VOA常速英语2017--美国称萨德系统为防御手段（在线收听）

The United States will defend itself and its allies from any threat from North Korea.

美国将保护本国及其盟友不受朝鲜威胁。

Senior U.S. officials repeated that iron-clad position following North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's New Year's Day claim that his country “has soared as a nuclear power” and is now in the last stages of preparing to test an intercontinental ballistic missile.

继朝鲜领导人金正恩在其新年致辞中表示朝鲜“已晋升为核强国”，并且其准备洲际弹道导弹的测试已进入最后阶段之后，多名美国高级官员重申其坚守的立场。

White House spokesperson Josh Earnest pointed out that “there are radar facilities and antiballistic missile facilities that have been installed in places like Japan and Guam and in Alaska. There are naval vessels, ballistic missile defense ships that are patrolling the Pacific Ocean.”

白宫发言人乔希欧内斯(Josh Earnest)指出，“现在，雷达设备和反弹道导弹设施已在多地部署，如日本、关岛和阿拉斯加。此外，还有海上舰艇、弹道导弹防御舰艇在太平洋上巡航。”

To address the threat from North Korea's extended range SCUDs and No Dong medium-range ballistic missiles, the United States is also working with South Korea to install as quickly and efficiently as possible the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense, or THAAD, system aimed at defending against North Korean ballistic missile threats.

为了应对来自朝鲜的远程飞毛腿导弹和芦洞中程弹道导弹的威胁，美国还与韩国合作，力求最快、最高效地安置了末段高空区域防御系统(THAAD，萨德反导系统)，旨在抵抗朝鲜的弹道导弹威胁。

In addition to the defenses that are in place to protect the United States and its allies, Mr. Earnest noted that “progress has been made in building important diplomatic support to apply pressure to the North Korean regime to limit their ability to continue to develop this program.”

除了已经部署到位、旨在保护美国及其盟友的防御设备外，欧内斯还指出，“在构筑重要外交支持方面也取得了进展，以向朝鲜政权施压，限制其继续研发核项目的能力。”

In November, the U.N. Security Council imposed new and expanded sanctions on North Korea, targeted at undermining Pyongyang's ability to raise the hard currency it needs for its nuclear program. State Department Spokesperson John Kirby called the new sanctions “the most stringent” that have been imposed on North Korea in decades, and observed they show that “the international community is clearly galvanized as it hasn't been before.”

11月，联合国安理会又扩大了对朝鲜的制裁，旨在削弱朝鲜为推进其核项目所需提升的硬货币能力。美国国务院发言人约翰柯比(John Kirby)表示，这次新制裁是朝鲜近几十年以来所受到的“最严厉的”制裁，并表示已有迹象表明“国际社会显然比以前任何时候都要固若金汤。”

After a trilateral meeting in Washington January 5th with Japanese Vice Foreign Minister Shinsuke Sugiyama and South Korea's First Vice Foreign Minister Lim Sung-nam, U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Antony Blinken told reporters the international community has sent a clear message that it “will not accept North Korea as a nuclear power.”

在1月5日与日本外交部副部长杉山晋辅(Shinsuke Sugiyama)和韩国第一副外长林圣南(Lim Sung-nam)举行的三方会议上，美国副国务卿安东尼布林肯(Antony Blinken)向记者表示，国际社会已发出明显的信号，表明其“不会接受朝鲜成为核强国。”

“Our cooperation together and with other countries in making sure that we have in place the best possible defenses is critical and that will remain going forward,” said Mr. Blinken. “At the same time it's absolutely, vitally important that we exercise sustained, comprehensive pressure on North Korea to get it to stop these programs, to come back to the negotiating table, and to engage in good faith on denuclearization...and I believe as long as we sustain it and build on it, the pressure will have an effect.”

“我们三国的合作以及我们与其他国家的合作是极为关键并将继续保持的，这种合作能确保我们具备最好的防御能力，” 安东尼说。“同时，也极为重要的一点是，我们必须向朝鲜实施持续全面的压力，让朝鲜停止核项目，回到谈判桌，坦诚地参与到无核化进程中来……我相信只要我们坚持，那么我们施加的压力是会有效果的。”