01-10-08

美中高级外交官员下周在北京会晤 (Senior Chinese, US Diplomats to Meet in Beijing Next Week)

北京说，中国和美国的外交官员下星期将在北京举行会谈，讨论双边关系及国际问题。中国外交部说，会谈将由中国外交部副部长戴秉国和美国副国务卿内格罗蓬特率领的代表团进行。中国外交部还说，两国代表团将在下星期四和星期五举行会谈。

这次美中会谈将是双方2005年8月发起的“高层对话”的第5轮。北京没有进一步提供下星期会谈日程的细节。双方最近的讨论集中在中国对美国的巨大贸易顺差以及遏制北韩及伊朗核野心的国际努力。

Beijing says senior Chinese and American diplomats will meet in China next week to discuss bilateral relations and international issues. China's foreign ministry says the talks will be led by Chinese Deputy Foreign Minister Dai Bingguo and U.S. Deputy
Secretary of State John Negroponte. It says the two delegations will meet next Thursday and Friday.

The U.S.-China talks will be the fifth round of a high-level dialogue launched by the two sides in August 2005. Beijing did not give further details about the agenda of next week's meetings. Recent discussions have focused on China's large trade surplus with the United States and international efforts to curb the nuclear ambitions of North Korea and Iran.

韩国法庭裁决议员可对当选总统展开调查 (South Korean Court Says Lawmakers Can Proceed With Probe Against President Elect)

韩国宪法法庭裁决说，对当选总统李明博涉嫌金融欺诈指控的特别调查可以进行。法庭星期四的裁决为一名特别检察官最早下星期开始调查李明博被指与2001年一起股票操控丑闻有牵连铺平了道路。调查预计会在李明博2月25号宣誓就职时完成。

法庭的裁决是对李明博的一些亲属和商业夥伴上星期提出的一项要求做出的回应。他们声称这项调查违宪。韩国检察官已经认定对李明博的指控不成立，但是他的政治对手在李明博以压倒优势赢得上个月总统大选胜利的前几天提出了此案的新证据。

李明博否认这些诈骗指称，并保证如果被判定有罪，他将放弃总统职位。

South Korea's Constitutional Court has ruled that a special investigation into financial fraud allegations against President-elect Lee Myung-bak can proceed. The court's decision Thursday clears the way for a special prosecutor to begin investigating Mr. Lee's alleged links to a 2001 stock manipulation scandal as early as next week. The investigation is expected to wrap up around the time Mr. Lee is sworn into office on February 25th.

The court's decision was a response to a request last week from a group of Mr. Lee's relatives and business partners who claimed the probe was unconstitutional. Prosecutors have already cleared him of the charges, but his political opponents produced new evidence in the case days before he won a landslide victory in last month's presidential race. 

Mr. Lee denies the fraud allegations and has pledged to abandon his presidency if found at fault.