VOA常速英语2014--缅甸东盟峰会不会产生突破

Myanmar ASEAN Summit Won’t Be About Breakthroughs 缅甸东盟峰会不会产生突破

BANGKOK— 

Myanmar is to host leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the East Asia Summit next week. The gathering 1 includes the U.S. and Russian presidents, China’s paramount 2 leader and the Indian prime minister, as well as Southeast Asian leaders. Expectations are limited for the gathering.

曼谷— 缅甸下周将接待东南亚国家联盟（东盟）领导人并主办东亚峰会。与会者包括美俄总统、中国元首、印度总理以及东南亚各国领导人。外界对对这次会议并无太高的期待。

The ASEAN way of consensus 3, conciliation 4 and non-intervention has helped keep the peace in recent years in a historically volatile 5 region.

东盟秉持的寻求共识、调解和不干预原则使一个历史上动荡的地区近年来维持了和平。

And that is the only effective way for ASEAN to function, contends  Rodolfo Severino, a former secretary general who heads the ASEAN Studies Center at the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies in Singapore.

前东盟秘书长、现新加坡东南亚研究院东盟研究中心主任鲁道夫.塞韦里诺在接受美国之音Skype采访时说，这是东盟发挥作用的唯一有效途径。

 “No, ASEAN is not about breakthroughs. ASEAN works on an incremental 6 basis,” he told VOA during an interview via Skype.

鲁道夫.塞韦里诺说：“不，东盟的目标不是带来突破，而是从点点滴滴做起。”

But that can be an obstacle to tackling critical issues, according to Professor Jason Briggs at the Bangkok campus of Webster University.

但是，韦伯斯特大学曼谷校区教授杰森.布里格斯认为，这样做可能阻碍严重问题的解决，

“ASEAN, typically at summits and when the members are meeting, the outcomes are memorandums, declarations and joint 7 statement - soft law type mechanisms 8 instead of more hard law type binding 9 instruments," he said.

 杰森.布里格斯教授说：“东盟峰会和成员国会议的结果无非是发表被网络、宣言和联合声明，这些文件不像法律文件那样具有约束力。”

Cross-border trade, travel 

One of its most significant accomplishments 10 is expected to be next year’s inauguration 11 of the ASEAN Economic Community, facilitating cross-border trade and travel. But details remain vague, something that should be clarified at this year’s summit says Severino, the former ASEAN Secretary-General from the Philippines.

其中最重要的成果之一是将于明年诞生的推进跨国贸易和旅游的东盟经济共同体。但是来自菲律宾的前东盟秘书长塞韦里诺说，细节仍待今年峰会进一步明确。

“... meaning what kind of community are we looking at and here the leaders have to define it because it’s not so far away. And it will happen during Malaysia’s chairmanship. It will have to happen,” he said.  

塞韦里诺说：“这意味着我们将看到的是怎样的一个共同体。这些领导人必须作出决定，因为它离我们并不遥远。这将在马来西亚当轮值主席的任期内发生。这是一定会发生的。”

At last year’s summits, President Barack Obama cancelled his trip amid the U.S. government shutdown, allowing China’s leaders to grab the spotlight 12.

去年，美国总统奥巴马由于政府关门而取消峰会行程，让中国领导人占尽风头。

Critical for U.S. diplomacy 13 this year will also be the face time, one-on-one, with government heads from outside ASEAN’s ten member states.

与东盟十个成员国以外的政府首脑一对一的会谈，将是美国今年在峰会期间的重要外交活动。

“The leaders from India with the new Modi administration and Russia - of course we have many bilateral 14 concerns with Russia in the U.S. - they are also invited. It’s also an opportunity for there to be potentially some constructive 15 dialogue on the side between President Obama and those leaders,” he said.

布里格斯教授说：“印度新上任的莫迪政府和俄罗斯领导人也都受到了邀请，尽管美国和俄罗斯有许多双边问题。这也是一个重要的机会，因为奥巴马有可能在会议期间和其他领导人举行建设性对话。”

Obama’s sideline discussions will cover a number of critical issues, including the Islamic State extremist movement, the continued trouble in Ukraine, difficulties with the trans-Pacific trade talks, China’s maritime 16 expansion and how to contain west Africa’s Ebola epidemic 17.

奥巴马讨论的副话题将涵盖一系列重大问题，其中包括伊斯兰国极端主义运动、乌克兰问题、泛太平洋贸易谈判的困难，中国的海上扩张以及如何遏制西非的埃博拉疫情等等。