美国敦促非洲国家切断与朝鲜的联系

The US is stepping up pressure on African states to cut longstanding military and diplomatic ties with North Korea as part of its push to squeeze the funding of Kim Jong Un’s nuclear missile programme.

美国正在加大对非洲国家的压力，要求它们切断与朝鲜的长期军事和外交联系。这是美国挤压金正恩(Kim Jong Un)核导计划筹资努力的一部分。

US officials want African countries to expel North Korean workers and diplomats, alleging that Pyongyang’s 13 embassies on the continent double up as “profit making centres”.

美国官员希望非洲国家驱逐朝鲜工人和外交官。他们宣称，平壤方面在非洲大陆的13个大使馆还扮演着“利润制造中心”的角色。

Washington says Pyongyang, which is seeking to develop nuclear missiles that can hit American cities, is using its military co-operation and arms deals with African states to obtain precious foreign currency. It also accuses some of the several thousand North Koreans believed to be living in Africa, including diplomats, of trafficking wildlife parts, such as rhino horn, another relatively easy source of foreign currency.

华盛顿方面表示，平壤方面正利用与非洲国家的军事合作和武器交易获取宝贵的外汇——朝鲜正在寻求研发可打到美国城市的核导弹。它还指称，据信在非洲生活的几千名朝鲜人当中，包括外交官在内的一些人在贩卖犀牛角等野生动物器官。后者也是朝鲜一个相对容易的外汇来源。

US officials estimate that Pyongyang makes at least $100m through the supply of arms, military training, construction contracts and smuggling.

美国官员估计，平壤方面通过军火供应、军事训练、建设合同和走私至少赚了1亿美元。

Peter Pham, head of the Atlantic Council’s Africa Center in Washington, said that, although it might seem like “chump change”, it was “a fairly significant sum to the regime given the overall squeeze on its finances.” It was roughly 3-5 per cent of Pyongyang’s total annual foreign exchange earnings, he said.

华盛顿大西洋理事会(Atlantic Council)非洲中心负责人Peter Pham表示，虽然这些钱看起来“没有多少”，但“鉴于朝鲜金融受到全面制裁，对其而言数目还是相当可观的”。他说，它大约占到朝鲜年度外汇收入总额的3%至5%。

Last September, a UN panel of experts identified 11 African countries — Angola, Benin, Botswana, Democratic Republic of Congo, Eritrea, Mali, Mozambique, Namibia, Tanzania, Uganda and Zimbabwe — as having suspected military ties to Pyongyang.

去年9月，一个联合国专家小组确定了涉嫌与平壤方面有军事联系的11个非洲国家——安哥拉、贝宁、博茨瓦纳、刚果民主共和国、厄立特里亚、马里、莫桑比克、纳米比亚、坦桑尼亚、乌干达和津巴布韦。

Some African countries, including Sudan, which the US lists as a sponsor of terrorism, have responded to Washington’s demands in an effort to curry favour and extract concessions. Last October, after Khartoum committed itself to downgrading North Korea ties, the US eased some sanctions. Namibia also initiated steps to cut military ties.

包括被美国列为恐怖主义资助者的苏丹在内的一些非洲国家对华盛顿方面的要求做出了回应，以试图讨好美国和获得让步。去年10月，在苏丹承诺降级与朝鲜的关系之后，美国放松了一些制裁。纳米比亚也主动减少了与朝鲜的军事联系。