VOA慢速英语2013 AS IT IS 2013-06-24 Tax Havens; Corruption in Thailand

 

AS IT IS 2013-06-24 Tax Havens²; Corruption³ in Thailand

Hello, and welcome once again to “As It Is,” our daily show for people learning everyday American English.

I’m Christopher Cruise in Washington.

Today on the program, we report on demands by some that countries end tax policies that permit companies to move their profits to countries with lower taxes.

“I think a lot of people both here in the UK and around the world are fed up with tax dodging⁴. They’re fed up with a system where the rich and powerful play by a different set of rules to everybody else.”

Then, we go back to 1948, and one of the first confrontations⁵ of the Cold War, between the United States and the Soviet⁶ Union.

Thais Protest Political Corruption

But first, we look at economic and political corruption in Thailand.

Many Thais joined protests in Bangkok last year. They urged Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra to deal with growing corruption in the country.  

Mario Ritter reports a businessman noted⁷ the rising cost of doing business, including giving bribes⁸ to Thai officials.

How much economic activity is lost to corruption can be difficult to estimate. The University of the Thai Chamber⁹ of Commerce studied the issue. The university found that over two percent of national production -- or about 11 billion dollars -- will likely be lost to corruption this year. It found that many business people who were questioned said they are paying more to Thai officials and politicians to win government contracts.                                                          

Political economist¹⁰ Pasuk Pongpaichit says there is evidence officials are making progress in controlling lower level corruption. But, she says, the slowing world economy means growing competition for profitable deals with the government.

“The globalization, the international pressure for Thailand to become more transparent¹¹, is being felt and various government departments are responding to it. It doesn’t mean that things are going to happen very quickly.”

Observers say the Thai government is already being watched for spending more than 11 billion dollars on water management after the floods two years ago. Add that to 67 billion dollars for railroad and other building projects.                                                      

Bandid Nijathaworn is a former central bank official and president of the Thai Institute of Directors. He says corruption in Thailand appears to be more of a problem now than 10 years ago.

“You see corruption appearing as headlines in many countries. So it has become a global issue both in national organization and individual country’s governments trying to tackle it.”

Observers say the fight against corruption needs to go beyond law enforcement, and include non-government and private industry groups.

Protesting "Tax Havens"

Earlier this year, demonstrators protested outside the British Treasury¹² to call on the world’s richest countries to end so-called tax havens. These tax haven¹ policies allow companies to move their profits to countries with lower taxes. An investigation¹³ found that this practice costs Africa alone $38 billion a year in lost taxes. Former United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan led the investigation.

Once again, Mario Ritter.

The demonstrators at the Treasury called on Chancellor¹⁴ George Osborne to discuss the practice with finance ministers from other wealthy countries.

Melanie Ward¹⁵ is a spokeswoman for the “Enough For Everyone If” campaign.

“I think a lot of people both here in the UK and around the world are fed up with tax dodging. They’re fed up with a system where the rich and powerful play by a different set of rules to everybody else.”

Ronen Palan is a professor at City University London. Professor Palan says tax havens and low-tax countries like Ireland are popular because companies and wealthy individuals can save money.

“These countries offer very low taxation¹⁶, either to [corporations] or to individuals. And, specifically, they target non-residents.”

But critics of tax havens say big companies transfer profits out of the very countries on which they and their wealth depend.

“Africa exported about $1 trillion of capital in the last 30 years, whereas inward investment in terms of FDI [foreign direct investment] or aid is about $300 billion. So Africa is losing capital. Africa, or sub-Saharan Africa, is actually funding development elsewhere.” 

The charity ActionAid says the brewing¹⁷ company SABMiller uses a complex system of tax havens. It says this system moves profits out of the company’s operations in developing countries like Ghana.

SABMiller denies any tax abuses. It says in 2010 it paid about $250 million in corporate¹⁸ taxes in India and sub-Saharan Africa.

ActionAid also accuses Associated British Foods of using its subsidiary companies to reduce its taxes in Zambia by millions of dollars. Associated British Foods says the accusations¹⁹ are “incomplete at best and factually wrong in places.”

Mark Littlewood is director-general of the Institute for Economic Affairs in London. He argues that tax havens help the global economy by increasing investment.

“This idea that sort of Western companies that are tax efficient are exploiting these places rather than bringing inward investment to them, I think, is a rather neo-imperialist old-style way of looking at the world. We want more of that inward investment -- that creates jobs and creates growth in some of the poorest countries in the world.”

The Berlin Blockade

Finally, 65 years ago this week, Soviet occupation forces in East Germany established a land and water blockade around West Berlin. Only air traffic was permitted.

The Berlin blockade was seen as the final step by the Soviet Union in an effort to force the United States, France and England to make economic concessions²⁰ concerning East Berlin. Instead, on June 26th, the United States Air Force began to fly supplies into West Berlin's Tempelhof airfield²¹.

Using cargo²² aircraft as an aerial bridge, the United States flew eighty tons of food, medical supplies and coal to the isolated²³ city every day.  In mid-July, larger cargo aircraft began flying in 1,500 tons of supplies on a daily basis.

Altogether, American, French and British aircraft -- flying in all kinds of weather -- delivered enough supplies to feed Berliners for the 321 days of the Berlin Blockade. 

The Soviet Union, realizing its plan had failed, lifted the Berlin blockade on May 12th, 1949.

And that’s “As It Is” for today. We hope you enjoyed the program, and we hope it helped you learn everyday American English.

1 haven   

n.安全的地方，避难所，庇护所

参考例句：

• It's a real haven at the end of a busy working day.忙碌了一整天后，这真是一个安乐窝。
• The school library is a little haven of peace and quiet.学校的图书馆是一个和平且安静的小避风港。

2 havens   

n.港口，安全地方( haven的名词复数 )v.港口，安全地方( haven的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Your twenty havens would back out at the last minute anyhow. 你那二十个避难所到了最后一分钟也要不认帐。 来自辞典例句
• Using offshore havens to avoid taxes and investor protections. 使用海面的港口避免税和投资者保护。 来自互联网

3 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。

4 dodging   

n.避开，闪过，音调改变v.闪躲( dodge的现在分词 )；回避

参考例句：

• He ran across the road, dodging the traffic. 他躲开来往的车辆跑过马路。
• I crossed the highway, dodging the traffic. 我避开车流穿过了公路。 来自辞典例句

5 confrontations   

n.对抗，对抗的事物( confrontation的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• At times, this potential has escalated into actual confrontations. 有时，这一矛盾升级为实际的对抗。 来自英汉非文学 - 行政法
• These confrontations and uncertainties were bing played out for the first time on a global scale. 所有这一切对抗和不稳定，第一次在全球范围内得到充分的表演。 来自辞典例句

6 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。

7 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。

8 bribes   

n.贿赂( bribe的名词复数 )；向（某人）行贿，贿赂v.贿赂( bribe的第三人称单数 )；向（某人）行贿，贿赂

参考例句：

• It was alleged that he had taken bribes while in office. 他被指称在任时收受贿赂。
• corrupt officials accepting bribes 接受贿赂的贪官污吏

9 chamber   

n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所

参考例句：

• For many,the dentist's surgery remains a torture chamber.对许多人来说，牙医的治疗室一直是间受刑室。
• The chamber was ablaze with light.会议厅里灯火辉煌。

10 economist   

n.经济学家，经济专家，节俭的人

参考例句：

• He cast a professional economist's eyes on the problem.他以经济学行家的眼光审视这个问题。
• He's an economist who thinks he knows all the answers.他是个经济学家，自以为什么都懂。

11 transparent   

adj.明显的，无疑的；透明的

参考例句：

• The water is so transparent that we can see the fishes swimming.水清澈透明，可以看到鱼儿游来游去。
• The window glass is transparent.窗玻璃是透明的。

12 treasury   

n.宝库；国库，金库；文库

参考例句：

• The Treasury was opposed in principle to the proposals.财政部原则上反对这些提案。
• This book is a treasury of useful information.这本书是有价值的信息宝库。

13 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

14 chancellor   

n.(英)大臣；法官；(德、奥)总理；大学校长

参考例句：

• They submitted their reports to the Chancellor yesterday.他们昨天向财政大臣递交了报告。
• He was regarded as the most successful Chancellor of modern times.他被认为是现代最成功的财政大臣。

15 ward   

n.守卫，监护，病房，行政区，由监护人或法院保护的人（尤指儿童）；vt.守护，躲开

参考例句：

• The hospital has a medical ward and a surgical ward.这家医院有内科病房和外科病房。
• During the evening picnic,I'll carry a torch to ward off the bugs.傍晚野餐时，我要点根火把，抵挡蚊虫。

16 taxation   

n.征税，税收，税金

参考例句：

• He made a number of simplifications in the taxation system.他在税制上作了一些简化。
• The increase of taxation is an important fiscal policy.增税是一项重要的财政政策。

17 brewing   

n. 酿造, 一次酿造的量 动词brew的现在分词形式

参考例句：

• It was obvious that a big storm was brewing up. 很显然，一场暴风雨正在酝酿中。
• She set about brewing some herb tea. 她动手泡一些药茶。

18 corporate   

adj.共同的，全体的；公司的，企业的

参考例句：

• This is our corporate responsibility.这是我们共同的责任。
• His corporate's life will be as short as a rabbit's tail.他的公司的寿命是兔子尾巴长不了。

19 accusations   

n.指责( accusation的名词复数 )；指控；控告；（被告发、控告的）罪名

参考例句：

• There were accusations of plagiarism. 曾有过关于剽窃的指控。
• He remained unruffled by their accusations. 对于他们的指控他处之泰然。

20 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。

21 airfield   

n.飞机场

参考例句：

• The foreign guests were motored from the airfield to the hotel.用车把外宾从机场送到旅馆。
• The airfield was seized by enemy troops.机场被敌军占领。

22 cargo   

n.(一只船或一架飞机运载的)货物

参考例句：

• The ship has a cargo of about 200 ton.这条船大约有200吨的货物。
• A lot of people discharged the cargo from a ship.许多人从船上卸下货物。

23 isolated   

adj.与世隔绝的

参考例句：

• His bad behaviour was just an isolated incident. 他的不良行为只是个别事件。
• Patients with the disease should be isolated. 这种病的患者应予以隔离。