2007年VOA标准英语-Envoys Prepare For 'Important' Round of North K

By Heda Bayron
Hong Kong
26 September 2007

Diplomats¹ involved in the six-nation North Korean nuclear talks have begun arriving in Beijing to hold what they say is a critical round of negotiations². VOA's Heda Bayron reports from our Asia News Center in Hong Kong.

The lead U.S. negotiator on the North Korea nuclear issue, Christopher Hill, calls this week's round of talks a "very important stage" in the goal of eliminating North Korea's nuclear programs by the end of the year.

Chinese officials say the talks are to run Thursday to Saturday in China's capital, Beijing. At the heart of the discussions: deciding the technical details of disabling North Korea's main nuclear reactor³ in Yongbyon - which was shut down in July. The diplomats are also expected to set a timetable for North Korea to completely declare all its nuclear activities.

The U.S. wants a verifiable and complete disabling of North Korea's nuclear programs.

North Korea announced this month that it will dismantle⁴ its nuclear programs by the end of this year. This follows an agreement in February with the U.S., China, Japan, Russia and South Korea that Pyongyang will receive 50,000 tons of heavy fuel oil, economic aid and security incentives⁵ if it shuts down its nuclear facilities.

On Tuesday, the North Korean envoy⁶ to the talks, Kim Kye Kwan, warned that the four-year diplomatic effort could unravel⁷ if the U.S. and the other four countries fail to meet their commitments.

The Stalinist state detonated its first test of a nuclear explosion a year ago.

On the way to Beijing Wednesday, Hill met with his Japanese counterpart, Kenichiro Sasae, in Tokyo to discuss the nuclear issue and a possible complication in the talks - Japan's insistence⁸ that Pyongyang account for and release Japanese nationals it abducted⁹ in the 1970's and '80's.

The government of former prime minister Shinzo Abe, which was replaced Tuesday, had refused to give aid to North Korea under the February agreement because of the abduction issue.

There have been reports that the U.S. may remove the North from its list of states sponsoring terrorism, even before Pyongyang accounts for the Japanese abductees - a move that could upset Tokyo.

In Tokyo, Hill did not mention any such plan.

"I don't want to get into all the issues of how one deals with this in terms of the denuclearization," he said. "But I can just assure you that this is a major priority of ours and that we are working very closely with Japan."

Sasae said Hill has assured Japan that Washington would not strike a deal with Pyongyang at the expense of its relations with Tokyo.

In 2002, Pyongyang returned five of 11 Japanese it has acknowledged abducting¹⁰ and said the others are dead.

1 diplomats   

n.外交官( diplomat的名词复数 )；有手腕的人，善于交际的人

参考例句：

• These events led to the expulsion of senior diplomats from the country. 这些事件导致一些高级外交官被驱逐出境。
• The court has no jurisdiction over foreign diplomats living in this country. 法院对驻本国的外交官无裁判权。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 negotiations   

协商( negotiation的名词复数 )； 谈判； 完成（难事）； 通过

参考例句：

• negotiations for a durable peace 为持久和平而进行的谈判
• Negotiations have failed to establish any middle ground. 谈判未能达成任何妥协。

3 reactor   

n.反应器；反应堆

参考例句：

• The atomic reactor generates enormous amounts of thermal energy.原子反应堆发出大量的热能。
• Inside the reactor the large molecules are cracked into smaller molecules.在反应堆里，大分子裂变为小分子。

4 dismantle   

vt.拆开，拆卸；废除，取消

参考例句：

• He asked for immediate help from the United States to dismantle the warheads.他请求美国立即提供援助，拆除这批弹头。
• The mower firmly refused to mow,so I decided to dismantle it.修完后割草机还是纹丝不动，于是，我决定把它拆开。

5 incentives   

激励某人做某事的事物( incentive的名词复数 )； 刺激； 诱因； 动机

参考例句：

• tax incentives to encourage savings 鼓励储蓄的税收措施
• Furthermore, subsidies provide incentives only for investments in equipment. 更有甚者，提供津贴仅是为鼓励增添设备的投资。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法

6 envoy   

n.使节，使者，代表，公使

参考例句：

• Their envoy showed no sign of responding to our proposals.他们的代表对我方的提议毫无回应的迹象。
• The government has not yet appointed an envoy to the area.政府尚未向这一地区派过外交官。

7 unravel   

v.弄清楚（秘密）；拆开，解开，松开

参考例句：

• He was good with his hands and could unravel a knot or untangle yarn that others wouldn't even attempt.他的手很灵巧，其他人甚至都不敢尝试的一些难解的绳结或缠在一起的纱线，他都能解开。
• This is the attitude that led him to unravel a mystery that long puzzled Chinese historians.正是这种态度使他解决了长期以来使中国历史学家们大惑不解的谜。

8 insistence   

n.坚持；强调；坚决主张

参考例句：

• They were united in their insistence that she should go to college.他们一致坚持她应上大学。
• His insistence upon strict obedience is correct.他坚持绝对服从是对的。

9 abducted   

劫持，诱拐( abduct的过去式和过去分词 )； 使（肢体等）外展

参考例句：

• Detectives have not ruled out the possibility that she was abducted. 侦探尚未排除她被绑架的可能性。
• The kid was abducted at the gate of kindergarten. 那小孩在幼儿园大门口被绑架走了。

10 abducting   

劫持，诱拐( abduct的现在分词 )； 使（肢体等）外展

参考例句：

• She was charged with abducting a six-month-old child. 她被控诱拐一个6个月大的孩子。
• At the same time, the rate of abducting foreigners is going down. 同时，发生在外国人身上的绑架案正在下降。