Britain's Cameron Discusses Arms Deals in Indonesia

 　　British Prime Minister David Cameron is visiting Jakarta Wednesday where the sale of arms is high on the agenda. As China deepens its defense¹ spending and India emerges as the world’s largest importer of arms, Southeast Asia’s largest economy is heading in the same direction.

　　The British prime minister, who is seeing sluggish² growth at home, is traveling with an entourage of 30 business delegates during his five-day trip to Asia.

　　Hoping to capitalize on strong economic growth and ballooning defense budgets in the region, Prime Minister David Cameron told local media that Britain produces some of the “best defense equipment in the world.”

　　Reports last year suggested that Britain and Indonesia were negotiating the sale of 24 Eurofighter Typhoons in a $2 billion deal.

　　An Eurofighter Typhoon fighter jet takes part in a flying display during the 49th Paris Air Show at the Le Bourget airport near Paris, June 22, 2011

　　Indonesia, the world’s fourth most populous³ country, has launched an ambitious plan to modernize⁴ its under-equipped military and defense industry.

　　But Yohannes Sulaiman, a defense specialist from the University of Indonesia, said the country’s military equipment is so dilapidated that even a large deal with Britain would be a akin⁵ to a ‘drop of water in an empty bucket.’

　　“Many of these ships are very old, like the Hercules, most of them dated from the 1970s," said Sulaiman. "So they really want to modernize the army and the entire military, everything, but the problem is that because they have to upgrade everything, they don’t have money. And to make the situation worse, there is still a lot of problems in the arms procurement⁶, lots of corruption⁷ bribes⁸, graft⁹.”

　　Following allegations of human rights abuses in East Timor, Papua and Aceh, both the U.S. and Britain banned the sales of defense equipment to Indonesia in the 1990s.

　　A decade of embargoes¹⁰ coupled with rampant¹¹ corruption in the military have significantly weakened the country’s defense capabilities¹².

　　Despite territorial¹³ disputes in the nearby South China Sea, Yohannes Sulaiman said the Indonesian military is not in a position to exert influence in the strategic zone.

　　“For Indonesia, we don’t even have enough of anything to even control our own seas. Our military is totally on the defensive," Sulaiman said. "We just need to maintain our national security. They don’t look at projecting the powe They don’t think about regional strategy, they are just a protector of Indonesian territory."

　　Non-governmental organizations have criticized Indonesia’s human rights record and lack of accountability for soldiers accused of abusing their power in the restive¹⁴ region of West Papua. But Prime Minister Cameron is enthusiastic about expanding economic ties with Indonesia, and says the Asian nation has moved on from its tarnished¹⁵ human rights record.

　　After sealing a defense agreement with Japan Tuesday, the British prime minister is expected to announce a $2.5 billion deal Wednesday between British plane maker¹⁶ Airbus and Indonesian carrier Garuda Indonesia.

1 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。

2 sluggish   

adj.懒惰的，迟钝的，无精打采的

参考例句：

• This humid heat makes you feel rather sluggish.这种湿热的天气使人感到懒洋洋的。
• Circulation is much more sluggish in the feet than in the hands.脚部的循环比手部的循环缓慢得多。

3 populous   

adj.人口稠密的，人口众多的

参考例句：

• London is the most populous area of Britain.伦敦是英国人口最稠密的地区。
• China is the most populous developing country in the world.中国是世界上人口最多的发展中国家。

4 modernize   

vt.使现代化，使适应现代的需要

参考例句：

• It was their manifest failure to modernize the country's industries.他们使国家进行工业现代化，明显失败了。
• There is a pressing need to modernise our electoral system.我们的选举制度迫切需要现代化。

5 akin   

adj.同族的，类似的

参考例句：

• She painted flowers and birds pictures akin to those of earlier feminine painters.她画一些同早期女画家类似的花鸟画。
• Listening to his life story is akin to reading a good adventure novel.听他的人生故事犹如阅读一本精彩的冒险小说。

6 procurement   

n.采购；获得

参考例句：

• He is in charge of the procurement of materials.他负责物资的采购。
• More and more,human food procurement came to have a dominant effect on their evolution.人类获取食物愈来愈显著地影响到人类的进化。

7 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。

8 bribes   

n.贿赂( bribe的名词复数 )；向（某人）行贿，贿赂v.贿赂( bribe的第三人称单数 )；向（某人）行贿，贿赂

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。
• corrupt officials accepting bribes 接受贿赂的贪官污吏

9 graft   

n.移植，嫁接，艰苦工作，贪污；v.移植，嫁接

参考例句：

• I am having a skin graft on my arm soon.我马上就要接受手臂的皮肤移植手术。
• The minister became rich through graft.这位部长透过贪污受贿致富。

10 embargoes   

贸易禁运令，禁运( embargo的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Britain, France and the United States refused to lift their embargoes. 英、法和美国都拒绝取消禁运。
• Its public position is that it abides by all UN arms embargoes. 其公开立场是，他们遵守所有联合国的武器禁运命令。

11 rampant   

adj.(植物)蔓生的；狂暴的，无约束的

参考例句：

• Sickness was rampant in the area.该地区疾病蔓延。
• You cannot allow children to rampant through the museum.你不能任由小孩子在博物馆里乱跑。

12 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

13 territorial   

adj.领土的，领地的

参考例句：

• The country is fighting to preserve its territorial integrity.该国在为保持领土的完整而进行斗争。
• They were not allowed to fish in our territorial waters.不允许他们在我国领海捕鱼。

14 restive   

adj.不安宁的，不安静的

参考例句：

• The government has done nothing to ease restrictions and manufacturers are growing restive.政府未采取任何措施放松出口限制,因此国内制造商变得焦虑不安。
• The audience grew restive.观众变得不耐烦了。

15 tarnished   

（通常指金属）（使）失去光泽，（使）变灰暗( tarnish的过去式和过去分词 )； 玷污，败坏

参考例句：

• The mirrors had tarnished with age. 这些镜子因年深日久而照影不清楚。
• His bad behaviour has tarnished the good name of the school. 他行为不轨，败坏了学校的声誉。

16 maker   

n.制造者，制造商

参考例句：

• He is a trouble maker，You must be distant with him.他是个捣蛋鬼，你不要跟他在一起。
• A cabinet maker must be a master craftsman.家具木工必须是技艺高超的手艺人。