2007年VOA标准英语-Vietnam Has High Hopes For President's Meetings

By Matt Steinglass
Hanoi
20 June 2007

For the first time, the President of the Socialist¹ Republic of Vietnam is visiting the United States. Nguyen Minh Triet will meet with President Bush on Friday and also will meet with congressional leaders. Relations between the two former enemies have never been better, but human rights issues remain a stumbling block, as Matt Steinglass reports from Hanoi.

President Nguyen Minh Triet of Vietnam signs the guest book at the New York Stock Exchange during his visit, 19 June 2007

In their meeting on Friday, President Triet and President Bush plan to sign a trade and investment framework agreement, the first step toward a bilateral² free trade agreement.

The U.S. is Vietnam's number one export market, and Virginia Foote, director of the U.S.-Vietnam Trade Council, says businesses see Mr. Triet's trip as a reassuring³ sign.

"It's the first post-normalization trip by a head of state, and I think everyone sees it as a sign that the relationship is good, and strong," she said. "There are several things happening on this trip that are breaking new ground."

Besides signing the trade agreement, Mr. Triet has said he will talk to Mr. Bush about help for Vietnamese victims of Agent Orange, the herbicide the U.S. sprayed on Vietnamese jungles during the Vietnam War.

Agent Orange has been linked to a variety of health problems. The U.S. has compensated⁴ American soldiers who were exposed to the herbicide, but it has long hesitated to help Vietnamese victims.

In the past two years, the U.S. has begun sending scientists to analyze⁵ areas that were exposed to Agent Orange, and last November President Bush signed an agreement promising⁶ further help.

One sore point on President Triet's trip will be Vietnam's crackdown on democracy activists⁷ over the past six months.

The crackdown led to denunciations in Congress and the White House, and at one point threatened to postpone⁸ Mr. Triet's visit.

But Vietnam has since released several dissidents.

Tom Vallely, director of the Vietnam program at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government, says the issue is not going to derail the relationship.

"I know that President Triet and his delegation⁹ are going to be meeting with Speaker Pelosi (Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi) and others, and I think they are going to raise issues of human rights with the delegation. But I think the important thing is that they're having that discussion," he said.

Several senior U.S. foreign policy figures have mentioned Vietnam's strategic importance in fighting terrorism and international organized crime in recent articles.

Carl Thayer, a Vietnam expert at the Australian Defense¹⁰ Force Academy, says that is the surest sign of growing U.S. interest in Vietnam.

"The U.S. full well knows that Vietnam is going to be on the U.N. Security Council for a year as Asia's representative. It's a growing economy. So there's a strategic element to all this. Commerce is big, the economic side is big, but the strategic element is much more important," said Thayer.

The U.S. and Vietnam will continue to have differences, analysts¹¹ say, but Mr. Triet's visit shows that both countries consider their improving relationship too important to set aside.

1 socialist   

n.社会主义者；adj.社会主义的

参考例句：

• China is a socialist country,and a developing country as well.中国是一个社会主义国家，也是一个发展中国家。
• His father was an ardent socialist.他父亲是一个热情的社会主义者。

2 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。

3 reassuring   

a.使人消除恐惧和疑虑的，使人放心的

参考例句：

• He gave her a reassuring pat on the shoulder. 他轻拍了一下她的肩膀让她放心。
• With a reassuring pat on her arm, he left. 他鼓励地拍了拍她的手臂就离开了。

4 compensated   

补偿，报酬( compensate的过去式和过去分词 )； 给（某人）赔偿（或赔款）

参考例句：

• The marvelous acting compensated for the play's weak script. 本剧的精彩表演弥补了剧本的不足。
• I compensated his loss with money. 我赔偿他经济损失。

5 analyze   

vt.分析，解析 (=analyse)

参考例句：

• We should analyze the cause and effect of this event.我们应该分析这场事变的因果。
• The teacher tried to analyze the cause of our failure.老师设法分析我们失败的原因。

6 promising   

adj.有希望的，有前途的

参考例句：

• The results of the experiments are very promising.实验的结果充满了希望。
• We're trying to bring along one or two promising young swimmers.我们正设法培养出一两名有前途的年轻游泳选手。

7 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》

8 postpone   

v.延期，推迟

参考例句：

• I shall postpone making a decision till I learn full particulars.在未获悉详情之前我得从缓作出决定。
• She decided to postpone the converastion for that evening.她决定当天晚上把谈话搁一搁。

9 delegation   

n.代表团；派遣

参考例句：

• The statement of our delegation was singularly appropriate to the occasion.我们代表团的声明非常适合时宜。
• We shall inform you of the date of the delegation's arrival.我们将把代表团到达的日期通知你。

10 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。

11 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。