美国国家公共电台 NPR Trump Business Deals In Southeast Asia Raise Conflict Of Interest Concerns

 

DAVID GREENE, HOST: 

President-elect Donald Trump¹ has promised to step back from his business interests when he takes office. He says he will let his two adult sons take the helm and that he won't make any new deals while he is president. But there are still many ongoing² projects that are causing concerns about conflicts of interest. Here's NPR's Jackie Northam.

JACKIE NORTHAM, BYLINE³: Trump has some 500 business interests spread across about 20 countries. He's unwinding some of those deals as Inauguration⁴ Day approaches. But many others are moving forward. Josh Kurlantzick, a Southeast Asia specialist at the Council on Foreign Relations, says most of the projects are licensing⁵ deals.

JOSH KURLANTZICK: They pay Trump a fee. And someone builds a resort. And they slap his name on it. So it's not like he's got his own skin in the game or is possibly going to be involved in shaping the resorts.

NORTHAM: Still, Kurlantzick and others say any involvement by Trump in a project, even if it's just his name, can create a huge conflict of interest, complicating⁶ any national security, foreign policy or economic concerns the U.S. has with a particular country. Take for example a $150 million project in the Philippines capital, Manila, for which Trump receives up to $5 million for the use of his name.

Philippines president Rodrigo Duterte has raised human-rights concerns with a brutal⁷ anti-drug campaign that has left more than 6,000 people dead since he took office in June. Robert Manning is a former National Intelligence Council official now with the Atlantic Council.

ROBERT MANNING: I think Trump has been reluctant to make any negative criticisms about the Duterte's human-rights policies. Whether his business interests are a factor in that - I don't know how you ascertain⁸ that. I think it would certainly give him a motivation.

NORTHAM: To further complicate⁹ things, Duterte recently named Trump's main business partner in the Manila Trump Tower deal as the Philippine special envoy¹⁰ to the U.S. on trade and economic policy, Jose Antonio. Manning said it wouldn't be illegal for Trump to interact with Antonio in his capacity as a trade representative. But...

MANNING: It's a sticky question of deciding where national interests stop and business interests begin and vice¹¹ versa.

NORTHAM: Trump has promised to keep his hands off his business empire while president. But Kurlantzick says his sons will have to build up strong relations with powerful people to help keep overseas projects moving, which could be problematic. Kurlantzick uses as an example Indonesia, where the Trump organization is involved in two resort projects. One of the business partners there was a major politician, Setya Novanto. Kurlantzick says he had to step down in 2015 after being accused of corruption¹².

KURLANTZICK: He briefly¹³ gave up his post, which is like the equivalent of Paul Ryan last year because he was caught on audio trying to get a $4 billion payment from an American mining company.

NORTHAM: Earlier in the year, Novanto was in New York to meet with Trump and accompany him at a news conference where Trump praised him as a great man.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

DONALD TRUMP: His whole group is here to see me today. And we will do great things for the United States. Is that correct?

SETYA NOVANTO: Yes.

TRUMP: Do they like me in Indonesia?

NORTHAM: Stephen Gillers, an ethics¹⁴ professor at New York University Law School, says Trump needs to be careful not to erode¹⁵ public confidence.

STEPHEN GILLERS: What we want to make sure of is that the deal our president cuts is solely¹⁶ for the benefit of the United States, that there is no other interest that could be affecting his judgment¹⁷.

NORTHAM: Gillers says the only way for Trump to do that is to divest¹⁸ himself from all his business interests when he becomes president. Jackie Northam, NPR News.

POST-BROADCAST CORRECTION: We incorrectly say that Indonesian politician Setya Novanto was a business partner of President-elect Donald Trump. In fact it was Trump's Indonesian business partner who arranged for Novanto and Trump to meet.

1 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

2 ongoing   

adj.进行中的，前进的

参考例句：

• The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
• The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。

3 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。

4 inauguration   

n.开幕、就职典礼

参考例句：

• The inauguration of a President of the United States takes place on January 20.美国总统的就职典礼于一月二十日举行。
• Three celebrated tenors sang at the president's inauguration.3位著名的男高音歌手在总统就职仪式上演唱。

5 licensing   

v.批准，许可，颁发执照( license的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• A large part of state regulation consists of occupational licensing. 大部分州的管理涉及行业的特许批准。 来自英汉非文学 - 行政法
• That licensing procedures for projects would move faster. 这样的工程批准程序一定会加快。 来自辞典例句

6 complicating   

使复杂化( complicate的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• High spiking fever with chills is suggestive of a complicating pylephlebitis. 伴有寒战的高热，暗示合并门静脉炎。
• In America these actions become executive puberty rites, complicating relationships that are already complicated enough. 在美国，这些行动成了行政青春期的惯例，使本来已经够复杂的关系变得更复杂了。

7 brutal   

adj.残忍的，野蛮的，不讲理的

参考例句：

• She has to face the brutal reality.她不得不去面对冷酷的现实。
• They're brutal people behind their civilised veneer.他们表面上温文有礼，骨子里却是野蛮残忍。

8 ascertain   

vt.发现，确定，查明，弄清

参考例句：

• It's difficult to ascertain the coal deposits.煤储量很难探明。
• We must ascertain the responsibility in light of different situtations.我们必须根据不同情况判定责任。

9 complicate   

vt.使复杂化，使混乱，使难懂

参考例句：

• There is no need to complicate matters.没有必要使问题复杂化。
• These events will greatly complicate the situation.这些事件将使局势变得极其复杂。

10 envoy   

n.使节，使者，代表，公使

参考例句：

• Their envoy showed no sign of responding to our proposals.他们的代表对我方的提议毫无回应的迹象。
• The government has not yet appointed an envoy to the area.政府尚未向这一地区派过外交官。

11 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

12 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。

13 briefly   

adv.简单地，简短地

参考例句：

• I want to touch briefly on another aspect of the problem.我想简单地谈一下这个问题的另一方面。
• He was kidnapped and briefly detained by a terrorist group.他被一个恐怖组织绑架并短暂拘禁。

14 ethics   

n.伦理学；伦理观，道德标准

参考例句：

• The ethics of his profession don't permit him to do that.他的职业道德不允许他那样做。
• Personal ethics and professional ethics sometimes conflict.个人道德和职业道德有时会相互抵触。

15 erode   

v.侵蚀，腐蚀，使...减少、减弱或消失

参考例句：

• Once exposed,soil is quickly eroded by wind and rain.一旦暴露在外，土壤很快就会被风雨侵蚀。
• Competition in the financial marketplace has eroded profits.金融市场的竞争降低了利润。

16 solely   

adv.仅仅，唯一地

参考例句：

• Success should not be measured solely by educational achievement.成功与否不应只用学业成绩来衡量。
• The town depends almost solely on the tourist trade.这座城市几乎完全靠旅游业维持。

17 judgment   

n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见

参考例句：

• The chairman flatters himself on his judgment of people.主席自认为他审视人比别人高明。
• He's a man of excellent judgment.他眼力过人。

18 divest   

v.脱去，剥除

参考例句：

• I cannot divest myself of the idea.我无法消除那个念头。
• He attempted to divest himself of all responsibilities for the decision.他力图摆脱掉作出该项决定的一切责任。