美国国家公共电台 NPR China Lavishes Red-Carpet Treatment On Trump As He Arrives For Talks With Xi Jinping

 

KELLY MCEVERS, HOST:

President Trump¹ today got the imperial treatment in Beijing's Forbidden City. That's the centuries-old palace complex there. It is Trump's first state visit to China and the third of five stops on his tour of Asia. NPR's Anthony Kuhn reports from Beijing that political pomp is one of several ways China has sought to manage Trump and the challenges he poses to U.S.-China relations.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

ANTHONY KUHN, BYLINE²: The first families of the U.S. and China took in a private Peking opera performance amid the vermilion walls and yellow-tile roofs of the Imperial Palace, a choreographed³ blend of stagecraft and statecraft designed to highlight the evolving chemistry between presidents Trump and Xi Jinping. At least, that's how Shi Yinhong describes it. He's an international relations expert at People's University in Beijing.

SHI YINHONG: (Speaking Chinese).

KUHN: "China's receiving Trump almost the way the king of Saudi Arabia did," he says, "giving him lots of face, vanities and protocol⁴." The relationship between Xi and Trump got off to a rocky start. Trump threatened to upgrade relations with Taiwan and punish China for manipulating the value of its currency. But none of that happened. Cui Liru of the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations says that China handle these challenges the right way by doing nothing at all.

CUI LIRU: (Through interpreter) China had to realize that Trump needed to learn about China. And during this learning process, we had to stay cool and patient.

KUHN: It also had to find a channel, he adds, to get through to Trump. They found one in his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, who helped to arrange an April summit at Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort. That channel appears to have outlived its usefulness as Xi and Trump have now met in person twice and spoken by phone nine times. Trump has even praised Xi as a very good man. Meanwhile, Beijing has made some concessions⁵ to Trump on trade, for example, increasing imports from the U.S. Tsinghua University professor Chu Shulong argues, though, that these were things that China wanted anyway.

CHU SHULONG: (Speaking Chinese).

KUHN: "China needs to import U.S. agricultural goods, airplanes and other products," he says. Since Trump took office, China has also tightened⁶ sanctions on North Korea, reducing trade in oil and coal, halting banking⁷ and sending North Korean workers home. And that, says People's University's Shi Yinhong, is about as much as China can or is willing to do for now.

SHI: (Speaking Chinese).

KUHN: "China has nearly exhausted⁸ its leverage⁹ over North Korea," he says, "and the North is becoming increasingly hostile towards us." The Trump administration, meanwhile, has recently outlined its vision of a U.S. alliance with India and Australia in what it calls a free and open Indo-Pacific region. To China, that sounds like a repackaged Cold War-era policy to contain it. And Chu Shulong notes that U.S. and Chinese navies are bumping into each other with increasing frequency in contested waters of the South China Sea.

CHU: (Speaking Chinese).

KUHN: "Who knows when the two countries warships¹⁰ might get too close or collide," he says, "or make some sort of miscalculation." In the near term, Chu says he's optimistic that Trump and Xi can at least maintain their personal relationship.

CHU: (Speaking Chinese).

KUHN: "But this could all change," he cautions. "Leaders have to put the national interest and their own agenda first and not personal relationships." Chu points out that Trump's predecessor¹¹, Barack Obama, started out pretty bullish on China too, but by his second term, he largely soured on it. And Trump himself has at times also expressed disappointment with China. People's University's Shi Yinhong is even more pessimistic. He predicts all the diplomatic niceties and chummy atmosphere could just evaporate in about two or three months' time. Anthony Kuhn, NPR News, Beijing.

1 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

2 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

3 choreographed   

v.设计舞蹈动作( choreograph的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• There was some carefully choreographed flag-waving as the President drove by. 总统的车经过时，人们按精心编排的动作挥舞着旗帜。
• Achim had choreographed the dance in Act II himself. 阿希姆自己设计了第2幕的舞蹈动作。 来自辞典例句

4 protocol   

n.议定书，草约，会谈记录，外交礼节

参考例句：

• We must observe the correct protocol.我们必须遵守应有的礼仪。
• The statesmen signed a protocol.那些政治家签了议定书。

5 concessions   

n.（尤指由政府或雇主给予的）特许权( concession的名词复数 )；承认；减价；（在某地的）特许经营权

参考例句：

• The firm will be forced to make concessions if it wants to avoid a strike. 要想避免罢工，公司将不得不作出一些让步。
• The concessions did little to placate the students. 让步根本未能平息学生的愤怒。

6 tightened   

收紧( tighten的过去式和过去分词 )； （使）变紧； （使）绷紧； 加紧

参考例句：

• The rope holding the boat suddenly tightened and broke. 系船的绳子突然绷断了。
• His index finger tightened on the trigger but then relaxed again. 他的食指扣住扳机，然后又松开了。

7 banking   

n.银行业，银行学，金融业

参考例句：

• John is launching his son on a career in banking.约翰打算让儿子在银行界谋一个新职位。
• He possesses an extensive knowledge of banking.他具有广博的银行业务知识。

8 exhausted   

adj.极其疲惫的，精疲力尽的

参考例句：

• It was a long haul home and we arrived exhausted.搬运回家的这段路程特别长，到家时我们已筋疲力尽。
• Jenny was exhausted by the hustle of city life.珍妮被城市生活的忙乱弄得筋疲力尽。

9 leverage   

n.力量，影响；杠杆作用，杠杆的力量

参考例句：

• We'll have to use leverage to move this huge rock.我们不得不借助杠杆之力来移动这块巨石。
• He failed in the project because he could gain no leverage. 因为他没有影响力，他的计划失败了。

10 warships   

军舰，战舰( warship的名词复数 )； 舰只

参考例句：

• The enemy warships were disengaged from the battle after suffering heavy casualties. 在遭受惨重伤亡后，敌舰退出了海战。
• The government fitted out warships and sailors for them. 政府给他们配备了战舰和水手。

11 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。