VOA慢速英语--China Orders North Korean Businesses to Close

 

China has ordered all North Korean-owned businesses in the country to close by early January.

The decision supports sanctions placed by the United Nations on North Korea for its continued development of nuclear weapons and missiles. The move was announced in late September. It is expected to sharply limit the flow of money to North Korea.

China’s commerce ministry¹ said that North Korean companies -- including joint² operations with Chinese companies --must close within 120 days of September 11. That is the date the U.N. resolution was approved. The decision is expected to affect about 100 restaurants operated by North Koreans. About one fourth of them are in Beijing.

U.S. President Donald Trump³ will travel to Japan, South Korea, China, Vietnam, and the Philippines from November 3 to November 14.

Last week, the Trump administration released a statement on the trip. It said, “The president’s engagements will strengthen the international resolve to confront the North Korean threat and ensure the complete, verifiable, and irreversible denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.”

Trump will take part in meetings with leaders in the area. He is expected to talk about trade and the North Korean nuclear threat.

US seeks China's help in dealing⁴ with North Korea

U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson met with Chinese leaders last weekend. He called on the ruling Chinese Communist Party to take steps to limit oil supplies to North Korea. He also pressured officials to put in place all parts of U.N. Security Council sanctions.

U.S. officials say that North Korea will lose almost all of its export income if restrictions⁵ on trade in textiles, coal and some metals are enforced.

About 90 percent of North Korea’s foreign trade is with China. The United States believes China’s support is necessary to pressure North Korea to ends its nuclear program.

U.S. officials have praised recent actions by China. Trump recently said China had ordered its banks to stop dealing with North Korea. No public announcement, however, appears to have been made by China.

Wu Fei is a senior fellow at the Charhar Institute, a Chinese public diplomacy⁶ and international relations research group. Wu says there may be limits to the pressure sanctions can place on North Korea.

Wu says North Korea has “no industrial products to speak of, and their harvest is pretty much gathered in now. Their demand for basic resources will be pretty low for the next six months or so.”

Wu adds that North Korea’s need for outside resources is limited.

“They don’t rely on the outside world for much, and that includes China. North Korea wants to show the rest of the world how independent it is; this is the impression they want to create,” he says.

He believes North Korea can wait for six months before they must negotiate.

Chinese reporter Xu Xiang said public opinion in China is beginning to change. He said Chinese increasingly do not support North Korea.

Xu said, “This policy of opposing the U.S. and supporting North Korea: What have we gotten in return for the blood spilled by our fathers’ generation [in the 1950-1953 Korean War]?”

Xu also said Chinese are saying, “All it’s done is turn the Kim dynasty into even worse bandits than they were before. As Chinese citizens, we feel pretty unsafe.”

But Xu said China does not believe it can solve the North Korean nuclear crisis.

Ran Bogong is a retired⁷ professor from Toledo University. He says the ruling Chinese Communist Party is still hoping to force North Korea to make changes.

“China is hoping now to force Kim Jong Un into making some kind of compromise vis-à-vis the U.S.,” Ran said. “The U.S. and China need to work closely to ensure that when Trump visits, there is some kind of definite result. Neither Beijing nor Washington wants to see the North Korean issue create further conflict between them.”

I’m Mario Ritter.

Words in This Story

sanction –n. measure put in place to cause a country to obey international law, usually by limiting or banning trade

engagements –n. Meetings or events that someone plans to attend

resolve –v. to find an answer to a problem

verifiable –adj. able to be proven true or correct

dynasty –n. a family that rules over a country for a long period of time

bandits –n. outlaws⁸ who steal from travelers

vis-à-vis –adv. in relation to, face to face with

1 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。

2 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。

3 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。

4 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

5 restrictions   

约束( restriction的名词复数 )； 管制； 制约因素； 带限制性的条件（或规则）

参考例句：

• I found the restrictions irksome. 我对那些限制感到很烦。
• a snaggle of restrictions 杂乱无章的种种限制

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 retired   

adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的

参考例句：

• The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。
• Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。

8 outlaws   

歹徒，亡命之徒( outlaw的名词复数 )； 逃犯

参考例句：

• During his year in the forest, Robin met many other outlaws. 在森林里的一年，罗宾遇见其他许多绿林大盗。
• I didn't have to leave the country or fight outlaws. 我不必离开自己的国家，也不必与不法分子斗争。