VOA标准英语2010年-US-China Relations Color Clinton Trip

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton embarks¹ Wednesday on a two-week Asian tour that will take her to Vietnam, Cambodia, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, New Zealand, Australia and China. The trip is expected to bolster² Washington's ties with Asian allies as it looks to balance Beijing's influence in the region.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's first stop on the Asian tour is actually in the United States. She meets Japanese Foreign Minister Seiji Maehara in Hawaii on Wednesday for talks expected to tackle Tokyo's tense relations with China.

Ties between Asia's two largest economies frayed³ this year after a Chinese fishing boat collided with Japanese coast guard ships near disputed islands in the East China Sea.

Courting Japan

Japan's new government had been emphasizing closer ties with China, and distancing itself from the United States. Now, says Kerri Brown of Chatham House in London, the territorial⁴ dispute with China is giving Washington a new opportunity to woo Tokyo.

"It really underlines the role that the United States has in supplying a security umbrella in the Pacific Region," said Brown. "In the Japanese, who are obviously very reliant on American military support. So it's really kind of a big moment for the United States to re-establish how important the relationship is between it and Japan."

Collaborating⁵ with southeast Asian nations

Clinton waded⁶ into disputed Asian waters earlier this year when she announced that Washington could mediate⁷ conflicts between China and Southeast Asian countries claiming islands in the South China Sea. The subject is likely to come up again this week when Clinton joins the East Asia summit in Hanoi.

Brown said the 10 countries in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or ASEAN, have distinct political and economic views on China, but they share a wariness⁸ about its territorial claims. He said Clinton is likely to capitalize on these concerns.

"I think it's really kind of setting out a framework where, in fact, it's not just about China's interest, and China's going to have to start factoring in the fact that it's going to get a lot of opposition⁹ if it's just going to be unilaterally declaring its interests and think that the ASEAN countries are going to lie down," said Brown.

Clinton's trip will be her sixth to Asia in 18 months, reflecting the Obama administration's effort to sharpen its focus on the region that had been overshadowed by the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

U.S. focuses on region, China

David Lampton of the School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University in Washington said U.S. efforts to warm up to its Asian allies is unsettling to China.

"Of course, China plays a major role in the region and tends to have a kind of lens or framework of containment¹⁰. And so as the U.S. is trying to improve relations, I think this raises alarm bells in Beijing, seeing this as some kind of effort to contain China," said Lampton.

Despite ongoing¹¹ tensions between Washington and Beijing over regional security, currency issues and human rights, Clinton added a brief visit to China's Hainan Island to her agenda just days before her departure.

Lampton said the visit demonstrates that despite the tensions, both countries are showing they are equally anxious to talk to each other. "I mean, the fact of the matter is China's our most rapidly growing export market. Also, China has an enormous domestic change underway. Urbanization. They still have to urbanize another 400 million people at least. A population bigger than the U.S. So they don't want any problems with us frankly¹², and I think all Americans realize we don't need any more problems in the world."

The Obama administration's discussions with Beijing will continue in January when Chinese President Hu Jintao visits the White House.
 

1 embarks   

乘船( embark的第三人称单数 )； 装载； 从事

参考例句：

• Patricia is a free-spirited girl who embarks on an erotic odyssey. 翠茜亚是个任性少女、毅然踏上一次性爱之旅。
• Passenger train driver: Punctually embarks. 客车司机：准时出发。

2 bolster   

n.枕垫；v.支持，鼓励

参考例句：

• The high interest rates helped to bolster up the economy.高利率使经济更稳健。
• He tried to bolster up their morale.他尽力鼓舞他们的士气。

3 frayed   

adj.磨损的v.（使布、绳等）磨损，磨破( fray的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• His shirt was frayed. 他的衬衫穿破了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The argument frayed their nerves. 争辩使他们不快。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

4 territorial   

adj.领土的，领地的

参考例句：

• The country is fighting to preserve its territorial integrity.该国在为保持领土的完整而进行斗争。
• They were not allowed to fish in our territorial waters.不允许他们在我国领海捕鱼。

5 collaborating   

合作( collaborate的现在分词 )； 勾结叛国

参考例句：

• Joe is collaborating on the work with a friend. 乔正与一位朋友合作做那件工作。
• He was not only learning from but also collaborating with Joseph Thomson. 他不仅是在跟约瑟福？汤姆逊学习，而且也是在和他合作。

6 waded   

（从水、泥等）蹚，走过，跋( wade的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She tucked up her skirt and waded into the river. 她撩起裙子蹚水走进河里。
• He waded into the water to push the boat out. 他蹚进水里把船推出来。

7 mediate   

vi.调解，斡旋；vt.经调解解决；经斡旋促成

参考例句：

• The state must mediate the struggle for water resources.政府必须通过调解来解决对水资源的争夺。
• They may be able to mediate between parties with different interests.他们也许能在不同利益政党之间进行斡旋。

8 wariness   

n. 注意,小心

参考例句：

• The British public's wariness of opera is an anomaly in Europe. 英国公众对歌剧不大轻易接受的态度在欧洲来说很反常。
• There certainly is a history of wariness about using the R-word. 历史表明绝对应当谨慎使用“衰退”一词。

9 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。

10 containment   

n.阻止，遏制；容量

参考例句：

• Your list might include such things as cost containment,quality,or customer satisfaction.你的清单上应列有诸如成本控制、产品质量、客户满意程度等内容。
• Insularity and self-containment,it is argued,go hand in hand.他们争论说，心胸狭窄和自我封闭是并存的。

11 ongoing   

adj.进行中的，前进的

参考例句：

• The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
• The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。

12 frankly   

adv.坦白地，直率地；坦率地说

参考例句：

• To speak frankly, I don't like the idea at all.老实说，我一点也不赞成这个主意。
• Frankly speaking, I'm not opposed to reform.坦率地说，我不反对改革。