奥巴马为缅甸之行辩护

BANGKOK, Thailand─President Barack Obama said his decision to visit Myanmar wasn't endorsing the government given its persistent human rights problems but was an acknowledgment of the distance the country's new rulers have traveled in less than two years.

美国总统奥巴马(Barack Obama)说，鉴于缅甸长期存在的人权问题，他决定访问缅甸并不是为了支持缅甸政府，而是认可缅甸新任领导人在不到两年的时间里所取得的成绩。

On Monday, Mr. Obama will become the first sitting U.S. president to visit the country, which has moved from decades of isolated, military rule to a quasicivilian government that is opening the economy and political process. Mr. Obama echoed his advisers who argue that the visit will encourage Myanmar, also known as Burma, to continue down the path of reform, despite continuing human-rights concerns.

周一，奥巴马将成为首位访问缅甸的美国在任总统。缅甸已经从数十年来受到孤立的军政府统治状态变成一个正在开放经济和政治进程的半文人统治国家。奥巴马赞同其幕僚的看法，即他此行将鼓励缅甸继续推行改革，虽然缅甸的人权问题依然令人担忧。

'If we waited to engage until they had achieved a perfect democracy, my suspicion is we'd be waiting a long time,' Mr. Obama said at a news conference on Sunday with Thailand's prime minister, Yingluck Shinawatra. 'I'm not somebody who thinks the United States should just stand on the sidelines and not want to get its hands dirty when there is an opportunity to encourage the better impulses inside a country.'

奥巴马周日在同泰国总理英拉·钦那瓦(Yingluck Shinawatra)共同举行的资讯发布会上说，如果我们等到缅甸的民主程度已经非常完善时再同他们接触，我想我们将等上很长时间。他说，我本人并不认为当有机会鼓励一个国家向好的方向发展时，美国应该仅仅站在一边袖手旁观。

His whirlwind Southeast Asia trip began Sunday with a visit to Thailand, a longtime ally. Mr. Obama toured the iconic Buddhist temple Wat Pho, and met with the revered but ailing Thai king, Bhumibol Adulyadej. At the hospital where the king now resides, the pair exchanged gifts, including a photo album from Mr. Obama with pictures of the king and all the U.S. presidents and first ladies he has met, starting with Dwight D. Eisenhower.

奥巴马对东南亚的密集访问始于周日的泰国之行。泰国是美国的长期盟友。奥巴马参观了标志性的佛教寺庙卧佛寺(Wat Pho)，会见了受人尊敬但在患病的泰王普密蓬·阿杜德(Bhumibol Adulyadej)。在泰王居住的医院里，两人交换了礼物，其中包括奥巴马赠送的一本相册，里面有泰王和所有他会见过的美国总统及第一夫人的合影，他会见过的第一位美国总统是艾森豪威尔(Dwight D. Eisenhower)。

During a bilateral meeting, the Thai prime minister told Mr. Obama her country wants to explore joining the U.S.-led Trans-Pacific Partnership, planned to be a sweeping regional free-trade agreement.

在双边会谈期间，泰国总理英拉告诉奥巴马，泰国希望研究加入美国主导的泛太平洋战略经济伙伴关系协议(Trans-Pacific Partnership, 简称：TPP)之事。TPP计划成为一个有广泛影响的区域性自由贸易协定。

The White House emphasized the U.S.'s longstanding relationship with Thailand─the countries have had diplomatic relations for 180 years, and a treaty alliance since 1954. It is meant to be a subtle message to the rest of the region: there is value in being on the U.S. team.

白宫强调了美国同泰国之间的长期合作关系，双方建立外交关系已经长达180年，两国还在1954年加入了同一个条约组织。这是美国试图向该地区其它国家传递的一条微妙信息，即加入美国这一阵营是有价值的。

Altogether, Mr. Obama will visit three countries and be on the ground for less than three days, sandwiching the tour between congressional negotiations over the budget Friday and the traditional pre-Thanksgiving pardoning of the national turkey Wednesday. A considerable amount of his time will be in the air, as Air Force One circumnavigates the globe inside five days.

奥巴马总共将访问三个国家，在地面上逗留的时间不到3天。奥巴马的此次亚洲之行被夹在两个重要活动之间，一是上周五美国国会就预算问题展开的谈判，二是本周三那天将要举行的感恩节前“火鸡放生传统仪式。他在此期间的大部分时间将在空中度过，总统座机“空军一号要在五天之内环绕全球。

But the White House sees the trip as critical to Mr. Obama's effort to pivot U.S. attention away from the Middle East, where two wars have long occupied American attention, and toward Asia, where the president is working to beef up U.S. military, economic and political influence, in part to serve as a counterweight to China in the region.

但白宫认为此行对于奥巴马将美国战略重心从中东地区转移至亚洲的努力非常重要。中东地区的两场战争在很长时间内牵制了美国的注意力。奥巴马正在加强美国在亚洲的军事、经济和政治影响力，此举的部分目的是为了在这一地区抗衡中国。

Still, even as he traveled to Asia, Mr. Obama was continuing to confront yet another crisis in the Middle East, as violence continued between Israel and Hamas. At his news conference, Mr. Obama defended Israel and said the conflict was sparked by Hamas's decision to fire missiles into Israel, including populated areas.

不过，就在奥巴马出访亚洲的同时，他还得继续面对中东地区的另一场危机。以色列和伊斯兰抵抗运动组织哈马斯(Hamas)之间的暴力行动还在继续。在资讯发布会上，奥巴马替以色列进行了辩护，称冲突的起因是哈马斯决定向以色列发射导弹，目标包括人口密集的地区。

'There's no country on Earth that would tolerate missiles raining down on its citizens from outside its borders. We are fully supportive of Israel's right to defend itself,' Mr. Obama said. But he said he was encouraging countries with ties to Hamas to push for de-escalation, arguing that further violence will only push back a peaceful resolution to the larger crisis 'well into the future.'

奥巴马说，地球上没有任何一个国家会容忍境外的导弹如雨般倾泻到本国民众的头上，我们完全支持以色列自卫的权利。不过他说，他也在鼓励与哈马斯有联系的国家敦促该组织采取措施消除紧张局势，并称进一步的暴力行动会令和平决议受挫，在未来引发更大规模危机。

Even the budget talks made their way to Bangkok. While touring the temple, the president was overheard telling a monk who served as tour guide, 'Yes, we're working on this budget. We're going to need a lot of prayer for that.'

就连有关国会预算的谈判也被带到了曼谷。在参观寺庙的时候，有人无意间听到总统对担任导游的和尚说，是的，我们在谈论预算问题，关于这件事，我们可得好好祈祷一番。

While Mr. Obama will also join regional leaders for a summit in Cambodia, the trip to Myanmar is the most significant stop─and more fraught. Many human-rights activists argue that the government of President Thein Sein should have done more to prove itself before being granted a presidential visit. They cite sectarian violence that is raging against minority Muslims in the Buddhist-majority country, political prisoners who remain jailed and a constitution that still requires that 25% of seats in Parliament be filled by members of the military.

尽管奥巴马也会在柬埔寨参加一个地区领导人峰会，但缅甸之旅才是最重要的一站，而且也更为棘手。很多人权活动人士声称，吴登盛(Thein Sein)政府需要拿出更多的行动来证实自己，然后美国总统才能莅临访问。这些人士说，在这个佛教徒占多数的国家里，针对人数较少的穆斯林的教派暴力仍旧猖獗，政治犯还在坐牢，而且宪法仍旧规定军方在议会应占据25%的席位。

'The Burma visit does a lot of things: it makes history, heralds reform, counters China. But one thing it doesn't do is strategically promote human rights,' said John Sifton of Human Rights Watch. 'And this is why it's so important that the president at least secure some real concessions, like political-prisoner releases. If not even that much can be achieved, the trip will be an utter loss.'

人权观察(Human Rights Watch)的西夫顿(John Sifton)说，对缅甸的访问意义重大，不但开创历史，昭示改革，还制衡中国。但这次访问没有做到的一点是战略性地促进人权。正因如此，美国总统争取一些真正意义上的让步也就非常重要，比如释放政治犯。如果连这点都做不到，那这次访问就完全没有了意义。

U.S. officials have said that engagement over the past year, such as sending Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to the country, appointing the first U.S. ambassador in 22 years and loosening economic sanctions, have been met with further reforms, not backsliding, such as when the government released about 450 prisoners last week. They expect continued progress from the Obama trip, which will include a speech to the nation and a visit to the home of democracy activist and opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, where she was confined under house arrest for 15 years.

美国官员一再表示，过去一年中，美方的鼓励──包括派国务卿克林顿(Hillary Clinton)出访该国、任命22年来首位驻缅甸大使以及放松经济制裁──得到了积极回应，缅甸进一步深化了改革，而没有出现倒退，比如不久前释放了大约450名囚犯。美国官员还预计，奥巴马访问之后，缅甸将继续推进改革。奥巴马将在缅甸发表一次全国性讲话，并前往缅甸民主活动人士、反对党领导人昂山素季(Aung San Suu Kyi,)的家中与昂山素季会晤。昂山素季曾被软禁在家达15年之久。

On the streets of Myanmar, there appeared to be a mixture of excitement and nonchalance about the coming Obama visit.

在缅甸街头，民众对于奥巴马来访的情绪似乎是兴奋与冷漠交织。

On a busy stretch of road in Bahan, a commercial district about a 10-minute drive north of Yangon's downtown, a large canvas banner hung above a shop draped with American flags welcoming Mr. Obama to the country and congratulating him his recently won four more years.

商业区巴罕区(Bahan)距离仰光市中心约10分钟车程，在该区一个繁忙的路段上，一家店铺上方打出巨幅标语，下面还缀着很多面美国国旗，标语内容是欢迎奥巴马来访，并祝贺他连任总统。

'Before, when I used to travel, people had no idea which country I came from, but Obama has helped change this,' said 29-year-old Zeya Winn. His family business has been printing flags and T-shirts for three decades and has sold about 70 U.S. flags, mostly to government authorities who plan to dot the streets with them when Mr. Obama arrives, and also to companies and diplomatic missions.

29岁的Zeya Winn说，以前我出去旅游的时候，别人都不知道我是哪个国家来的，但奥巴马帮助改变了这种情况。30年来，他的家族企业一直在做旗子和T恤印刷的生意，现在已经卖出了大约70面美国国旗，买主大多是政府部门，目的是在奥巴马来访的时候用来装点街道。其他买主还包括企业和外交代表机构。

A few hundred meters up the street, a fresh mural paid homage to the U.S. president, one of several that have sprung up in recent days.

街道向前几百米远的地方有一幅新画的向奥巴马致敬的壁画，这是近些天出现的新生事物之一。

But in the bustling downtown district, stalls carried printed T-shirts bearing the faces of Ms. Suu Kyi, her father and independence hero Aung San, reggae icon Bob Marley and punk-rocker Sid Vicious. Posters featured Avril Lavigne and Jesus Christ. Mr. Obama's image was nowhere to be seen.

不过在人流熙攘的闹市区，很多摊点销售印有名人头像的T恤衫，其中有昂山素季，缅甸独立英雄、昂山素季的父亲昂山(Aung San)，牙买加雷盖音乐明星鲍勃·马利(Bob Marley)和朋克乐手席德·维瑟斯(Sid Vicious)，而印有艾薇儿(Avril Lavigne)、耶稣(Jesus Christ)和奥巴马形象的海报则无迹可寻。

'We can get you one, we just need five days notice to print it,' the vendor said.

一名商贩说，我们可以给你弄一件，只要提前五天通知就能印出来。