VOA慢速英语：关于东盟在南海争端上的立场，反应不一

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations is getting mixed reaction for its recent declaration on the South China Sea issue.

东南亚国家联盟针对中国南海问题发布的最近声明，引起了不同反应。

The 10 ASEAN members struggled to reach a compromise statement last week at the end of meetings in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Their final communique called for developing a required code ofconduct in the disputed waters. ASEAN has been talking about establishing such a system for more than 10 years.

上周，在马来西亚吉隆坡会议结束时，10个东盟成员国难以达成妥协声明。最后公报呼吁针对有争议海域制定一项必需的行为规则。十多年来，东南亚国家联盟一直在讨论建立这样一个体制。

North Korean Foreign Ministry spokesman Ri Tong Il speaks at a news conference during an Association of Southeast Asian Nations foreign ministers meeting in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Aug. 6, 2015.

Benjamin Ho is a research fellow at theInstituteof Defense and Strategic Studies in Singapore. He says there has been a lot of talk about the Code of Conduct. He says some Asian countries are in a hurry to have system a system enacted.

Benjamin Ho是新加坡国防与战略研究研究所的一名研究员。他表示，关于这一行为规则已经进行多次讨论，还表示一些亚洲国家急于系统地制定这一体制。

Mr. Ho thinks the possibility is very realfor establishing rules of behavior. But in his words, those rules "should not be seen as a ‘be all' and ‘end all' for resolving the situation in the South China Sea."

Benjamin Ho认为最有可能的就是建立行为规则。但用他的话来说，这些规则不应被看作是解决南中国海问题的全部及结果。

Many in East Asiabelieve any public statement is better than none at all. No communique was released at the ASEAN meetings in 2012, when Cambodia was the group's chair.

在东亚，许多人认为任何公开声明胜过没有声明。2012年东盟会议上，没有发布任何公报，当时柬埔寨担任该组织的主席。

Oh Ei Sun is a former political secretary to Malaysia's prime minister.

Oh Ei Sun是马来西亚总理的前政治秘书。

"ASEAN tried very gingerly to strike a balance between the competing demands of the United Statesand of China. And,the result being the language in the final joint communique."

东盟非常谨慎地试图平衡中美两国之间的竞争需求。并且这一结果在联合公报中作出声明。

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry attended the Kuala Lumpursummit in a trip that also took him to Singapore and Vietnam. He warned that the United States will not permit any restrictions on shipping in the disputed sea.

美国国务卿克里出席吉隆坡峰会，在此次之旅也访问了新加坡与越南。他警告称，美国不会允许在有争议的海域运输存在任何限制。

The Chinese government has long said that the territorial disputes in the South China Seashould be settled between claimants. But recently China has been partly softening its positionin communications with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

中国政府一直表示，中国南海的领土争端应该在所有权人之间进行解决。但最近，与东南亚国家联盟交流时，中国已经部分软化自己的立场。

Four ASEAN members have competing claims in the waters with China. The four are Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam. In addition, China's territorial claims conflict with exclusive economic zones of two other ASEAN members: Indonesia and Singapore.

四个东盟成员国都与中国争夺海域主权。这四个国家包括文莱、马来西亚、菲律宾和越南。此外，印度尼西亚和新加坡，这两个东盟成员国的专属经济区与中国存在领土争端。

Leaders of ASEAN nations will meet in December.

东盟各个国家领导人将于12月会面。

I'm Caty Weaver.

VOA correspondent Steve Herman reported on this story from Bangkok. George Grow adapted it for Learning English. Caty Weaver was the editor.

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Words in This Story

communique – n. an official announcement, statement or declaration

code– n. a system of rules or laws

conduct– n. the way in which a person behaves

summit– n. conference or meetings between leaders

exclusive – adj. limited or restricted to; not admitting other things

zone(s) – n. an area that is different from other areas