VOA慢速英语--特朗普会见习近平之前对中国强硬

 

U.S. President Donald Trump¹ is set to meet with Chinese president Xi Jinping this week for talks expected to focus on trade and North Korea.

The meeting will be held Thursday and Friday at Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort in the southern U.S. state of Florida.

Difficult trade talks

Trump was highly critical of China during his presidential campaign and has continued to make strong statements in office. He has accused China of unfair trade practices and undervaluing its currency.

Chinese officials have said they do not want a trade war to break out over possible changes in U.S. trade policies.

Last week, Trump tweeted that his upcoming meeting with Xi would be "a very difficult one." He said the U.S. "can no longer have massive trade deficits³ and job losses." This is in keeping with the president's pledge after taking office to put "America first" in many policies, including trade and foreign affairs.

White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer noted⁴ several other "big problems" between the U.S. and China. He cited Chinese activities in the South China Sea and the North Korean nuclear dispute.

"There are big issues of national and economic security that need to get addressed, and I think there's going to be a lot on the table when it comes to that over the two days that they will talk."

China has warned the U.S. not to get involved in its disputes with other nations over the South China Sea. Chinese officials have also strongly condemned⁵ the deployment⁶ of the American-built THAAD anti-missile system in South Korea. The deployment came after North Korea carried out a number of missile tests.

North Korea nuclear development

Many security experts believe China will have to be an important partner with Washington in efforts to make progress on North Korea.

In an interview with Britain's Financial Times newspaper, Trump noted that China has "great influence" over North Korea. While he hopes China will cooperate on North Korea, he said if Beijing is not willing to help resolve the problem, "we will."

Trump also warned that if North Korea's fast advancing nuclear and missile capabilities⁷ are allowed to continue, "it won't be good for anyone."

U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley urged China to take steps to show it is serious about North Korea and stop making "excuses that they're concerned, too."

"They need to show us how concerned they are. They need to put pressure on North Korea. The only country that can stop North Korea is China," Haley told ABC television's This Week.

Economic sanctions and international negotiations⁸ have failed over the years to persuade North Korea to stop its missile building and nuclear development.

It is possible that Trump will seek a deal with Xi that involves both trade and security issues, according to Bong Young-shik, a professor of North Korean studies at Yonsei University in Seoul.

"So the question is whether Washington is willing to, and able to, make concessions¹⁰ giving Beijing enough incentives¹² so that the Chinese government will make a fundamental shift in its dealings with the leadership in Pyongyang."

In the Financial Times interview, Trump said trade will be the main incentive¹¹ the U.S. will use in negotiations with China.

Last month during a visit to South Korea, U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said all options regarding North Korea were being considered, including possible military action.

James Nolt is a political and economic expert with the World Policy Institute. He says the U.S. may decide that military strikes against North Korea are an acceptable risk to maintain U.S. security.

"I think that is a very plausible¹³ action because it doesn't look necessarily warlike. It looks like a relatively¹⁴ reasonable response to a threat, and yet undoubtedly¹⁵ from North Korea it's going to look like it's very provocative¹⁶."

Yun Sun is with the Stimson Center policy institute in Washington, D.C. She told VOA she believes China will send Xi to the United States with a "generous gift package" in hand.

This package could include a large commitment for Chinese investment in building roads and bridges in the U.S. Yun said this could be a good political move for both China and Trump, who has called for major projects to create American jobs.

I'm Bryan Lynn.

Bryan Lynn wrote this story for VOA Learning English, based on reports from VOA News, the Associated Press, Reuters and other sources. Hai Do was the editor.

We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments section, and visit 51VOA.COM.

 

Words in This Story

deficit² – n. amount of something that is less than the amount needed

concession⁹ – n. giving in to something to reach agreement

incentive – n. thing that encourages a person to do something

shift – n. change in position or direction

plausible – adj. possibly true

provocative – adj. causing discussion, thought or argument

generous – adj. giving freely of money, time or other things

commitment – n. promise to do or give something

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 deficit   

n.亏空，亏损；赤字，逆差

参考例句：

• The directors have reported a deficit of 2.5 million dollars.董事们报告赤字为250万美元。
• We have a great deficit this year.我们今年有很大亏损。

3 deficits   

n.不足额( deficit的名词复数 )；赤字；亏空；亏损

参考例句：

• The Ministry of Finance consistently overestimated its budget deficits. 财政部一贯高估预算赤字。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Many of the world's farmers are also incurring economic deficits. 世界上许多农民还在遭受经济上的亏损。 来自辞典例句

4 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

5 condemned   

adj. 被责难的, 被宣告有罪的 动词condemn的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He condemned the hypocrisy of those politicians who do one thing and say another. 他谴责了那些说一套做一套的政客的虚伪。
• The policy has been condemned as a regressive step. 这项政策被认为是一种倒退而受到谴责。

6 deployment   

n. 部署,展开

参考例句：

• He has inquired out the deployment of the enemy troops. 他已查出敌军的兵力部署情况。
• Quality function deployment (QFD) is a widely used customer-driven quality, design and manufacturing management tool. 质量功能展开(quality function deployment,QFD)是一个广泛应用的顾客需求驱动的设计、制造和质量管理工具。

7 capabilities   

n.能力( capability的名词复数 )；可能；容量；[复数]潜在能力

参考例句：

• He was somewhat pompous and had a high opinion of his own capabilities. 他有点自大，自视甚高。 来自辞典例句
• Some programmers use tabs to break complex product capabilities into smaller chunks. 一些程序员认为，标签可以将复杂的功能分为每个窗格一组简单的功能。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓

8 negotiations   

协商( negotiation的名词复数 )； 谈判； 完成（难事）； 通过

参考例句：

• negotiations for a durable peace 为持久和平而进行的谈判
• Negotiations have failed to establish any middle ground. 谈判未能达成任何妥协。

9 concession   

n.让步，妥协；特许(权)

参考例句：

• We can not make heavy concession to the matter.我们在这个问题上不能过于让步。
• That is a great concession.这是很大的让步。

10 concessions   

n.（尤指由政府或雇主给予的）特许权( concession的名词复数 )；承认；减价；（在某地的）特许经营权

参考例句：

• The firm will be forced to make concessions if it wants to avoid a strike. 要想避免罢工，公司将不得不作出一些让步。
• The concessions did little to placate the students. 让步根本未能平息学生的愤怒。

11 incentive   

n.刺激；动力；鼓励；诱因；动机

参考例句：

• Money is still a major incentive in most occupations.在许多职业中，钱仍是主要的鼓励因素。
• He hasn't much incentive to work hard.他没有努力工作的动机。

12 incentives   

激励某人做某事的事物( incentive的名词复数 )； 刺激； 诱因； 动机

参考例句：

• tax incentives to encourage savings 鼓励储蓄的税收措施
• Furthermore, subsidies provide incentives only for investments in equipment. 更有甚者，提供津贴仅是为鼓励增添设备的投资。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法

13 plausible   

adj.似真实的，似乎有理的，似乎可信的

参考例句：

• His story sounded plausible.他说的那番话似乎是真实的。
• Her story sounded perfectly plausible.她的说辞听起来言之有理。

14 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。

15 undoubtedly   

adv.确实地，无疑地

参考例句：

• It is undoubtedly she who has said that.这话明明是她说的。
• He is undoubtedly the pride of China.毫无疑问他是中国的骄傲。

16 provocative   

adj.挑衅的，煽动的，刺激的，挑逗的

参考例句：

• She wore a very provocative dress.她穿了一件非常性感的裙子。
• His provocative words only fueled the argument further.他的挑衅性讲话只能使争论进一步激化。