美国国家公共电台 NPR Kim Jong Un Talks Nukes On Secret Trip To China

 

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

North Korea's young leader, Kim Jong Un, is not known to have left his country on an overseas trip until this week. He went where North Korean leaders normally go for their first foreign visits, neighboring China. And he did it in secret. NPR's Anthony Kuhn joins us from Beijing to try and fill us in. Hi, Anthony.

ANTHONY KUHN, BYLINE¹: Hey there, David.

GREENE: So you did not know anything about this trip, at least not officially, until it was done, right?

KUHN: Not officially, but it would've been hard to miss the massive security on the streets yesterday and this huge motorcade zipping through town. But amazingly, the foreign ministry² said they knew nothing about it, until this morning when state media came out with the reports confirming that Kim Jong Un had indeed paid his first visit here. In a way, it felt like old times, you know. Kim Jong Un's father and grandfather used to travel to China in these huge, hulking armored trains. They never flew. And then the news of a trip only came out after they'd roll back over the border, so it was like old times in a way.

GREENE: It's amazing the foreign minister just said they knew nothing about - or maybe it's not that amazing in China (laughter), I don't know, but that they deny any knowledge of all this happening.

KUHN: That's how they do it.

GREENE: Well, some of the photos we're now seeing from the event - I mean, it looks like even though we didn't know it was happening, China really rolled out the red carpet for Kim. Is that what happened?

KUHN: Yeah. Well, it was a very formal visit in all but name. They said it was unofficial, but you had the first families of China and North Korea there. There was a huge banquet to welcome them. They took in a cultural performance in the evening, and then the language really harked back to the old days. There was this talk of socialist³ solidarity⁴. You had Xi Jinping calling Kim Jong Un comrade chairman, talk of the brotherhood⁵ between the Communist Party of China and the Worker's Party of North Korea. So, you know, because China has been hitting North - China has been hitting North Korea with these sanctions over the past years, things have been really tense. But now it seems they're getting back to the way they have been for decades, really since the Korean War.

GREENE: So given the context, I mean, given the whole nuclear debate with, you know, the debate over North Korea's nuclear program and pressure on China to do more, this cozy-looking visit is significant, right?

KUHN: Well, yeah. It's significant because North Korea promised that it would give up its nukes in 2005, but then they changed their minds four years later. Then in - earlier this month, they promised again that they were willing to abandon their nukes, but this is the first time that Kim Jong Un has come out and said this in person to a foreign head of state. What Kim was quoted as telling Xi Jinping was that, if the U.S. and South Korea cooperate and they help to build a peaceful and stable environment on the Korean Peninsula, then the nuclear issue can be solved.

It's not too surprising. North Korea had already promised to hold talks with Seoul and Washington and it could hardly leave out its main neighbor and ally. Now, this does not mean that at the end of the day Pyongyang will give up its nuclear weapons. It may choose to hold them or try to freeze them or something, but we'll have to see if talks even get off the ground.

GREENE: OK. So this was China, though, wanting to make sure they were involved in whatever diplomacy⁶ is taking place. It - does this - the timing⁷ of this also have something to do with the tensions between Beijing and Washington?

KUHN: It sure looks that way. I mean, look at all of this going on with China and the U.S. now. There's a trade war brewing⁸, you know, you have tensions over Taiwan, over the South China Sea. And that's a very good time for China to point out that, hey, North Korea is a traditional ally. At the same time, the U.S. and China are on the same page about the North Korean nuclear issue. And so China informed the White House of Kim's visit while it was still a secret, and tomorrow they're going to send a top diplomat⁹ to South Korea to fill them in.

GREENE: NPR's Anthony Kuhn talking to us from Beijing. Thanks, Anthony.

KUHN: Sure thing, David.

1 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。

2 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。

3 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。

4 solidarity   

n.团结；休戚相关

参考例句：

• They must preserve their solidarity.他们必须维护他们的团结。
• The solidarity among China's various nationalities is as firm as a rock.中国各族人民之间的团结坚如磐石。

5 brotherhood   

n.兄弟般的关系，手中情谊

参考例句：

• They broke up the brotherhood.他们断绝了兄弟关系。
• They live and work together in complete equality and brotherhood.他们完全平等和兄弟般地在一起生活和工作。

6 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。

7 timing   

n.时间安排，时间选择

参考例句：

• The timing of the meeting is not convenient.会议的时间安排不合适。
• The timing of our statement is very opportune.我们发表声明选择的时机很恰当。

8 brewing   

n. 酿造, 一次酿造的量 动词brew的现在分词形式

参考例句：

• It was obvious that a big storm was brewing up. 很显然，一场暴风雨正在酝酿中。
• She set about brewing some herb tea. 她动手泡一些药茶。

9 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。