VOA新闻杂志2022--美国支付清理越南战争中使用的橙剂费用

US Pays to Clean Up Agent Orange Used in Vietnam War

The United States announced a contract earlier this month worth up to $29 million to clean a chemical contamination in Vietnam.

The Bien Hoa Air Base in southern Vietnam is contaminated with dioxin from U.S. military actions during the Vietnam War. American forces used the herbicide Agent Orange widely during the conflict. Dioxin is one of the poisonous chemicals in Agent Orange.

The announcement of the contract is the most recent attempt to show cooperation between the two countries. It comes at the 50-year anniversary of the so-called Christmas bombings. In December 1972, U.S. forces dropped 20,000 tons of bombs on the cities of Hanoi and Haiphong.

The conflict ended in 1975.

The nations now work together on trade issues, climate change, and the legacies¹ of the war. However, disagreements remain.

"This announcement represents the United States' commitment to our partnership² with Vietnam," said Aler Grubbs, director of the U.S. Agency for International Development's (USAID)

Vietnam office.

The agency said it finished a similar project in 2018 to clean up Agent Orange and other chemicals around Da Nang in central Vietnam. It said Bien Hoa would require dealing³ with four times as much soil as the Da Nang project.

Agent Orange is believed to be a cause of birth defects, cancers and skin disease, among other things.

Both the U.S. and Vietnamese governments are working on the cleanup across the country. The project is estimated to last more than 10 years at a cost of about $450 million. Washington said it expects to spend $300 million overall and has put more than $163 million towards the cleanup so far.

While the two countries have made progress working together, the U.S. has expressed worry about some issues. It wants Vietnam to announce support for freedom of speech and to release political prisoners. Vietnam, however, denies it has any such prisoners.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken said December 2 that Vietnam would be put on a "Special Watch List" for practicing or allowing "severe violations⁴ of religious freedom," along with Algeria, the Central African Republic, and Comoros.

Vietnam's Foreign Affairs Ministry⁵ did not accept being put on the watch list.

"Recently Vietnam has been finalizing⁶ the legal system and the policies on religion and belief," the ministry said in response on December 15.

The ministry claimed the international community has recognized Vietnam's work on freedom of religion and beliefs.

Meanwhile, the U.S. is trying to increase cooperation in areas such as environmental health and safety, USAID official Grubbs said.

Words in This Story

contamination -n. pollution or other sources which lessen⁷ the purity of a substance

herbicide -n. a chemical used to kill plants and foliage⁸

legacy⁹ -n. the lasting¹⁰ historical and cultural effects of a person or event

commitment -n. a promise to do something

defect -n. a problem in the design or manufacture of a mechanism or in the human body

1 legacies   

n.遗产( legacy的名词复数 )；遗留之物；遗留问题；后遗症

参考例句：

• Books are the legacies that a great genius leaves to mankind. 书是伟大的天才留给人类的精神财富。 来自辞典例句
• General legacies are subject to the same principles as demonstrative legacies. 一般的遗赠要与指定数目的遗赠遵循同样的原则。 来自辞典例句

2 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。

3 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

4 violations   

违反( violation的名词复数 )； 冒犯； 违反（行为、事例）； 强奸

参考例句：

• This is one of the commonest traffic violations. 这是常见的违反交通规则之例。
• These violations of the code must cease forthwith. 这些违犯法规的行为必须立即停止。

5 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

6 finalizing   

vt.完成（finalize的现在分词形式）

参考例句：

• You may edit registered information any time during the finalizing period. 您可以在规定期限内随时编辑修改注册资料。 来自互联网
• Natsun Trimming & Ironing, Finalizing the Perfection. 40南山整烫，完美在此定格。 来自互联网

7 lessen   

vt.减少，减轻；缩小

参考例句：

• Regular exercise can help to lessen the pain.经常运动有助于减轻痛感。
• They've made great effort to lessen the noise of planes.他们尽力减小飞机的噪音。

8 foliage   

n.叶子，树叶，簇叶

参考例句：

• The path was completely covered by the dense foliage.小路被树叶厚厚地盖了一层。
• Dark foliage clothes the hills.浓密的树叶覆盖着群山。

9 legacy   

n.遗产，遗赠；先人(或过去)留下的东西

参考例句：

• They are the most precious cultural legacy our forefathers left.它们是我们祖先留下来的最宝贵的文化遗产。
• He thinks the legacy is a gift from the Gods.他认为这笔遗产是天赐之物。

10 lasting   

adj.永久的，永恒的；vbl.持续，维持

参考例句：

• The lasting war debased the value of the dollar.持久的战争使美元贬值。
• We hope for a lasting settlement of all these troubles.我们希望这些纠纷能获得永久的解决。