VOA标准英语2009-US Leaders May Interact With Burmese at Sing

By David Gollust
Manila
12 November 2009

 
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton talks to reporters during Manila press conference, 12 Nov 2009
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says she or President Barack Obama might meet Burmese leaders in the context of a U.S.-ASEAN summit Sunday in Singapore. The Obama administration is pressing Burmese military leaders to release detained democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi and hold free, fair and credible¹ elections next year.

The Obama administration shelved the isolation² strategy of its predecessor³ and is trying dialogue with the Burmese military government to push it toward reform.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says there are no formal meetings planned, but she left open the possibility that she and President Barack Obama might interact with Burmese Prime Minister Thein Sein or other officials when they take part in a U.S.-ASEAN summit-level dialogue Sunday in Singapore.

Two senior U.S. diplomats⁴ went to Burma last week to open the dialogue and at a Manila news conference with Philippine Foreign Secretary Alberto Romulo, Clinton called the mission by Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian Affairs Kurt Campbell and his deputy Scott Marciel "very successful."

The two State Department officials were allowed to hold a private, unmonitored meeting with Aung San Suu Kyi.

Clinton said the United States continues to demand the unconditional⁵ release of the Nobel Peace laureate, who has been detained most of the time since 1990, when her National League for Democracy party won national elections but was barred by the military from taking power.

"We are trying to encourage Burma to conduct the kind of internal dialogue with all of the stakeholders including Aung San Suu Kyi that could lead to there being fair, free and credible elections next year," she said.

"We think that is an essential first step. We are continuing to call for the freedom of Aung San Suu Kyi. We believe that her detention⁶ over so many years is baseless and not funded on any concern other than that she is a leader of the political opposition⁷," she added.

Clinton said Aung San Suu Kyi "has every right" to resume an active role in politics and that her future role would be something the Burmese people, and not the United States, would have to decide.

She said the United States would be highly skeptical⁸ of an election process that did not include representatives of all elements of the political opposition. She urged active involvement by Burma's neighbors to spur reform.

"What we want to do, along with friends like the Philippines and other ASEAN members is to encourage, urge, persuade the leadership of Burma to enter into this dialogue with their own people-to create the conditions for legitimacy⁹ that should be apparent when you have an election, and that is what we are looking to achieve," said the secretary of state.

Clinton said despite the outreach to Burma, the Obama administration is not dropping human rights related sanctions, which include a virtually total U.S. trade ban against that country.

Sunday's summit of the United States and ASEAN - the Association of Southeast Asian nations - will take place on the sidelines of the broader 21-nation Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Singapore.  

 

1 credible   

adj.可信任的，可靠的

参考例句：

• The news report is hardly credible.这则新闻报道令人难以置信。
• Is there a credible alternative to the nuclear deterrent?是否有可以取代核威慑力量的可靠办法？

2 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。

3 predecessor   

n.前辈，前任

参考例句：

• It will share the fate of its predecessor.它将遭受与前者同样的命运。
• The new ambassador is more mature than his predecessor.新大使比他的前任更成熟一些。

4 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》

5 unconditional   

adj.无条件的，无限制的，绝对的

参考例句：

• The victorious army demanded unconditional surrender.胜方要求敌人无条件投降。
• My love for all my children is unconditional.我对自己所有孩子的爱都是无条件的。

6 detention   

n.滞留，停留；拘留，扣留；(教育)留下

参考例句：

• He was kept in detention by the police.他被警察扣留了。
• He was in detention in connection with the bribery affair.他因与贿赂事件有牵连而被拘留了。

7 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。

8 skeptical   

adj.怀疑的，多疑的

参考例句：

• Others here are more skeptical about the chances for justice being done.这里的其他人更为怀疑正义能否得到伸张。
• Her look was skeptical and resigned.她的表情是将信将疑而又无可奈何。

9 legitimacy   

n.合法，正当

参考例句：

• The newspaper was directly challenging the government's legitimacy.报纸直接质疑政府的合法性。
• Managing from the top down,we operate with full legitimacy.我们进行由上而下的管理有充分的合法性。