美国国家公共电台 NPR--Myanmar's crisis is on the agenda for Biden and East and Southeast Asian leaders

Myanmar's crisis is on the agenda for Biden and East and Southeast Asian leaders

Transcript¹

President Biden will be in Cambodia this weekend for summits with Asian leaders. Myanmar's military rulers were not invited — their 2021 coup² has left the country in chaos³.

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

President Biden will be in Cambodia this weekend for summits with East and Southeast Asian leaders. Myanmar will be on the agenda, but leaders from that country weren't invited to participate after the 2021 coup that's left the country in a state of civil war. Michael Sullivan reports from Bangkok.

MICHAEL SULLIVAN, BYLINE⁴: Since the coup, the resistance to military rule has become more fierce by the day and the military's atrocities⁵ more pronounced, like September's attack on a school in Sagaing, a hotbed of resistance where the military claimed resistance fighters were hiding.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

UNIDENTIFIED TEACHER: (Speaking Burmese).

SULLIVAN: The soldiers attacked with helicopters. Then from the ground, says this teacher who was there. She watched one young student wounded so badly he pleaded for relief. Please kill me, he begged. I cannot stand it anymore. He was one of 11 children killed in what a U.N. official called a war crime.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

SULLIVAN: Then late last month, at least 80 people were killed when a Myanmar military airstrike targeted this concert in Kachin state. It was the deadliest single attack since the coup. The military claimed it was hitting a legitimate⁶ target, calling reports of civilian⁷ deaths fake news. Saw Kapi is an educator and former resistance fighter who fled Myanmar after the coup.

SAW KAPI: The fact of the matter on the ground is we are being slaughtered⁸ or people are being slaughtered on the ground, especially in Sagaing and Magway. But, you know, aside from the verbal support, we didn't see and hear a lot from our Western friends.

SULLIVAN: Even as the military ramps⁹ up its attacks against those who oppose it, especially in the so-called dry zone in the north, where that resistance has been especially fierce. Richard Horsey is senior Myanmar analyst¹⁰ for the International Crisis Group.

RICHARD HORSEY: They've been burning down hundreds of villages, thousands and thousands of homes, displacing a huge proportion of the population in that area in an attempt to make it just impossible for people to resist.

SULLIVAN: So far, they haven't succeeded. And more than 20 months after the coup, Horsey says, Myanmar's people are slipping further into misery¹¹.

HORSEY: State services continue to be in perilous¹² shape. The health and education systems have almost collapsed¹³, and there are millions of internally displaced people now as well across the country.

SULLIVAN: Meanwhile, Myanmar's senior general, Min Aung Hlaing, has made repeated trips to Russia procuring¹⁴ weapons, arms, planes and attack helicopters while voicing his public support for President Vladimir Putin's war in Ukraine. Saw Kapi.

KAPI: The two bad guys are coming together, supporting each other. But on our part, we don't see any material supports from the so-called democratic countries.

SULLIVAN: Several rounds of targeted sanctions against the military haven't been enough, argues activist¹⁵ Thinzar Shunlei Yi. She says the West needs to take a bigger bite collectively by going after the state-run Myanmar oil and gas enterprise, a lucrative¹⁶ source of cash for the regime. The EU has already taken such a step; the U.S. and the U.K. have not.

THINZAR SHUNLEI YI: It provides around half of the hard currency that the military is now using to pay for the bullets and troops that it's turned against its own innocent civilians¹⁷. So sanctions will save life by cutting off that critical revenue stream.

SULLIVAN: But if that revenue stream keeps flowing, she warns, so will her people's blood. Either way, Richard Horsey expects the conflict to drag on for years.

HORSEY: The military continues to dig in, continues to be determined¹⁸ to hang on to power. And most of the population vehemently¹⁹ disagrees with that. And that struggle is going to go on for a long time to come.

SULLIVAN: Michael Sullivan, NPR News, Bangkok.

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 coup   

n.政变；突然而成功的行动

参考例句：

• The monarch was ousted by a military coup.那君主被军事政变者废黜了。
• That government was overthrown in a military coup three years ago.那个政府在3年前的军事政变中被推翻。

3 chaos   

n.混乱，无秩序

参考例句：

• After the failure of electricity supply the city was in chaos.停电后，城市一片混乱。
• The typhoon left chaos behind it.台风后一片混乱。

4 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。

5 atrocities   

n.邪恶，暴行( atrocity的名词复数 )；滔天大罪

参考例句：

• They were guilty of the most barbarous and inhuman atrocities. 他们犯有最野蛮、最灭绝人性的残暴罪行。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The enemy's atrocities made one boil with anger. 敌人的暴行令人发指。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

6 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。

7 civilian   

adj.平民的，民用的，民众的

参考例句：

• There is no reliable information about civilian casualties.关于平民的伤亡还没有确凿的信息。
• He resigned his commission to take up a civilian job.他辞去军职而从事平民工作。

8 slaughtered   

v.屠杀，杀戮，屠宰( slaughter的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The invading army slaughtered a lot of people. 侵略军杀了许多人。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Hundreds of innocent civilians were cruelly slaughtered. 数百名无辜平民遭残杀。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 ramps   

resources allocation and multiproject scheduling 资源分配和多项目的行程安排

参考例句：

• Ramps should be provided for wheelchair users. 应该给轮椅使用者提供坡道。
• He has the upper floor and ramps are fitted everywhere for his convenience. 他住在上面一层，为了他的方便着想，到处设有坡道。

10 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。

11 misery   

n.痛苦，苦恼，苦难；悲惨的境遇，贫苦

参考例句：

• Business depression usually causes misery among the working class.商业不景气常使工薪阶层受苦。
• He has rescued me from the mire of misery.他把我从苦海里救了出来。

12 perilous   

adj.危险的，冒险的

参考例句：

• The journey through the jungle was perilous.穿过丛林的旅行充满了危险。
• We have been carried in safety through a perilous crisis.历经一连串危机，我们如今已安然无恙。

13 collapsed   

adj.倒塌的

参考例句：

• Jack collapsed in agony on the floor. 杰克十分痛苦地瘫倒在地板上。
• The roof collapsed under the weight of snow. 房顶在雪的重压下突然坍塌下来。

14 procuring   

v.（努力）取得， （设法）获得( procure的现在分词 )；拉皮条

参考例句：

• He was accused of procuring women for his business associates. 他被指控为其生意合伙人招妓。 来自辞典例句
• She had particular pleasure, in procuring him the proper invitation. 她特别高兴为他争得这份体面的邀请。 来自辞典例句

15 activist   

n.活动分子，积极分子

参考例句：

• He's been a trade union activist for many years.多年来他一直是工会的积极分子。
• He is a social activist in our factory.他是我厂的社会活动积极分子。

16 lucrative   

adj.赚钱的，可获利的

参考例句：

• He decided to turn his hobby into a lucrative sideline.他决定把自己的爱好变成赚钱的副业。
• It was not a lucrative profession.那是一个没有多少油水的职业。

17 civilians   

平民，百姓( civilian的名词复数 )； 老百姓

参考例句：

• the bloody massacre of innocent civilians 对无辜平民的血腥屠杀
• At least 300 civilians are unaccounted for after the bombing raids. 遭轰炸袭击之后，至少有300名平民下落不明。

18 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。

19 vehemently   

adv. 热烈地

参考例句：

• He argued with his wife so vehemently that he talked himself hoarse. 他和妻子争论得很激烈，以致讲话的声音都嘶哑了。
• Both women vehemently deny the charges against them. 两名妇女都激烈地否认了对她们的指控。