Một số từ vựng liên quan đến xung đột biển Đông

Xung đột biển đông là một trong những vấn đề nóng và khó giải quyết về quyền lợi kinh tế chính trị giữa các nước thuộc khối ASEAN với Trung Quốc.

In early May 2014, the South China Sea dispute once again captured international headlines when China parked its largest and most modern oil rig, HD-981, 100 nautical miles off the Vietnamese coast and began drilling. Vietnam protested the deployment as a violation of its sovereignty; anti-China protests, peaceful at first and then violent, broke out across the country forcing China to evacuate thousands of its citizens; meanwhile, at sea Vietnamese and Chinese flagged vessels harassed and rammed each other resulting in the sinking of one Vietnamese fishing boat. The HD-981 Incident not only sparked the most serious crisis in Vietnam-China relations since the two countries resumed diplomatic relations in 1991 —and arguably since their 1979 border war— but also reinforced negative trending in the South China Sea that has been readily apparent since tensions experienced an upsurge beginning in 2008.
Source: http://www.cairn-int.info/article-E_PE_143_0035--disputes-in-the-south-china-sea.htm

Một số từ vựng tiêu biểu

• Paracel islands : Hoàng Sa
• Spratly islands : Trường Sa
• Oil rig | ɔɪl rɪɡ | : Dàn khoan dầu
• Sovereignty | ˈsɒvrənti |: Chủ quyền
• Vessel | ˈvesəl | Thuyền
• Clash | klæʃ | : Va chạm
• Exclusive economic zone (EEZ) | ɪkˈskluːsɪv ˌiːkəˈnɒmɪk zəʊn |: Vùng đặc quyền kinh tế
• Nautical miles | ˈnɔːtɪkl̩ maɪlz |: Hải lý
• Continental shelf | ˌkɒntɪˈnentl̩ ʃelf |: Thềm lục địa
• Maritime disputes | ˈmærɪtaɪm dɪˈspjuːts | :Vùng biển tranh chấp
• Tensions | ˈtenʃn̩z |: Căng thẳng
• Riot | ˈraɪət |: Náo loạn
• Provocative | prəˈvɒkətɪv | : Khiêu khích
• Island: | ˈaɪlənd | : Đảo
• Shoal : /ʃoul/ Bãi cát
• Naval guard: | ˈneɪvl̩ ɡɑːd |: Cảnh sát biển
• Water cannon | ˈwɔːtə ˈkænən |: Vòi rồng
• Invasion /in'veiʤn/: Sự xâm lược
• Extortion /iks'tɔ:ʃn/ Sự tống (tiền của...)
• Stubbornness /'stʌbənis/ Tính ngoan cố
• Greedy /'gri:di/ Tham lam
• Scout /skaut/ Do thám
• Arsenal /'ɑ:sinl/ Kho chứa vũ khí
• Warmonger /'wɔ:,mʌɳgə/ Kẻ hiếu chiến
• nine dashes boundary | naɪn ˈdæʃɪz ˈbaʊndri |: Đường lưỡi bò
• United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS)
• Convention /kən'venʃn/ Hiệp định
• Treaty /'tri:ti/ Hiệp ước
• Ally /'æli/ Bạn đồng minh

China insists it has right to put rig off Vietnam

By LOUISE WATT, Associated Press | May 8, 2014 | Updated: May 8, 2014 8:49am

insist (on) sth: cứ khăng khăng 

put rig off: to move out to sea; leave shore;

rig: an oil rig -> a large piece of equipment that is used for taking oil or gas from the ground or the bottom of the sea.

BEIJING (AP) — China insisted Thursday it had every right to drill for oil off Vietnam's coast and warned its neighbor to leave the area around the deep-sea rig where Chinese and Vietnamese ships are engaged in a tense standoff.
Bắc Kinh (AP) - Trung Quốc hôm thứ 5 khăng khăng rằng họ có mọi quyền khoan dầu tại vùng bờ biển Việt Nam và khuyến cáo người hàng xóm (Việt Nam) tránh khu vực xung quanh dàn khoan dầu nơi mà các tàu của Việt Nam và Trung Quốc đã trong xung đột 

With the ships jostling each other since China deployed the rig last weekend in disputed South China Sea waters, the United States warned both sides to de-escalate tensions and urged China to clarify its claims to the territory.

The stalemate underlines the apparently intractable nature of many of China's territorial disputes with its neighbors and the ship standoff — with both sides accusing the other of ramming ships — has raised the possibility of a conflict in the South China Sea's most serious incident in years.

Vietnam's main stock market index recorded its biggest one-day drop since 2001 on fears of a protracted stalemate or possible conflict between the neighboring nations, which have fought two naval skirmishes in the waters since 1974 and have history of conflict going back 1,000 years.

The standoff started May 1 when China moved a deep sea oil rig into waters close to the Paracel Islands in what most analysts believe was an especially assertive move to help cement its claims of sovereignty over the area. Vietnam, which says the islands belong to it, immediately dispatched ships.

On Wednesday, Vietnam said Chinese vessels had repeatedly rammed and fired water cannons at its ships, damaging several of them, and showed video footage of the incidents. China insists it is doing nothing wrong and said Thursday it had "maintained a lot of restraint" in the face of "intensive provocations" by Vietnam that were endangering its personnel and property.

It has said it will continue with its drilling activities while the area is typhoon-free in May, June and July.

"It's the Vietnamese vessels that are provoking this issue. It's the Vietnamese vessels that are ramming into Chinese vessels," said Yi Xianliang, deputy director general of the department of Boundary and Ocean Affairs of China's Foreign Ministry.

Yi said China's operations in the waters were "completely legal, legitimate and justified" because the waters were "China's inherent territory."

He said Vietnam had within five days dispatched 35 vessels that had rammed Chinese ships 171 times. He said the Vietnamese ships included armed vessels, but on the Chinese side there were only civilian or non-armed government vessels.

Yi said China stood ready to discuss the issue with Vietnam, "but the precondition is that Vietnam must put an end to the disruption of Chinese operations and must remove its vessels and personnel at the scene."

Ngo Ngoc Thu, deputy commander of Vietnam Coast Guard, said the situation remained tense but there had been no contact Thursday.
Tư lệnh phó Cảnh sát biển Việt Nam (Lực lượng phòng hộ bờ biển Việt Nam) Ngo Ngoc Thu nói rằng tình hình vẫn còn căng thẳng nhưng đã có không liên lạc hôm thứ năm.

"The two sides are still shadow boxing with each other," he told The Associated Press.
Ông còn nói với báo AP rằng hai bên vẫn đang 

China has been increasingly pressing its claims in the South China Sea, which it claims almost in its entirety. This is bringing it into conflict with Vietnam and the Philippines, which also claim parts of the water, as do Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan.
Trung Quốc đang gia tăng áp lực những tuyên bố trong vùng biển Nam Trung Hoa, rằng hầu hết trong vùng của họ.

Li Mingjing, a China security expert at Singapore's Nanyang Technological University, said that while the rig's deployment was primarily part of long-term plans by state-owned China National Offshore Oil Company to exploit energy resources in the South China Sea, it would also consolidate Chinese sovereignty over the area.

"Concessions to Vietnam are extremely unlikely since that would weaken China's territorial claim," Li said.

The United States position is that it doesn't take sides in the dispute, but it too shares regional concerns about China's growing clout. It has criticized Beijing's latest move as "provocative."

Daniel Russel, the assistant secretary of state for East Asia and the Pacific, urged both sides to use restraint and avoid taking unilateral actions, and urged China to detail its legal claims to the waters.
avoid taking uniteral actions: tránh dẫn đến hành động đơn phương.
unilateral (a) done by one member of a group or an organization without the agreement of the other members. 

"The global economy and the region's economy are too important and too fragile to brook the possibility of a crisis that could escalate into conflict," he told reporters in the Vietnamese capital, Hanoi. "My simple message is to restate the importance of restraint, dialogue and adherence to international law."

___

AP writers Chris Brummitt in Hanoi and Christopher Bodeen in Beijing contributed to this report.

This Is What's Happening in Venezuela Right Now

http://www.policymic.com/articles/82777/this-is-what-s-happening-in-venezuela-right-now

There is a crisis in Venezuela. Already one of the most violent places on Earth — a person is murdered every 21 minutes, and there were roughly 24,700 violent deaths last year — the country is in the throes of a massive shake-up.
[Có một cuộc khủng hoảng ở Venezuela. Một trong những nơi bạo lực nhất trên trái đât này - cứ 21 phút có một người bị giết/ám sát, và có khoảng gần 24,700 cái chết vì bạo lực năm qua - đất nước đang ở trong tình hình xung đột/căng thẳng]

murder (kill someone unlawfully and with premeditation)
throes (pl.n.) intense (áp lực, căng thẳng) or violent pain and struggle (đấu tranh và nổi đau bạo lực)

For the past few months, Leopold López has led an opposition movement against President Nicolas Maduro's government, which has been running the country into the ground. Since taking over for the deceased Hugo Chávez in April 2013, Maduro has led Venezuela to 56% inflation rate and a 50% increase in the budget deficit, prompting China to cut back on its $20 billion loan, and Moody's and Standard & Poor to downgrade Venezuelan bonds to "junk" status. Additionally, the once-strong dollar has dropped from an 8 to 1 exchange rate relative to the U.S. dollar at Chávez's death, to a disastrous 87 to 1. In response, Maduro has taken to blaming U.S.-backed "fascists" and the "parasitic bourgeoisie." He has also called for more state intervention. This has only made things harder for the private sector, which has since made it nearly impossible for Venezuelans to get food and other basic material necessities.
[Chừng một vài tháng qua, Leopold López đã lãnh đạo phe/luồng/thay đổi/di chuyển đối lập với/chống chính phủ của tổng thống Nicolas Maduro, một chính phủ mà đã và đang dẫn đắt đất nước đi xuống. Kể từ lúc  Maduro đã đưa Venezuela chạm tới mức lạm phát 56% và gia tăng 50% thâm hụt ngân sách]

deficit (n)
độ hụt: mass deficit: độ hụt khối lượng
sự hụt :
sự thiếu:
oxygen deficit: sự thiếu ô xi
budget deficit: thâm hụt ngân sách
deficit reactivity: độ phản ứng hụt
federal (budget) deficit: thiếu hụt ngân sách liên bang
creative deficit: thiếu sáng tạo 

Consequently, people like López have been leading dissatisfied Venezuelans in protest. But it wasn't until Venezuela's Youth Day last week that things really took a bad turn. Swarms of young people — mostly aged 18 to 25 — took to the streets to peacefully protest Maduro's poor governance, but state police quickly tried to corral them. At least three protesters were shot dead and many more were injured. Maduro has since charged López with terrorism and murder for inciting the riots where Maduro's government killed people.
[Và sau đó là/Do đó/Hậu quả là, người dân thích López đã dẫn đầu những người Venezuela bất mãn trong cuộc biểu tình/march: cuộc tuần hành. Nhưng nó không là như thế cho đến Ngày Thanh Niên Venezuela cuối tuần rồi mà nhiều thứ thật sự đã đến một tình trạng tồi tệ. Nhiều nhóm đông thanh niên/tuổi trẻ/người trẻ - phần lớn tuổi từ 18 đến 25 - xuống đường để phản đối biểu tình một cách hòa bình chống lại điều hành chính phủ yếu kém của ông Maduro, nhưng cảnh sát chính phủ/liên bang cố gắng bao vây họ một cách nhanh chóng. Có ít nhất 3 người biểu tình bị bắn đến chết (shot dead) và nhiều người trong số tham gia biểu tình bị thương. Madduro]

protest (v) sth: chống lại,
poor governance: sự điều hành chính phủ yếu kém
corral (n & v) sth means to force horses ro cows into a corral (in N. Am: a fenced (được rào, bao quanh, di bằng hàng rào) area/vùng được di lại -> for horses, cows etc. on a farm or ranch: nơi để nhốt ngựa, bò - vùng rộng ở vùng Texas chẳng hạn)

Since then, more young people have protested Maduro's government and the awful treatment of the Venezuelan people, especially the young people who have died during these demonstrations. Because of the government's tight control of the news outlets and television networks, very little coverage has seeped out of the country. Young people have been using Twitter and other forms of social media to organize, but the government's crackdown on dissent has been swift and severe.

Maduro and his many arms of government have sworn to put a hard stop to these protests and opposition groups. But the situation is spiraling further and further out of control each day. As Businessweek points out, the last time Venezuela experienced such aggressive instability was during the 1989 Caracazo riots, which led to the regime change that placed Hugo Chávezin power.