新闻翻译作业

Passage 1

China Sends Ships to Disputed Islands

Chinese

state

media

said

Tuesday

that

two

government

surveillance

vessels

had

reached

waters

near

the

disputed

Senkaku

islands,

a

day

after

Japan

announced

it

planned to purchase some of the islands from private owners.

The state-run Xinhua news agency said

two China Marine Surveillance

vessels

had

reached waters near the Japanese- controlled Senkaku on Tuesday morning in order to

'assert the country's sovereignty.' The islands are known in Chinese as Diaoyu.

The presence of new Chinese government vessels near the Senkaku marks an effort

by Beijing to assert its sovereignty claims over the disputed territory. The government

is

under

public

pressure

to

more

forcefully

respond

to

Japanese

moves

to

shore

up

control of the islands.

China

Marine

Surveillance

is

a

paramilitary

maritime

law-enforcement

agency

that

has found itself increasingly at the center of territorial disputes between China and its

neighbors. Last spring, for example, at least one ship from the agency was engaged in

a volatile and prolonged standoff with Philippine government vessels in the disputed

Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea.

It

wasn't

immediately

clear

whether

the

ships

were

armed

or

had

encountered

resistance from Japanese patrols in the area.

Japan has controlled the Senkaku for decades, though China has consistently said the

islands

have

belonged

to

it

since

ancient

times

and

Japanese

moves

to

shore

up

control are illegal.

Passage 2

Vietnam Loses Glow as a Market Darling

Until a few years ago, Vietnam was one of the world's hottest emerging markets.

Now it faces an urgent task: fix a beleaguered banking system or watch its economy

continue to slip behind faster-growing neighbors.

Piles of bad loans following the financial crisis have dragged down growth in

Vietnam and left banks weakened and reluctant to lend.

The government recently acknowledged that nonperforming loans─many made

to inefficient state-

owned companies─could be as high as 10% of the banking system,

substantially higher than reported by individual banks. Fitch Ratings analysts think

the number is as high as 15%.

A record number of firms are declaring bankruptcy, and in the sprawling urban

areas encompassing Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, the landscape is littered with

stalled construction projects as builders run out of cash or put on the brakes as

demand for condominiums and office space dries up.

Vietnam fought off rumors in recent days that it was seeking an International

Monetary Fund bailout for its banking system. An IMF spokeswoman said no

requests for aid had been made. State Bank of Vietnam Deputy Gov. Le Minh Hung

said in a statement on the government's website that the country had no intention of

seeking a rescue.

However, the IMF and others have been advising Vietnam on how to implement

a domestically financed bailout that would restore its banks to health. In its latest

econ

omic review the fund said that ‘

quick

and comprehensive action’

was needed to

solidify weak banks and put the economy on more solid ground.

Fears over Vietnam's banks intensified in August when one of the country's

most prominent tycoons, Nguyen Duc Kien, was arrested for allegedly improperly

lending money to real-estate projects. Efforts to reach Mr. Kien, who now runs a

number of private investment funds and owns Hanoi's main professional soccer club,

have been unsuccessful. Stocks dropped in the days following the arrest, and the Ho

Chi Minh Stock Index is down 18% since the beginning of May.

Vietnam shares fell 2.2% Monday, led by selling in property-related stocks after

state media reports suggested real- estate developers are trying to cut prices to boost

sales of apartments.

Economists warn that Vietnam has entered a dangerous cycle where banks,

saddled with bad debts, are unwilling to lend, making it harder for businesses to invest.

That feeds into slower growth, which in turn makes it harder for companies to pay

back loans, again harming the banks.

The result is that Vietnam's economy is likely to grow below its potential for

years to come, unless stronger steps are taken to clean up the banks, economists say.

'I don't think there's any quick fix to a problem like this, as you see in the West.

It takes time to work through a solution' to a banking crisis, says Gareth Leather, an

economist at Capital Economics. He figures Vietnam's economy will grow at closer to

a 5% rate in coming years than the 8% the country enjoyed through much of the

previous decade. Although higher than growth rates in the West, 5% is considered

slow for a developing Asian country like Vietnam and might not be fast enough to

generate sufficient jobs to keep its growing population employed.

The government this month revised its forecast for 2012 growth down to 5.2%

from 6% previously.

Vietnam's leaders have acknowledged that a fix is needed. Prime Minister

Nguyen Tan Dung in March approved a three-year restructuring plan for the banking

sector designed to strengthen the country's largest banks and encourage a series of

mergers among smaller lenders, but officials appear uncertain about how to put the

blueprint into effect.

Plans to launch a 'bad bank' to buy up distressed assets have been discussed, but

a foreign investor familiar with government discussions say implementing such a

solution is being delayed by Hanoi's lack of expertise in managing a modern banking

system.

Passage 3

China Rallies Behind its Swimming Prodigy

China has a new sports hero in Ye Shiwen, who blew past world and

Olympic records in recent days in a trio of stunning performances that her

supporters attribute to her determination, powerful build and oversize feet.

So

when

a

few

figures

in

the

swimming

world

questioned

her

accomplishments

─

capped Tuesday by an Olympic record-setting gold in

the 200-meter individual medley

─

a nation swelling with pride over its

growing tally of Olympic medals leapt to her defense.

'Speechless!

Envy

should

not

taint

the

innocence

of

China's

national

talent,'

wrote

one

Chinese

citizen

on

Sina

Weibo,

China's

Twitter-like

microblogging

service.

Ye's

own

Weibo

account─where

she

declares

herself

a

Pisces─had

about

200,000

followers

as

of

Tuesday,

with

hundreds

still

joining,

and

her

account

was

filled

with

messages

of

support.

Eyebrows arched in the swimming world when Ye set a world record

Saturday

with

4:28.43

in

the

400-meter

race

and

followed

it

with

an

Olympic

record

Monday

with

a

time

of

2:07.57

in

the

200-meter

individual medley. On Saturday her speed during the last 50 meters even

exceeded that of male U.S. medal winner Ryan Lochte.

Skeptics noted that Chinese swimmers have been caught in the past

using

performance-enhancing

substances.

World

Swimming

Coaches

Association executive director John Leonard set off a firestorm Monday

when

he

said

publicly

that

he

found

Ye's

win

'disturbing.'

World

Swimming Coaches Association executive director John Leonard set off a

firestorm

Monday

when

he

said

publicly

that

he

found

Ye's

win

'disturbing.'

Ye's 400-medley performance was either 'the greatest swim in history,'

Leonard

said

in

an

interview

on

Tuesday,

or

'something

that

is

not

correct.'

He

added

that

he

had

received

several

emails

accusing

him

of

racism after his comments were published.

But Ye's father and coaches defended a 16-year-old girl who they say

is strong-spirited but sometimes timid and self- doubting, and who reads

and cross- stitches on the weekends. 'Some suspicion is expected from the

West, which typically questions Chinese athletes and tends to be a little

arrogant,'

said

her

father,

Ye

Qingsong,

in

an

interview.

He

added,

'Chinese athletes have been tested and the results will prove [the truth].'

After winning gold Tuesday night in a close race, Ye said, 'I didn't

expect the others to be so fast. I was surprised.' Still, she said, 'I couldn't

lose the race.'