VOA标准英语2009年-US Diplomat Outlines Obama Approach on Bur

By Dan Robinson
Capitol Hill
01 October 2009

 
Assistant Secretary of State for East Asia and Pacific Affairs, Kurt Campbell
At a Senate subcommittee hearing on Wednesday, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for East Asia and Pacific Affairs, Kurt Campbell, outlined the Obama administration's new approach of pragmatic engagement with Burma's military government. Campbell held preliminary talks this week with Burmese officials in New York and was questioned about what the new policy aims to achieve and the impact it might have on bringing about democratic reform in Burma.

Burma's powerful military has pushed ahead since 1990 with a process that would lock in a new military-dominated constitution.

And the country's opposition¹ leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, remains² under house arrest.
 
Assistant Secretary of State Kurt Campbell told the Senate subcommittee the Obama administration hopes that engagement will bring results, unlike sanctions. "The sanctions effort, while providing an inconvenience in many respects to the regime, and there are areas that they can be very effective, in the overall context has been unsuccessful in accomplishing the goals that really all of us have vis a vis Burma," he states.

Democratic Senator James Webb visited Burma in August and met with senior Burmese military leader Than Shwe.

That visit paved the way for Webb's talks in New York with Prime Minister Thein Sein, in late September.
 
Webb supports the Obama administration approach. "I believe that the political motivations behind our isolation³ of Burma were honorable, based on a desire to see democratic governance and a respect for human rights inside that country," he says, "At the same time, the situation we face with Burma is an example of what can happen when we seek to isolate⁴ a country from the rest of world, but the rest of the world does not follow."

Webb says the U.S. and international community should watch for signs of progress as the U.S. initiative moves ahead.

Next year, Burma's military leaders plan national elections, the first since 1990.

Professor David Williams, of Indiana University, doubts a democratic result will come from the elections. He predicts an escalation⁵ of conflict between Burma's military and ethnic⁶ armed groups.  "We know for a fact that the Burmese military is gearing up for offensives around the country, right now putting in supplies and resources, and that the resistance groups are gearing up for resistance. The mountains will run with blood as the elections approach," he said.

Assistant Secretary Campbell said the U.S. will continue to press for democratic reform in Burma and the release of Aung San Suu Kyi and other political prisoners.

He said there will be no change in U.S. sanctions without signs of progress on key issues. "Lifting or easing sanctions at the outset of a dialogue without meaningful progress on our concerns would be a mistake and would sent the wrong message," Campbell said.

Aung San Suu Kyi supports a US dialogue with Burma's military rulers, without preconditions, according to a spokesman for the National League for Democracy (Nyan Win) who spoke⁷ this week.

1 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

2 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

3 isolation   

n.隔离，孤立，分解，分离

参考例句：

• The millionaire lived in complete isolation from the outside world.这位富翁过着与世隔绝的生活。
• He retired and lived in relative isolation.他退休后，生活比较孤寂。

4 isolate   

vt.使孤立，隔离

参考例句：

• Do not isolate yourself from others.不要把自己孤立起来。
• We should never isolate ourselves from the masses.我们永远不能脱离群众。

5 escalation   

n.扩大，增加

参考例句：

• The threat of nuclear escalation remains. 核升级的威胁仍旧存在。 来自辞典例句
• Escalation is thus an aspect of deterrence and of crisis management. 因此逐步升级是威慑和危机处理的一个方面。 来自辞典例句

6 ethnic   

adj.人种的，种族的，异教徒的

参考例句：

• This music would sound more ethnic if you played it in steel drums.如果你用钢鼓演奏，这首乐曲将更具民族特色。
• The plan is likely only to aggravate ethnic frictions.这一方案很有可能只会加剧种族冲突。

7 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。