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(单词翻译:双击或拖选)
The government of the Philippines has officially given notice to the United States. It is terminating a two-decades-old visiting forces agreement that allows the U.S. military to operate on Philippine soil. This notice, sent to the U.S. Embassy in Manila today, ended weeks of speculation1 about whether President Rodrigo Duterte would follow through on his threat.
And we're joined by NPR's Julie McCarthy in our bureau in Manila. Hi, Julie.
JULIE MCCARTHY, BYLINE2: Hi. Good morning.
GREENE: Good morning. OK. So Duterte is saying he wants U.S. troops out. The Philippines — I mean, hasn't it been a traditional ally of the United States over the years? What is happening here?
MCCARTHY: Yes, it has. But what you have now is this culmination3 of Duterte's chronic4 complaint about what he says is a disrespectful United States. He threatened to terminate this agreement after Washington reportedly denied his former national police chief a visa for the U.S. Now, that same police chief also enforced Duterte's bloody5 drug war when it began in 2016. Thousands of mostly poor drug suspects have been killed. Now, the Obama administration got alarmed about that and said so. The Duterte administration chafed6 under that, and now Duterte thinks this is happening all over again. So ending this agreement that allows U.S. troops to be here easily is another way of saying, you're interfering7 in my country and you're not welcome here.
GREENE: I mean, that sounds blunt. What could that message tell us about where this relationship is headed?
MCCARTHY: Well, it's a real signal, actually. There is a definite shift underway here. Duterte has made clear he intends to pivot8 away from his country's traditional ally, the United States, and lean towards China. He says they will assist us without questioning our internal affairs. He calls China a friend, the rising regional power — which it is. And Duterte seems comfortable with the Philippines existing in a China-centric regional order.
And we may be witnessing this U.S.-Philippine partnership9 that's a century old come unspooled, and it makes people nervous. Duterte's own foreign secretary Teddy Locsin said — before he sent the notice to the U.S. Embassy today — that ending this agreement, which is called the VFA, is a bad idea.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
TEDDY LOCSIN JR: Terminating the VFA will negatively impact the Philippines' defense10 and security arrangements as well as the overall bilateral11 relations of the Philippines with the U.S. and perhaps even on the subregional and multilateral level. Our contribution to regional defense is anchored on our military alliance with the world's last superpower.
MCCARTHY: Well, obviously that advice is not something Duterte chose to take. The U.S. Embassy just said, look, ending this agreement is a serious step with significant implications for the alliance.
GREENE: I'm just amazed that Duterte's own foreign secretary is saying — bad idea, but I'm going to carry it out for you because I have no choice.
MCCARTHY: That's right.
GREENE: How serious are the implications? Like, what were U.S. forces in the Philippines doing under this agreement?
MCCARTHY: Well, you know, mostly I think it has to do with sort of bearing — grounding this relationship in what has been an old, established ally. You know, historically, the U.S. had two huge bases here, a naval12 and an air base. They're long closed. But today there is a joint13 special operations task force to help the Philippine armed forces fight Islamist terrorism in the southern Philippines. There's about 200 advisers14.
Now, what happens to them under this agreement now, it's been suggested that they have 180 days to figure that out. In fact, they do have 180 days to figure that out. And some believe that perhaps Duterte is really not interested in blowing up the alliance but rather renegotiating this security arrangement.
GREENE: NPR's Julie McCarthy in Manila.
Julie, thanks so much.
MCCARTHY: Thank you.
菲律宾政府正式向美国发出通知。菲律宾将终止已有20年历史的访问部队协议,该协议允许美国军队在菲律宾领土上开展行动。今天,这一通知已发给美国驻马尼拉大使馆,终结了外界对罗德里戈·杜特尔特总统是否会兑现威胁这一持续了数周的猜测。
下面我们将连线NPR新闻驻马尼拉分社的朱莉·麦卡锡。你好,朱莉。
朱莉·麦卡锡连线:你好,早上好。
格林:早上好。杜特尔特表示,他希望美国军队撤出菲律宾。这么多年以来,菲律宾不一直是美国的传统盟友吗?发生了什么?
麦卡锡:对,是盟友。但现在的情况是,杜特尔特的长期不满达到了顶峰,他一直认为美国不尊重菲律宾。他威胁要终止这项协议,原因是有报道称美国政府拒绝为菲律宾前国家警察局长签发入境美国的签证。这名警察局长领导了杜特尔特在2016年开展的血腥毒品战。这场战争导致数千名毒品嫌犯死亡,其中大多数是穷人。奥巴马政府对此感到震惊,同时也表达了他们的震惊。这令杜特尔特政府感到恼怒,现在,杜特尔特认为这种情况再次上演。因此,终止允许美军轻松驻扎在菲律宾的协议等于是在说,你们在干涉我们国家的内政,在这里不受欢迎。
格林:这听起来相当直接。这一信息能告诉我们这段关系的走向吗?
麦卡锡:实际上,这是真正的信号。菲律宾在进行明确的转变。杜特尔特已经明确表示,他打算远离传统盟友美国,向中国靠拢。他说,中国会在不质疑菲律宾国内事务的情况下提供协助。他称中国是朋友,是正在崛起的地区强国——事实的确如此。存在于以中国为中心的地区秩序中似乎令杜特尔特感到舒适。
我们可能会目睹持续了数百年的美菲关系逐渐转冷,这令人感到紧张。今天,杜特尔特的外交大臣泰迪·洛辛在将通知发给美国大使馆前表示,终止《访问部队协议》(简称VFA)不是个好主意。
(录音档案)
小泰迪·洛辛:终止《访问部队协议》将对菲律宾的国防、安全安排以及菲律宾与美国的总体双边关系产生负面影响,甚至可能在次区域和多边层面上产生负面影响。我们对地区防御的贡献建立在我们与世界上最后一个超级大国的军事联盟之上。
麦卡锡:显然杜特尔特并未采纳这一建议。美国大使馆刚刚表态称,终止这项协议是对美菲同盟具有重大影响的严肃举措。
格林:我对杜特尔特的外交大臣发表的言论感到惊讶——这是个坏主意,但我会按照你的要求执行,因为我别无选择。
麦卡锡:没错。没错。
格林:影响有多严重?依据这项协议,美军在菲律宾要做什么?
麦卡锡:我认为这主要是结束与已确立的老盟友的这种关系。历史上,美国在菲律宾有两个巨大的基地,一个海军基地,一个空军基地。这两个基地很早之前就已经关闭。但现在,一个联合特别行动组在帮助菲律宾军队打击该国南部地区的伊斯兰恐怖主义。行动组由大约200名顾问组成。
至于这些顾问的后续安排,协议规定,他们有180天的时间来解决这个问题。事实上,他们的确有180天的时间来找出解决方法。有些人认为,也许杜特尔特并不是真的想毁掉美菲同盟,而是想重新协商这项安全协议。
格林:以上是NPR新闻的朱莉·麦卡锡从马尼拉带来的报道。
朱莉,非常谢谢你。
麦卡锡:谢谢。
1 speculation | |
n.思索,沉思;猜测;投机 | |
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2 byline | |
n.署名;v.署名 | |
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3 culmination | |
n.顶点;最高潮 | |
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4 chronic | |
adj.(疾病)长期未愈的,慢性的;极坏的 | |
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5 bloody | |
adj.非常的的;流血的;残忍的;adv.很;vt.血染 | |
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6 chafed | |
v.擦热(尤指皮肤)( chafe的过去式 );擦痛;发怒;惹怒 | |
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7 interfering | |
adj. 妨碍的 动词interfere的现在分词 | |
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8 pivot | |
v.在枢轴上转动;装枢轴,枢轴;adj.枢轴的 | |
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9 partnership | |
n.合作关系,伙伴关系 | |
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10 defense | |
n.防御,保卫;[pl.]防务工事;辩护,答辩 | |
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11 bilateral | |
adj.双方的,两边的,两侧的 | |
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12 naval | |
adj.海军的,军舰的,船的 | |
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13 joint | |
adj.联合的,共同的;n.关节,接合处;v.连接,贴合 | |
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14 advisers | |
顾问,劝告者( adviser的名词复数 ); (指导大学新生学科问题等的)指导教授 | |
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