美国国家公共电台 NPR 哈萨克斯坦抗议者因油价问题冲击政府大楼

Kazakh protesters storm buildings over fuel prices

Transcript¹

Protesters have stormed government buildings in Kazakhstan, angered over soaring fuel prices and an entrenched² post-Communist political elite³ in the former Soviet⁴ Republic.

A MARTINEZ, HOST:

Thousands of protesters have been out in the streets and storming government buildings in cities all across Kazakhstan. And we've just gotten word that protesters have seized the airport in the country's largest city.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

UNIDENTIFIED PEOPLE: (Yelling).

(SOUNDBITE OF EXPLOSIONS)

MARTINEZ: The spark for the unrest was soaring gas prices. The crowds are also angry over the lack of political change in the decades since Kazakhstan gained independence from the Soviet Union. The president has responded by accepting the resignation of his entire cabinet.

NPR's Charles Maynes is following developments from Moscow and joins us now.

Charles, give us some context for what's going on here.

CHARLES MAYNES, BYLINE⁵: Yeah, sure, A. So Kazakhstan is this vast, oil-rich country that neighbors Russia. And over the weekend, the government doubled prices of liquefied natural gas. This is what Kazakhs used as a cheap gasoline substitute for their cars and for their trucks. You know, and this was happening in the oil-producing areas of Kazakhstan. And this kind of added insult to injury - certainly played to a sense of the sharp income inequality in the country. And on Tuesday, demonstrations⁶ that were localized in western Kazakhstan really spread across the country, in particular, to Almaty. This is the country's largest city, where thousands took to the streets. You know, and it's clear as they've stormed public buildings, government buildings, like the presidential administrative⁷ building, the mayor's office, the prosecutor's office - they've seized the airport. It's all become clear that this is political anger.

MARTINEZ: So what's been the government's response?

MAYNES: Well, it's made attempts to defuse the situation. They just haven't worked. President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev accepted the resignation, as you noted⁸ in your intro, of his entire cabinet. And he blamed them for the price hike, which he's since reversed, under his acting⁹ cabinet. He declared a state of emergency in cities where there is mass unrest and pleaded with people to go home. That hasn't worked. And now he's taking a more hard-line approach, saying the security forces will regain¹⁰ control.

They've shut down the internet across the country. People I was in touch with this morning are now out of reach. There are certainly reports of at least several hundred people injured, including police, and apparently¹¹ one fatality¹² among the security forces. But Tokayev also had another interesting move aimed at defusing tensions here. He announced the removal of Kazakhstan's longtime strongman, Nursultan Nazarbayev, as the head of the security council. Now, Nazarbayev is seen as the real power in the country and the object of protesters' ire, with protesters chanting, leave, old man, leave, as they storm the streets.

MARTINEZ: So that sounds like it could be a big development.

MAYNES: Well, it is. I mean, Nazarbayev - until he passed power to Tokayev in 2019, he was the sole leader of Kazakhstan throughout its whole post-Soviet history. In fact, he was in charge before in the final years of the Soviet Union. So he's 81 years old now. In passing power off, he tried to maintain a level of control, both through the security council and as an image of the father of the nation. And he's really projected this image of Kazakhstan as this stable and developed country. And certainly in these past few days, that's taking a hit as we've seen a lot of people take to the streets.

MARTINEZ: Charles, you're in Moscow. How's this being processed there?

MAYNES: Well, you know, the Kremlin is calling for calm. It says it hopes its neighbor can resolve its own internal problems. There seems to be no indication that this shared security pact¹³, which is regionwide, will be - kick into gear. So for now they're staying out of it. But you can believe that events are being closely watched here in Moscow, where Vladimir Putin, who's been in power for 20 years - you know, there's certainly interest in his eventual¹⁴ transit¹⁵ away from power, whenever or however that happens. There's a lot of speculation¹⁶ about that. And Russia has maintained an image of stability that, much like Kazakhstan - it's really Putin's selling point. And so behind it, you know, is a question of, will, you know, Putin's successor...

MARTINEZ: Yeah.

MAYNES: ...Like Tokayev, fail to maintain control? And we'll watch Kazakhstan. It's not hard for Russians to imagine a similar scenario¹⁷ playing out here.

MARTINEZ: That's NPR's Moscow correspondent Charles Maynes.

Charles, thanks.

MAYNES: Thank you.

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 entrenched   

adj.确立的，不容易改的(风俗习惯)

参考例句：

• Television seems to be firmly entrenched as the number one medium for national advertising.电视看来要在全国广告媒介中牢固地占据头等位置。
• If the enemy dares to attack us in these entrenched positions,we will make short work of them.如果敌人胆敢进攻我们固守的阵地，我们就消灭他们。

3 elite   

n.精英阶层；实力集团；adj.杰出的，卓越的

参考例句：

• The power elite inside the government is controlling foreign policy.政府内部的一群握有实权的精英控制着对外政策。
• We have a political elite in this country.我们国家有一群政治精英。

4 Soviet   

adj.苏联的，苏维埃的；n.苏维埃

参考例句：

• Zhukov was a marshal of the former Soviet Union.朱可夫是前苏联的一位元帅。
• Germany began to attack the Soviet Union in 1941.德国在1941年开始进攻苏联。

5 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。

6 demonstrations   

证明( demonstration的名词复数 )； 表明； 表达； 游行示威

参考例句：

• Lectures will be interspersed with practical demonstrations. 讲课中将不时插入实际示范。
• The new military government has banned strikes and demonstrations. 新的军人政府禁止罢工和示威活动。

7 administrative   

adj.行政的，管理的

参考例句：

• The administrative burden must be lifted from local government.必须解除地方政府的行政负担。
• He regarded all these administrative details as beneath his notice.他认为行政管理上的这些琐事都不值一顾。

8 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。

9 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

10 regain   

vt.重新获得，收复，恢复

参考例句：

• He is making a bid to regain his World No.1 ranking.他正为重登世界排名第一位而努力。
• The government is desperate to regain credibility with the public.政府急于重新获取公众的信任。

11 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

12 fatality   

n.不幸，灾祸，天命

参考例句：

• She struggle against fatality in vain.她徒然奋斗反抗宿命。
• He began to have a growing sense of fatality.他开始有一种越来越强烈的宿命感。

13 pact   

n.合同，条约，公约，协定

参考例句：

• The two opposition parties made an electoral pact.那两个反对党订了一个有关选举的协定。
• The trade pact between those two countries came to an end.那两国的通商协定宣告结束。

14 eventual   

adj.最后的，结局的，最终的

参考例句：

• Several schools face eventual closure.几所学校面临最终关闭。
• Both parties expressed optimism about an eventual solution.双方对问题的最终解决都表示乐观。

15 transit   

n.经过，运输；vt.穿越，旋转；vi.越过

参考例句：

• His luggage was lost in transit.他的行李在运送中丢失。
• The canal can transit a total of 50 ships daily.这条运河每天能通过50条船。

16 speculation   

n.思索，沉思；猜测；投机

参考例句：

• Her mind is occupied with speculation.她的头脑忙于思考。
• There is widespread speculation that he is going to resign.人们普遍推测他要辞职。

17 scenario   

n.剧本，脚本；概要

参考例句：

• But the birth scenario is not completely accurate.然而分娩脚本并非完全准确的。
• This is a totally different scenario.这是完全不同的剧本。