2006年VOA标准英语-ASEAN Ministers Fail to Reach Consensus on

By Nancy-Amelia Collins
Jakarta
20 April 2006

Foreign ministers from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, ASEAN, have failed to reach a consensus¹ on how to push ASEAN member Burma towards democratic reforms.

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Malaysian Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar said he and his fellow ministers agreed on one thing: they could not find a way to force ASEAN member Burma to move towards democracy.

The ministers, meeting on Indonesia's Bali Island, rejected calls by human rights activists² and regional lawmakers to kick Burma out of the association, despite its failure to institute long promised democratic reforms.

Thai foreign minister Kantathi Suphamonkorn says ASEAN would like to see the military government in Burma, also called Myanmar, move towards reconciliation³ with its pro-democracy opposition⁴.

"What we would like to do is see movement in Myanmar towards national reconciliation, with a good clear time frame, and we would like Myanmar to be able to participate fully⁵ with the work of the international community," he said.

At the moment, Burma is an international outcast.  The United States, the European Union and the United Nations have repeatedly called for the Burmese government to institute democratic reforms, and the United States and the European Union have imposed economic sanctions on the country.

Aung San Suu Kyi  
  
Burma has been under military rule since 1962.  The opposition National League for Democracy, led by Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, overwhelmingly won general elections in 1990, but was never allowed to take power.

Teresa Kok is secretary of the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Myanmar Caucus⁶, a group of individual Southeast Asian lawmakers pressing for regime change in Burma.  She says ASEAN has treated the Burmese generals too leniently⁷.

"Our general feeling is that ASEAN governments have not done enough over the years, ever since they invited Burma to come into ASEAN, they have been too nice to them," she said.  "The constructive⁸ engagement policy by ASEAN has failed, and now they do not know what stand to take."

ASEAN, which admitted Burma in 1997, has a long-standing policy of non-interference in other members' internal affairs.

But the international attention on Burma has become an embarrassment⁹ for the organization, and individually and collectively, the member states have become increasingly vocal¹⁰ about the need for reform there.

Hamid, the Malaysian minister, said as two days of talks that focused largely on Burma ended, that ASEAN's policy of non-interference should be reviewed.

1 consensus   

n.(意见等的)一致，一致同意，共识

参考例句：

• Can we reach a consensus on this issue?我们能在这个问题上取得一致意见吗？
• What is the consensus of opinion at the afternoon meeting?下午会议上一致的意见是什么？

2 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 reconciliation   

n.和解，和谐，一致

参考例句：

• He was taken up with the reconciliation of husband and wife.他忙于做夫妻间的调解工作。
• Their handshake appeared to be a gesture of reconciliation.他们的握手似乎是和解的表示。

4 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

5 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

6 caucus   

n.秘密会议；干部会议；v.（参加）干部开会议

参考例句：

• This multi-staged caucus takes several months.这个多级会议常常历时好几个月。
• It kept the Democratic caucus from fragmenting.它也使得民主党的核心小组避免了土崩瓦解的危险。

7 leniently   

温和地，仁慈地

参考例句：

• He marked the paper leniently. 他改考卷打分数很松。
• Considering the signs he showed of genuine repentance,we shall deal leniently with him. 鉴于他有真诚悔改的表现，我们将对他宽大处理。

8 constructive   

adj.建设的，建设性的

参考例句：

• We welcome constructive criticism.我们乐意接受有建设性的批评。
• He is beginning to deal with his anger in a constructive way.他开始用建设性的方法处理自己的怒气。

9 embarrassment   

n.尴尬；使人为难的人(事物)；障碍；窘迫

参考例句：

• She could have died away with embarrassment.她窘迫得要死。
• Coughing at a concert can be a real embarrassment.在音乐会上咳嗽真会使人难堪。

10 vocal   

adj.直言不讳的；嗓音的；n.[pl.]声乐节目

参考例句：

• The tongue is a vocal organ.舌头是一个发音器官。
• Public opinion at last became vocal.终于舆论哗然。