美国国家公共电台 NPR--Vietnam is grappling with the political fallout of a corruption scandal

Vietnam is grappling with the political fallout of a corruption² scandal

Transcript³

NPR's Steve Inskeep talks to Bill Hayton of the U.K.-based policy institute Chatham House, about the political shakeup after Vietnam's president resigned amid a corruption scandal

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

The president of Vietnam had to resign this week. Nguyen Xuan Phuc took the blame for a corruption scandal. A bigger power remains⁴ in office, the ruling Communist Party. Bill Hayton is following all this. He's an associate fellow with the Asia-Pacific program at U.K.-based Chatham House. And he's an expert on this country that has become a big trading partner of the United States. Welcome to the program, sir.

BILL HAYTON: Thank you for having me.

INSKEEP: What was the alleged⁵ corruption?

HAYTON: The corruption scandals in Vietnam are massive in terms of numbers. There was one about repatriating⁶ Vietnamese flying back from foreign countries during the pandemic. That may have netted $200 million for the people involved. And another one to do with test kits⁷, to do with COVID. And again, tens, maybe even hundreds of millions of dollars involved in there. So there's no doubt that there is corruption and that these guys have taken the fall for it. But I think there's something bigger going on behind the scenes.

INSKEEP: What is that?

HAYTON: Well, I think what we're seeing is the public security ministry⁸ and the Communist Party hard-liners really using these corruption scandals to push out the more liberal wing of the party and people who were becoming sort of too well-known as individuals in order to reinstate party control. So in some ways, it's a bit like what's been happening in China, where Xi Jinping has been using corruption scandals to get rid of his enemies. The idea that the people left in power are not corrupt¹ is just not credible⁹. It's just certain people get investigated for their corruption scandals and certain people don't.

INSKEEP: Granting that you think that Communist Party leaders are using these corruption scandals, you seem to be describing to me corruption that would directly affect human beings. This isn't just somebody skimming a little bit off the top of a business deal. This is someone trying to get back in the country and having to pay a bribe¹⁰ and that sort of thing. Was there a lot of public pressure to do something?

HAYTON: There was. It emerged very slowly. But because a lot of the people affected¹¹, you know, were connected to each other and to the world, the stories began to spread and to grow. And people realized it wasn't just me that had to pay this. Everybody else was paying it, too. A lot of complaints, but it sort of - it didn't really make that much impression, really, outside Vietnam, mainly because there were so few, you know, foreign journalists in Vietnam to pick up on these things. But it really became a big, big cause. And Mr. Trong, who's the leader of the Communist Party, kind of used this and turned it against his political enemies in a very effective way.

INSKEEP: What does this mean for the United States, which has been cooperating more and more with Vietnam as a kind of counterweight to China?

HAYTON: I think it's a warning that actually these people are not rushing to embrace the United States as an ally or anything like that, that they are very guarded of their own autonomy, their own ways of doing things, and that actually they see China more as an ideological¹² partner than the U.S. And so China - Vietnam is going to try and balance its relations forever. It's not going to be rushing towards the U.S.

INSKEEP: Really great insights. Bill Hayton at Chatham House. Thank you so much.

HAYTON: Pleasure.

1 corrupt   

v.贿赂，收买；adj.腐败的，贪污的

参考例句：

• The newspaper alleged the mayor's corrupt practices.那家报纸断言市长有舞弊行为。
• This judge is corrupt.这个法官贪污。

2 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。

3 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。

4 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。

5 alleged   

a.被指控的，嫌疑的

参考例句：

• It was alleged that he had taken bribes while in office. 他被指称在任时收受贿赂。
• alleged irregularities in the election campaign 被指称竞选运动中的不正当行为

6 repatriating   

v.把（某人）遣送回国，遣返( repatriate的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Since banks are reducing overall lending, that means repatriating cash. 由于银行总的借贷额在下降，这就意味着资金必然国内回流。 来自互联网
• US immigration officials have again delayed moves start repatriating six-year-old Cuban shipwreck survivor Elian Gonzalez. 六岁的古巴海难幸存儿童埃利安非常幸运，美国移民局官员已将原本要遣返他的时间再次拖延。 来自互联网

7 kits   

衣物和装备( kit的名词复数 )； 成套用品； 配套元件

参考例句：

• Keep your kits closed and locked when not in use. 不用的话把你的装备都锁好放好。
• Gifts Articles, Toy and Games, Wooden Toys, Puzzles, Craft Kits. 采购产品礼品，玩具和游戏，木制的玩具，智力玩具，手艺装备。

8 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

9 credible   

adj.可信任的，可靠的

参考例句：

• The news report is hardly credible.这则新闻报道令人难以置信。
• Is there a credible alternative to the nuclear deterrent?是否有可以取代核威慑力量的可靠办法？

10 bribe   

n.贿赂；v.向…行贿，买通

参考例句：

• He tried to bribe the policeman not to arrest him.他企图贿赂警察不逮捕他。
• He resolutely refused their bribe.他坚决不接受他们的贿赂。

11 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

12 ideological   

a.意识形态的

参考例句：

• He always tries to link his study with his ideological problems. 他总是把学习和自己的思想问题联系起来。
• He helped me enormously with advice on how to do ideological work. 他告诉我怎样做思想工作，对我有很大帮助。