VOA慢速英语：美国出钱清理越战中使用的橙剂

The United States announced a contract earlier this month worth up to $29 million to clean a chemical contamination in Vietnam.

本月早些时候，美国宣布了一项价值2900万美元的合同，用于清理越南的一处化学污染。

The Bien Hoa Air Base in southern Vietnam is contaminated with dioxin from U.S. military actions during the Vietnam War. American forces used the herbicide Agent Orange widely during the conflict. Dioxin is one of the poisonous chemicals in Agent Orange.

越南南部的边和空军基地因美国在越南战争期间的军事行动而受到二恶英的污染。美国军队在冲突期间广泛使用除草剂——橙剂。二恶英是橙剂中的一种有毒化学物质。

The announcement of the contract is the most recent attempt to show cooperation between the two countries. It comes at the 50-year anniversary of the so-called Christmas bombings. In December 1972, U.S. forces dropped 20,000 tons of bombs on the cities of Hanoi and Haiphong.

该合同的宣布是两国寻求合作的最新尝试。时间点也是所谓的圣诞爆炸50周年之际。1972年12月，美军在河内和海防投下了2万吨炸弹。

The conflict ended in 1975.

冲突于1975年结束。

The nations now work together on trade issues, climate change, and the legacies of the war. However, disagreements remain.

两国现在在贸易问题、气候变化和战争遗留问题上展开合作。然而，分歧仍然存在。

This announcement represents the United States' commitment to our partnership with Vietnam, said Aler Grubbs, director of the U.S. Agency for International Development's (USAID)Vietnam office.

“这一声明代表了美国对其与越南的伙伴关系的承诺。”美国国际开发署(USAID)驻越南办事处的负责人阿勒·格拉布斯说。

The agency said it finished a similar project in 2018 to clean up Agent Orange and other chemicals around Da Nang in central Vietnam. It said Bien Hoa would require dealing with four times as much soil as the Da Nang project.

该机构表示，它在2018年完成了一个类似的项目，清理越南中部岘港附近的橙剂和其他化学品。它说，边和需要处理的土壤面积是岘港项目的四倍。

Agent Orange is believed to be a cause of birth defects, cancers and skin disease, among other things.

橙剂被认为是导致出生缺陷、癌症和皮肤病等疾病的原因之一。

Both the U.S. and Vietnamese governments are working on the cleanup across the country. The project is estimated to last more than 10 years at a cost of about $450 million. Washington said it expects to spend $300 million overall and has put more than $163 million towards the cleanup so far.

美国和越南政府都在全国范围内开展清理工作。这项工程预计持续超过10年，耗资约4.5亿元。华盛顿表示，预计总共将花费3亿美元，到目前为止已经投入了超过1.63亿美元用于清理工作。

While the two countries have made progress working together, the U.S. has expressed worry about some issues. It wants Vietnam to announce support for freedom of speech and to release political prisoners. Vietnam, however, denies it has any such prisoners.

尽管两国在合作方面取得了进展，但美国对一些问题表达了担忧。美国希望越南宣布支持言论自由，并释放政治犯。然而，越南否认有这样的囚犯。

U.S. Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken said December 2 that Vietnam would be put on a "Special Watch List" for practicing or allowing "severe violations of religious freedom," along with Algeria, the Central African Republic, and Comoros.

美国国务卿安东尼·布林肯12月2日表示，越南将与阿尔及利亚、中非共和国和科摩罗一起被列入严重侵犯宗教自由的“特别观察名单”。

Vietnam's Foreign Affairs Ministry did not accept being put on the watch list.

越南外交部不接受被列入特别观察名单。

Recently Vietnam has been finalizing the legal system and the policies on religion and belief, the ministry said in response on December 15.

越南外交部在12月15日的回应中表示:“最近，越南正在确定有关宗教信仰的法律制度和政策。”

The ministry claimed the international community has recognized Vietnam's work on freedom of religion and beliefs.

越南外交部表示，国际社会已经认可越南在宗教和信仰自由方面所做的工作。

Meanwhile, the U.S. is trying to increase cooperation in areas such as environmental health and safety, USAID official Grubbs said.

美国国际开发署官员格拉布斯说，与此同时，美国正努力加强在环境健康和安全等领域的合作。

I'm Andrew Smith.

安德鲁·史密斯报道。