VOA标准英语2008年-Bush Discusses Trade, Human Rights with Vietnam

President Bush has met at the White House with Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung. VOA's Paula Wolfson reports the wide-ranging talks covered issues from trade to human rights.
　
President Bush, right, meets with Vietnamese PM Nguyen Tan Dung in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, 24 June 2008

As they posed for pictures after their talks, both men chose their public words carefully.

They said they discussed their desire to strengthen bilateral² relations, boost trade and work together on issues such as the environment.

President Bush said he also used the opportunity to bring up human rights concerns.

"We talked about the freedoms: religious and political freedom," he said. "And I told the prime minister that I thought the strides the government is making towards religious freedom are noteworthy."

Human rights organizations and Vietnamese-American groups had called on the president to make human rights a priority in the talks. Critics in Congress hosted a news conference just prior to the prime minister's visit in which they warned the status quo in Vietnam is not acceptable.

For his part, the prime minister made no mention of human rights concerns in his statement at the end of the White House meeting. Instead, he said the United States and Vietnam are building a constructive³ and friendly partnership⁴. He said new consultative groups are being established. And he made specific mention of efforts to heal the decades old wounds left by the Vietnam War of the 1960s and 1970s.

"I also agreed to strengthen cooperation to address humanitarian⁵ issues left over from the war, such as the American MIA issue, mine clearing, remediation of the agent orange consequences, the Vietnamese MIA issue," he explained.

President Bush last met the Vietnamese Prime Minster in 2006, when he traveled to Hanoi to attend a summit meeting of Pacific Rim¹ nations.

　

 

1 rim   

n.(圆物的)边，轮缘；边界

参考例句：

• The water was even with the rim of the basin.盆里的水与盆边平齐了。
• She looked at him over the rim of her glass.她的目光越过玻璃杯的边沿看着他。

2 bilateral   

adj.双方的，两边的，两侧的

参考例句：

• They have been negotiating a bilateral trade deal.他们一直在商谈一项双边贸易协定。
• There was a wide gap between the views of the two statesmen on the bilateral cooperation.对双方合作的问题，两位政治家各自所持的看法差距甚大。

3 constructive   

adj.建设的，建设性的

参考例句：

• We welcome constructive criticism.我们乐意接受有建设性的批评。
• He is beginning to deal with his anger in a constructive way.他开始用建设性的方法处理自己的怒气。

4 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。

5 humanitarian   

n.人道主义者，博爱者，基督凡人论者

参考例句：

• She has many humanitarian interests and contributes a lot to them.她拥有很多慈善事业，并作了很大的贡献。
• The British government has now suspended humanitarian aid to the area.英国政府现已暂停对这一地区的人道主义援助。