美国国家公共电台 NPR The 'America First' President Sends His Defense Secretary To Asia

 

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST: 

Some other news, the new defense¹ secretary is crossing the Pacific with two questions in the air. The first is how much James Mattis really speaks for the new president. The second is how Mattis can reassure² traditional U.S. allies. He's visiting Japan and South Korea. NPR's Elise Hu is in Seoul.

OH MI-JEONG: (Over loudspeaker, speaking Korean).

UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTERS: (Chanting, speaking Korean).

ELISE HU, BYLINE³: When Defense Secretary James Mattis arrives at the South Korean Defense Ministry⁴ Friday, this daily throng⁵ of protesters will greet him. Kim Kang Yeon is one of them.

KIM KANG YEON: (Through interpreter) I think visiting Korea to continue with the existing agendas is an ill-advised action that in a way ignores the Korean people's will.

HU: What she means is the current Korean government may not last past the next few weeks. The defense minister that will meet with Mattis and the acting⁶ president are both appointees of an impeached⁷ president - Park Geun-hye. They're placeholders until the president's impeachment⁸ trial is over.

JOHN DELURY: You know, this is a real dilemma⁹.

HU: John Delury is professor of international relations at Seoul's Yonsei University.

DELURY: It's a dilemma for the Americans because they're going to have a series of conversations with someone who really doesn't speak for the South Korean public.

HU: Among the Korean public there is distrust of the new Trump¹⁰ administration, mainly because Trump's statements have been so inconsistent. He has said both that he'd be willing to have a burger with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un, and that the U.S.-South Korean alliance is stronger than ever. Protestor Oh Mi-Jeong takes the mic to say his statements don't add up.

OH: (Over loudspeaker, speaking Korean)

HU: "Trump was unexpectedly elected as the president," she says, "but his eccentric actions are just unpredictable." Which leads to another major question for the trip, says John Delury.

DELURY: Does Secretary Mattis actually speak for President Trump? Who's really calling the shots on American foreign policy? Those are also huge questions that affect their fate.

HU: And given the nuclear weapons just across the border, it matters for the region and the world.

DELURY: The Korean Peninsula's arguably the security fault line for Asia. You need to be very careful in your approach.

HU: Both key U.S. allies, Korea and Japan, are looking for some clarity in what that approach will look like under Trump. Elise Hu, NPR News, Seoul.

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 reassure   

v.使放心，使消除疑虑

参考例句：

• This seemed to reassure him and he continued more confidently.这似乎使他放心一点，于是他更有信心地继续说了下去。
• The airline tried to reassure the customers that the planes were safe.航空公司尽力让乘客相信飞机是安全的。

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 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。

5 throng   

n.人群，群众；v.拥挤，群集

参考例句：

• A patient throng was waiting in silence.一大群耐心的人在静静地等着。
• The crowds thronged into the mall.人群涌进大厅。

6 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

7 impeached   

v.控告（某人）犯罪( impeach的过去式和过去分词 )；弹劾；对（某事物）怀疑；提出异议

参考例句：

• Elected officials can be impeached. 经过选举产生的官员可以被弹劾。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The judge was impeached for taking a bribe. 这个法官被检举接受贿赂。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

8 impeachment   

n.弹劾；控告；怀疑

参考例句：

• Impeachment is considered a drastic measure in the United States.在美国，弹劾被视为一种非常激烈的措施。
• The verdict resulting from his impeachment destroyed his political career.他遭弹劾后得到的判决毁了他的政治生涯。

9 dilemma   

n.困境，进退两难的局面

参考例句：

• I am on the horns of a dilemma about the matter.这件事使我进退两难。
• He was thrown into a dilemma.他陷入困境。

10 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。