VOA慢速英语2021--美国确定B3W项目

US to Identify Projects for Build Back Better World Effort

American officials are visiting countries around the world to identify 50 projects for President Joe Biden's Build Back Better World effort.

The B3W, as it is called, is an international partnership¹ aimed at supporting projects related to climate, health, digital technology and gender² equality in developing countries. Biden announced the program during the June meeting of G7 leaders. The G7, or Group of Seven, includes the European countries of Britain, France, Italy and Germany. The other three are Japan, Canada and the United States.

Daleep Singh is a national security adviser³ on international economics for the Biden administration. He recently visited Ghana and Senegal. A White House press official called Singh's trip "the first B3W listening session in Africa."

Singh made similar visits to Colombia, Ecuador and Panama. Next, he goes to Southeast Asia.

A top administration official said the U.S. has identified some 50 projects in those five countries alone. The official did not give a cost estimate but described some of the climate linked projects.

"...we had quite a few discussions about how we could help finance renewable energy projects in solar and hydro and wind," the official said. "Also projects that could help reduce the rate of deforestation, which creates a carbon sink and helps these countries meet their emission⁴ reduction targets."

Many observers see Biden's B3W effort as a counter to China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). That international development program has financed infrastructure⁵ projects in Asia, Africa, Latin America and Europe.

'Democracies' only

Lucas Myers is an expert with the Asia Program of the Wilson Center research group. He says Chinese investments are especially welcomed in corrupt⁶ countries with poor human rights records because China's terms on such issues are more flexible.

The U.S., however, is concerned with "democratic values," in the countries it works with, the Biden administration said in an October statement.

"The president's vision for B3W is to work with partners that share our democratic values to finance and develop infrastructure..." the statement read.

Critics of the B3W partnership said that could be a problem.

Marc Mealy is a vice⁷ president of policy at the US-ASEAN Business Council. He said it would be difficult to find international support for B3W if only nations seen as "democratic" by the U.S. could take part.

Dalibor Rohac, an expert with the American Enterprise Institute, agreed. He told VOA, "if you are trying to build relationships and build some sort of broader coalitions⁸ to counter China's influence in say, Southeast Asia, where, by necessity, you need to sort of work with countries that fall short of Western liberal democratic standards."

It's in the details

At last week's gathering⁹ of G-7 leaders, U.S. officials said the B3W partnership aims for a $40 trillion investment in infrastructure that developing countries will need by 2035.

They added that B3W would provide an alternative to China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). First proposed in 2013, estimates of BRI costs differ widely, from as little as $1 trillion to as much as $8 trillion.

American officials said Senegal and Ghana welcomed the U.S.'s promise that B3W would not require agreements that could result in a takeover of a country's airports or seaports¹⁰.

Projects discussed included setting up a possible vaccine¹¹ manufacturing center in Senegal, helping¹² with renewable energy supplies and lending to women-owned businesses.

Wang Yiwei is director of the institute of international affairs at the Renmin University of China. Wang told the state-run Global Times "We know they (the US and its Western allies) are just talking big and we know they want to compete with us..."

The U.S. is planning an official launch of B3W early next year and will include details about the projects.

Words in This Story

session - n. a formal meeting

counter - n. something that is done as a defense¹³ against or a response to something else

infrastructure - n. the basic equipment such as roads and bridges

flexible - adj. willing to change or try different things

standard - n. a level of achievement, quality, etc... that is considered desirable or acceptable

1 partnership   

n.合作关系，伙伴关系

参考例句：

• The company has gone into partnership with Swiss Bank Corporation.这家公司已经和瑞士银行公司建立合作关系。
• Martin has taken him into general partnership in his company.马丁已让他成为公司的普通合伙人。

2 gender   

n.（生理上的）性，（名词、代词等的）性

参考例句：

• French differs from English in having gender for all nouns.法语不同于英语，所有的名词都有性。
• Women are sometimes denied opportunities solely because of their gender.妇女有时仅仅因为性别而无法获得种种机会。

3 adviser   

n.劝告者，顾问

参考例句：

• They employed me as an adviser.他们聘请我当顾问。
• Our department has engaged a foreign teacher as phonetic adviser.我们系已经聘请了一位外籍老师作为语音顾问。

4 emission   

n.发出物，散发物；发出，散发

参考例句：

• Rigorous measures will be taken to reduce the total pollutant emission.采取严格有力措施，降低污染物排放总量。
• Finally,the way to effectively control particulate emission is pointed out.最后，指出有效降低颗粒排放的方向。

5 infrastructure   

n.下部构造，下部组织，基础结构，基础设施

参考例句：

• We should step up the development of infrastructure for research.加强科学基础设施建设。
• We should strengthen cultural infrastructure and boost various types of popular culture.加强文化基础设施建设，发展各类群众文化。

6 corrupt   

v.贿赂，收买；adj.腐败的，贪污的

参考例句：

• The newspaper alleged the mayor's corrupt practices.那家报纸断言市长有舞弊行为。
• This judge is corrupt.这个法官贪污。

7 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

8 coalitions   

结合体，同盟( coalition的名词复数 )； （两党或多党）联合政府

参考例句：

• History testifies to the ineptitude of coalitions in waging war. 历史昭示我们，多数国家联合作战，其进行甚为困难。
• All the coalitions in history have disintegrated sooner or later. 历史上任何联盟迟早都垮台了。

9 gathering   

n.集会，聚会，聚集

参考例句：

• He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
• He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。

10 seaports   

n.海港( seaport的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Airports have joined seaports as ports of entry for the visiting foreigner. 机场和海港一样成为来访的外国人的入境关口。 来自互联网
• Sanya has 16 seaports, 10 islands and 180km of coastline. 三亚有16个港口、10个海岛和180公里的海岸线。 来自互联网

11 vaccine   

n.牛痘苗，疫苗；adj.牛痘的，疫苗的

参考例句：

• The polio vaccine has saved millions of lives.脊髓灰质炎疫苗挽救了数以百万计的生命。
• She takes a vaccine against influenza every fall.她每年秋季接种流感疫苗。

12 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

13 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。