美国驻联合国大使：朝鲜在“乞求战争”

The US warned on Monday that North Korea was “begging for war” but asked the UN to respond to Pyongyang’s test of its largest nuclear device with stronger sanctions to force the regime to end its weapons programme diplomatically.

美国周一警告，朝鲜在“乞求战争”，但要求联合国针对平壤方面试验其最大核装置实施更强有力的制裁，以通过外交手段迫使朝鲜政权终止其核武计划。

Nikki Haley, the US ambassador, said that two decades of “half measures” by the UN had failed, and argued that despite its efforts “the North Korea nuclear programme is more advanced and more dangerous than ever”.

美国驻联合国大使妮基•黑利(Nikki Haley)表示，联合国20年来“不到位的措施”失败了，并且提出，尽管联合国作出了努力，但“朝鲜核武计划比以往任何时候都更先进，也更危险”。

She said that Washington wanted the “strongest sanctions” ever imposed on the regime to “resolve this problem through diplomacy”.

她表示，华盛顿方面希望对朝鲜政权施加“最强有力的制裁”，以“通过外交手段来解决这个问题”。

The move by the Trump administration to press for another round of sanctions at the UN comes despite increasingly heated warnings from the White House that it was actively weighing military options if North Korea threatened the US or its treaty allies in the region.

特朗普政府要求联合国出台又一轮制裁措施的同时，白宫发出日益刺耳的警告，称其在积极权衡各种军事选择，以防朝鲜威胁美国或其在该地区的条约盟友。

Military tensions escalated further on Monday when South Korea conducted a live-fire exercise simulating an attack on North Korea’s Punggye-ri nuclear test site, and its intelligence agency warned that Pyongyang appeared to be preparing to launch another intercontinental ballistic missile.

军事紧张局势周一进一步升级。韩国举行了一次实弹演习，模拟对朝鲜丰溪里(Punggye-ri)核试验场发起打击，同时韩国情报机构警告称，平壤方面似乎正在准备发射又一枚洲际弹道导弹。

Despite the sabre-rattling, the US move to appeal to the UN illustrated the limited options facing Donald Trump as he weighs how to respond to mounting political pressure domestically to take more decisive action.

尽管在进行武力恫吓，但美国求助于联合国，说明唐纳德•特朗普(Donald Trump)的选择有限，他正在考虑如何应对国内不断加大的要求他采取更果断行动的政治压力。

Besides drawing up military plans, the US is also working on a new package of unilateral sanctions.

除了制定军事计划外，美国还在研究一套新的单边制裁方案。

The main targets are expected to be Chinese banks and other companies that do business in or with North Korea. Almost 90 per cent of North Korea’s international trade is with China, and Pyongyang relies on its neighbour for supplies of key commodities such as oil.

预计主要目标将是在朝鲜(或与该国)开展业务的中资银行和其他企业。朝鲜近90%的国际贸易是同中国进行的，平壤方面依靠其邻国供应石油等关键大宗商品。

Mr Trump has threatened to cut off all trade with countries “doing business” with North Korea, a proposal that Beijing dubbed “unacceptable” and “unfair”, reflecting how the stand-off on the Korean peninsula was also undermining US-China relations that the Trump administration had made a centrepiece of its foreign policy.

特朗普已放话称，对于那些同朝鲜“做生意”的国家，美国要切断与它们的所有贸易。北京方面称这个提议是不可接受和不公平的，突显朝鲜半岛上的僵局也在影响美中关系。特朗普政府此前将美中关系列为其外交政策的一个核心。

Ms Haley issued a thinly veiled threat to China and Russia saying that the US would “look at every country that does business with North Korea as a country that is giving aid to their reckless and dangerous nuclear intentions”.

黑利对中国和俄罗斯发出了几乎不加掩饰的威胁，称美国将“把同朝鲜做生意的每个国家都视作为朝鲜鲁莽而危险的核武意图提供帮助的国家”。

Although Ms Haley’s efforts focused on getting the UN to unite behind sanctions and a diplomatic push, she was careful not to take the threat of force off the table, and said: “War is never something the United States wants. We don’t want it now. But our country’s patience is not unlimited.”

虽然黑利的着眼点是让联合国团结起来，支持制裁和外交努力，但她小心翼翼地不排除武力威胁。她表示：“战争永远不是美国想要的东西。我们现在也不想要开战。但我们国家的耐心不是无限度的。”