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Beef conflict
牛肉战争
South Korea is seeking to ease some domestic irritation, with a move that could complicate American-Korean trade relations. Seoul is amending its promise to resume US beef imports by imposing new trade conditions aimed at placating political critics of the South Korean president.
韩国试图寻找一个缓解一些国内民众的愤怒情绪的举措，而新 举措可能导致美韩贸易关系复杂化。首尔政府正在修正先前作出的 恢复进口美国牛肉的承诺，为进口美国牛肉制定了新的贸易条件， 希望以此化解韩国总统在政治上受到的责难。
In what he described as a “humble acceptance of the people’s will，' South Korean Agriculture Minister Chung Woon-chun announced a new set of limitations on plans to import US beef.
韩国农业部长郑云天宣布了对进口美国牛肉计划实行的新限 制,他把这一宣布形容为是“谦恭地接受民众的意愿”。
He says South Korea has requested the American government stop exporting cattle aged 30 months or older, about which South Korean consumers have expressed the most anxiety. He says his ministry will postpone scheduled quarantine inspections of American beef until the United States responds to the request.
他表示，韩国要求美国政府停止出口年龄超过30个月的牛,韩 国消费者对这种牛肉表达了最多的担心。他表示，韩国农业部将推 迟已定的对美国牛肉实行检疫的日程，直到美国方面对韩国的要求 作出回应。
The move is a reaction to street protests which began weeks ago, opposing American beef imports.The demonstrations have evolved into much broader, grassroots criticism of South Korean President Lee Myung-bak，s leadership style.
韩国当局的行动是对几个星期来街头示威者抗议进口美国牛 肉的回应。更加广泛地来自民间的批评加人了抗议声浪,抨击李明 博总统的领导风格。
Two months after his February inauguration,Mr. Lee arranged a deal to fully resume imports of virtually all cuts of US beef. The imports were banned in 2003，after an American animal was found to have the fatal brain condition known as “mad cow disease，' It is theoretically possible for humans to contract a version of the disease by eating tainted meat.
李明博在2月份宣誓就职。两个月后,他达成了全面恢复进口 美国牛肉的协议,批准几乎所有部位的美国牛肉都可以进口韩国。 2003年,在美国发现一头牛患上了致命的“疯牛病”后,韩国曾禁止 进口美国牛肉。从理论上讲,人类食用感染上疯牛病的牛肉有可能 感染类似的致命的脑部疾病。
Mr. Lee’s import resumption deal, clinched during an April summit with President Bush, fulfilled a promise made more than a year earlier by Mr. Lee’s predecessor. It also followed a ruling by a United Nations organization, backing Washington’s assertion that US beef is safe.
李明博恢复进口美国牛肉的协议是在他4月份跟布什总统举行 高峰会晤期间达成的,从而兑现了他的前任在那一年多前作出的有 关承诺。在李明博签署进口牛肉的协议之前,联合国的一个组织作 出裁决,支持华盛顿称美国牛肉是安全的断言。
Nonetheless, many South Koreans saw President Lee's decision to resume the imports as too sudden, too wide-ranging~and too dismissive of public sentiment.
很多韩国人认为李明博总统恢复进口美国牛肉的决定过于仓促、范围过于宽泛、过于忽视民 众的情绪。
Protests that began as quiet candlelight vigils, last month, have gradually grown louder and more violent. Tens of thousands of protesters have gathered almost nightly in downtown Seoul, blocking major traffic arteries and leading to hundreds of arrests.
韩国民众的抗议上个月以平静的烛光守夜的形式开始,随后抗议声浪日益高涨，最后逐步演 变成暴力示威。成千上万的示威者几乎每一个夜晚都聚集在首尔市中心,堵塞主要交通要道以致 数百人被捕。
Their insistence on that danger has been fueled by numerous factors: sympathy with struggling South Korean cattle farmers; anger at South Korean President Lee Myung-bak; an undercurrent of anti-American nationalism; and a tornado of Internet rumors about US beef, ranging from the humorous to the hysterical.
这些人坚持这种看法出于几个因素:一是同情韩国那些苦苦挣扎的肉牛养殖户，二是表达对 韩国总统李明博的不满，三是反美民族主义情绪,另外就是网上有关美国牛肉的各种谣言,有幽默 的也有非常不着边的。
The one thing that has failed to back these very vocal protests in any significant way is hard science. One US animal was found to have mad cow disease, in 2003.However, out of hundreds of millions of consumers, there has never been a single known case of mad cow-style brain infection resulting from eating American beef.
虽然抗议活动声浪很高,但是并没有多少科学依据。2003年美国发现有只牛得了疯牛病,但在 亿万消费者当中从来没有过一例由于吃美国牛肉而引发人类感染疯牛病的病例。
It was this absence of scientifically proven risk Ambassador Vershbow was referencing in his comments on June 3, made after his meeting with South Korea's Foreign Minister.
美国大使弗什鲍6月3日会见韩国外交部长之后所说的话,指的就是没有科学依据这一点。
American officials have repeatedly refused to re-negotiate US beef imports and are unlikely to agree to Seoul’s new beef import conditions. Analysts warn the escalating beef dispute could endanger ratification of the major trade deal the two countries, signed last year.
美国官员反复拒绝就进口美国牛肉重新谈判,并且不大可能同意韩国为牛肉进口新制定的卫 生条件。分析人士瞀告说,不断升级的牛肉争端有可能危及美韩两国去年签署的一项主要贸易协 议的达成。
