set for this meeting.

RUWITCH: Right. Yeah. Look, officials on both sides are pretty hopeful that this face-to-face meeting can be a game changer...

FADEL: OK.

RUWITCH: ...Or at least move the ball a little bit. Xi Jinping and Joe Biden have known each other for about 11 years. They've spent a lot of time together, had a lot of talks. And Biden said the other day, there is no misunderstanding between them. But, you know, they've had five calls or video conferences since Biden became president, and their relationship just keeps getting worse. So everyone's keeping their expectations in check.

U.S. officials say there aren't going to be any deliverables. There's not going to be a joint⁷ statement out of this meeting. And a senior administration official said success isn't about common ground; it's about figuring out ways to communicate more, which, as you say, is a low bar. I mean, these are two nuclear-armed superpowers, right?

FADEL: Right.

RUWITCH: On the way into the meeting, Xi Jinping did say that they need to chart the right course and find the right direction. The devil is going to be in the details, though.

FADEL: Anthony, I want to turn to you now. Biden has said repeatedly he wants to work with allies in the region. So have Seoul and Tokyo taken a clear side with the U.S.? Or are they still hedging, sitting on the fence between the U.S. and China?

KUHN: Well, both these allies insist that they share the U.S.'s values, but I think their interests are somewhat different. To both of them, China is both their neighbor and their biggest trading partner. Both are under increasing pressure to pick a side in this U.S.-China rivalry⁸. And that's tough because for decades they've relied on the U.S. for security and China for trade. That strategy serves them well. And I think, like most countries in Northeast and Southeast Asia, they don't really want to have to choose. And at a regional summit in Cambodia over the weekend, Indonesian President Joko Widodo put this idea in a nutshell when he said that Asia must not become an arena⁹ for a new Cold War.

So both Seoul and Tokyo are trying to stabilize¹⁰ their ties with Beijing. The U.S. would love to have them both in a trilateral alliance to deal with China. And there has been movement in that direction, including recent three-way military exercises. But there's still historical mistrust between South Korea and Japan. So although what the U.S. wants is a trilateral alliance, what it really has is two bilateral¹¹ alliances.

FADEL: OK, John. So you're watching this from inside China. Is the fact that it's only two bilateral relationships a good thing from China's perspective?

RUWITCH: Yeah, sure. China obviously doesn't want to be confronted by a three-way alliance. It doesn't want any alliances against it.

FADEL: Yeah.

RUWITCH: And it's warned South Korea and Japan not to - you know, not to take aim at China. But the geopolitics of the region are changing, and it's being driven, to some extent, by this broader competition between the U.S. and China. I mean, take Taiwan, for example. It is a core issue for China, but it's really moved up in prominence¹² as an issue that a range of countries that weren't talking about it much before are now expressing concern about. Japan - Japan's relationship with Taipei has grown a lot closer in recent years. Officials are talking about the need to help Taiwan defend itself. That's a big change.

So, you know, the pressure to pick sides that Anthony is talking about is sort of a pillar of U.S.-China policy. It's the aligning¹⁴ piece of the puzzle, where, you know, they want to align¹³ - line up policies with and coordinate¹⁵ with other, you know, allies against China. Beijing is redoubling its own efforts to push back so these alliances don't gel.

FADEL: OK, Anthony. Well, we've got to talk about North Korea. The administration yesterday said Pyongyang's path could prompt bigger U.S. military presence in the region. In a way, it's also a veiled threat to Beijing, isn't it?

KUHN: Yeah, a very thinly veiled threat. And it's not exactly clear what the U.S. might do. It has promised to rotate more aircraft carriers, submarines and strategic bombers¹⁶ to the Korean Peninsula as a way to reassure¹⁷ South Korea. It says it will not redeploy tactical nuclear weapons, which they took out of South Korea in 1992. It could deploy¹⁸ more missile defense¹⁹ systems there to protect South Korea. But the last time they did that, five years ago, China unleashed²⁰ massive economic retaliation²¹ against South Korea.

I think the bigger question is, is there anything the U.S. can do or say, given the state of ties between Beijing and Washington, to get China to lean on North Korea to rein²² in its nuclear and missile testing? I think, John, you're in a position to address that better than I. What do you think?

RUWITCH: Yeah. I mean, in public, of course, you have China - the government here says that it wants the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. But Beijing's a key partner of North Korea. And it's always been loathe²³ to use really overt²⁴ pressure on North Korea. And, you know, given the tense state of relations with the U.S., they may be less inclined to do so now.

In May, China, along with Russia, for the first time vetoed a U.N. resolution after North Korean missile tests. Just last month, Xi Jinping exchanged letters with the North Korean leader, Kim Jong Un, which, according to official media, was - you know, they supported each other. China blames the United States to some extent for the tensions on the Korean Peninsula. It says the U.S. needs to address North Korea's legitimate²⁵ security concerns. So it's hard to imagine China doing much at this stage to advance the issue. But we'll really have to see, you know, if and how the U.S. follows through in boosting its military presence in the region.

FADEL: All right. John Ruwitch in China and Anthony Kuhn in South Korea.

Thank you both.

RUWITCH: You're welcome.

KUHN: Thanks, Leila.

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 candid   

adj.公正的，正直的；坦率的

参考例句：

• I cannot but hope the candid reader will give some allowance for it.我只有希望公正的读者多少包涵一些。
• He is quite candid with his friends.他对朋友相当坦诚。

3 imminent   

adj.即将发生的，临近的，逼近的

参考例句：

• The black clounds show that a storm is imminent.乌云预示暴风雨即将来临。
• The country is in imminent danger.国难当头。

4 unprecedented   

adj.无前例的，新奇的

参考例句：

• The air crash caused an unprecedented number of deaths.这次空难的死亡人数是空前的。
• A flood of this sort is really unprecedented.这样大的洪水真是十年九不遇。

5 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

6 veering   

n.改变的；犹豫的；顺时针方向转向；特指使船尾转向上风来改变航向v.（尤指交通工具）改变方向或路线( veer的现在分词 )；（指谈话内容、人的行为或观点）突然改变；（指风） （在北半球按顺时针方向、在南半球按逆时针方向）逐渐转向；风向顺时针转

参考例句：

• Anyone veering too close to the convoys risks being shot. 任何人改变方向，过于接近车队就有遭枪击的风险。 来自互联网
• The little boat kept veering from its course in such a turbulent river. 小船在这湍急的河中总是改变方向。 来自互联网

7 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。

8 rivalry   

n.竞争，竞赛，对抗

参考例句：

• The quarrel originated in rivalry between the two families.这次争吵是两家不和引起的。
• He had a lot of rivalry with his brothers and sisters.他和兄弟姐妹间经常较劲。

9 arena   

n.竞技场，运动场所；竞争场所，舞台

参考例句：

• She entered the political arena at the age of 25. 她25岁进入政界。
• He had not an adequate arena for the exercise of his talents.他没有充分发挥其才能的场所。

10 stabilize   

vt.（使）稳定，使稳固，使稳定平衡；vi.稳定

参考例句：

• They are eager to stabilize currencies.他们急于稳定货币。
• His blood pressure tended to stabilize.他的血压趋向稳定。

11 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。

12 prominence   

n.突出；显著；杰出；重要

参考例句：

• He came to prominence during the World Cup in Italy.他在意大利的世界杯赛中声名鹊起。
• This young fashion designer is rising to prominence.这位年轻的时装设计师的声望越来越高。

13 align   

vt.使成一线，结盟，调节；vi.成一线，结盟

参考例句：

• Align the ruler and the middle of the paper.使尺子与纸张的中部成一条直线。
• There are signs that the prime minister is aligning himself with the liberals.有迹象表明首相正在与自由党人结盟。

14 aligning   

n. (直线)对准 动词align的现在分词形式

参考例句：

• There are signs that the prime minister is aligning himself with the liberals. 有迹象表明首相正在与自由党人结盟。
• ToolTips provide textual hints that assist in drawing lines and aligning objects. 工具提示提供了协助画线和对象对齐的文本提示。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓

15 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。

16 bombers   

n.轰炸机( bomber的名词复数 )；投弹手；安非他明胶囊；大麻叶香烟

参考例句：

• Enemy bombers carried out a blitz on the city. 敌军轰炸机对这座城市进行了突袭。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The Royal Airforce sill remained dangerously short of bombers. 英国皇家空军仍未脱离极为缺乏轰炸机的危境。 来自《简明英汉词典》

17 reassure   

v.使放心，使消除疑虑

参考例句：

• This seemed to reassure him and he continued more confidently.这似乎使他放心一点，于是他更有信心地继续说了下去。
• The airline tried to reassure the customers that the planes were safe.航空公司尽力让乘客相信飞机是安全的。

18 deploy   

v.（军）散开成战斗队形，布置，展开

参考例句：

• The infantry began to deploy at dawn.步兵黎明时开始进入战斗位置。
• The president said he had no intention of deploying ground troops.总统称并不打算部署地面部队。

19 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

20 unleashed   

v.把（感情、力量等）释放出来，发泄( unleash的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The government's proposals unleashed a storm of protest in the press. 政府的提案引发了新闻界的抗议浪潮。
• The full force of his rage was unleashed against me. 他把所有的怒气都发泄在我身上。 来自《简明英汉词典》

21 retaliation   

n.报复，反击

参考例句：

• retaliation against UN workers 对联合国工作人员的报复
• He never said a single word in retaliation. 他从未说过一句反击的话。 来自《简明英汉词典》

22 rein   

n.疆绳，统治，支配；vt.以僵绳控制，统治

参考例句：

• The horse answered to the slightest pull on the rein.只要缰绳轻轻一拉,马就作出反应。
• He never drew rein for a moment till he reached the river.他一刻不停地一直跑到河边。

23 loathe   

v.厌恶，嫌恶

参考例句：

• I loathe the smell of burning rubber.我厌恶燃着的橡胶散发的气味。
• You loathe the smell of greasy food when you are seasick.当你晕船时，你会厌恶油腻的气味。

24 overt   

adj.公开的，明显的，公然的

参考例句：

• His opponent's intention is quite overt.他的对手的意图很明显。
• We should learn to fight with enemy in an overt and covert way.我们应学会同敌人做公开和隐蔽的斗争。

25 legitimate   

adj.合法的，合理的，合乎逻辑的；v.使合法

参考例句：

• Sickness is a legitimate reason for asking for leave.生病是请假的一个正当的理由。
• That's a perfectly legitimate fear.怀有这种恐惧完全在情理之中。