美国国家公共电台 NPR--U.S. says China has rejected an invitation to meet at summit in Singapore

U.S. says China has rejected an invitation to meet at summit in Singapore

Transcript¹

The defense² chiefs from the U.S. and China are headlining an international defense summit in Singapore, but it appears they will not directly meet with each other.

A MART?NEZ, HOST:

The defense chiefs from the U.S. and China are headlining an international defense summit this weekend, but they apparently³ won't be talking to each other.

LEILA FADEL, HOST:

That's right. They're both attending the Asia-focused Shangri-La Dialogue that kicks off today in Singapore. But according to the U.S., China has already rejected an invitation to meet there.

MART?NEZ: We're joined now by NPR's Emily Feng, who is in Singapore covering the dialogue.

Emily, just a week ago on this show, we were talking about what President Biden described as an expected thaw⁴ in relations. Why is the freezer door still closed?

EMILY FENG, BYLINE⁵: Well, this law is not straightforward⁶, and both China and the U.S. want it to happen on their terms. There was some hope, which is, I think, what you're pointing to between the two countries this - last month, when they had a bunch of meetings. Beijing finally sent its ambassador to D.C. There were top commerce officials who talked trade in Washington. There was a Vienna meeting between the national security adviser⁷ and China's top diplomat⁸. So the two countries were talking again, and things were looking up.

But when the U.S. proposed at this defense meeting here at the Shangri-La to meet between the two defense chiefs, Beijing said no. And the primary reason for that rejection⁹ was in 2018, the U.S. sanctioned the China defense chief - the current China defense chief - for buying Russian weapons. And so China's understandably been upset about this. They would like to see those sanctions lifted first before they have any meetings with U.S officials.

MART?NEZ: And why is it important that the defense chiefs in particular talk?

FENG: It's important because you need communication between two of the most powerful militaries in the world. And U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin spoke¹⁰ to this earlier this week when he was in Tokyo, where he was visiting before he heads to the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore today.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

LLOYD AUSTIN: You've heard me talk a number of times about the importance of countries with significant capabilities¹¹ being able to talk to each other so you can manage crises and prevent things from spiraling out of control unnecessarily.

FENG: He's referring here specifically to another incident that was just publicized this week in the South China Sea, where the U.S. accuses a Chinese fighter jet of buzzing a U.S. surveillance plane. And Austin has reason to be worried because more than two decades ago, a Chinese plane did actually collide with a U.S. surveillance plane in the South China Sea. In that crash, the Chinese pilot died. The U.S. pilot had to crash-land in China. The American crew was held for 10 days before they could go back home, and this all happened when relations between the U.S. and China were better than they are now. So just imagine if something similar happened when the two sides are not talking.

On trade and diplomacy¹², there are signs that this bilateral¹³ dialogue is mending. But in terms of military competition, the tension is escalating¹⁴. The communication channels between the two countries on this issue have remained cut basically ever since former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan last summer and China got very upset.

MART?NEZ: Now, U.S.-China relations may be the headline for this thing, but this dialogue has a lot more to it.

FENG: Right. There are more than one-fourth of delegates who are from Southeast Asian countries, so this gathering¹⁵ is not just all about the U.S. and China. Though, to be fair, that is a lot of what Southeast Asian countries are talking about. They're trying to figure out how to fit themselves in between the broad contours of this superpower competition. And this includes the issue of Taiwan, which China claims.

And even though I'm in Singapore - you know, we're a hemisphere away from Europe - the war in Ukraine is on the agenda here. There are European politicians here. And so far, Southeast Asia has remained pretty quiet on the issue. So that's going to be in talks this weekend as well.

MART?NEZ: NPR's Emily Feng in Singapore.

Emily, good to talk.

FENG: Thanks, A.

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 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。

3 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

4 thaw   

v.（使）融化，（使）变得友善；n.融化，缓和

参考例句：

• The snow is beginning to thaw.雪已开始融化。
• The spring thaw caused heavy flooding.春天解冻引起了洪水泛滥。

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 straightforward   

adj.正直的，坦率的；易懂的，简单的

参考例句：

• A straightforward talk is better than a flowery speech.巧言不如直说。
• I must insist on your giving me a straightforward answer.我一定要你给我一个直截了当的回答。

7 adviser   

n.劝告者，顾问

参考例句：

• They employed me as an adviser.他们聘请我当顾问。
• Our department has engaged a foreign teacher as phonetic adviser.我们系已经聘请了一位外籍老师作为语音顾问。

8 diplomat   

n.外交官，外交家；能交际的人，圆滑的人

参考例句：

• The diplomat threw in a joke, and the tension was instantly relieved.那位外交官插进一个笑话，紧张的气氛顿时缓和下来。
• He served as a diplomat in Russia before the war.战前他在俄罗斯当外交官。

9 rejection   

n.拒绝，被拒，抛弃，被弃

参考例句：

• He decided not to approach her for fear of rejection.他因怕遭拒绝决定不再去找她。
• The rejection plunged her into the dark depths of despair.遭到拒绝使她陷入了绝望的深渊。

10 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。

11 capabilities   

n.能力( capability的名词复数 )；可能；容量；[复数]潜在能力

参考例句：

• He was somewhat pompous and had a high opinion of his own capabilities. 他有点自大，自视甚高。 来自辞典例句
• Some programmers use tabs to break complex product capabilities into smaller chunks. 一些程序员认为，标签可以将复杂的功能分为每个窗格一组简单的功能。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓

12 diplomacy   

n.外交；外交手腕，交际手腕

参考例句：

• The talks have now gone into a stage of quiet diplomacy.会谈现在已经进入了“温和外交”阶段。
• This was done through the skill in diplomacy. 这是通过外交手腕才做到的。

13 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。

14 escalating   

v.（使）逐步升级( escalate的现在分词 )；（使）逐步扩大；（使）更高；（使）更大

参考例句：

• The cost of living is escalating. 生活费用在迅速上涨。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The cost of living is escalating in the country. 这个国家的生活费用在上涨。 来自辞典例句

15 gathering   

n.集会，聚会，聚集

参考例句：

• He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
• He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。