01-10-08

美中高級外交官員下周在北京會晤 (Senior Chinese, US Diplomats to Meet in Beijing Next Week)

北京說，中國和美國的外交官員下星期將在北京舉行會談，討論雙邊關係及國際問題。中國外交部說，會談將由中國外交部副部長戴秉國和美國副國務卿內格羅蓬特率領的代表團進行。中國外交部還說，兩國代表團將在下星期四和星期五舉行會談。

這次美中會談將是雙方2005年8月發起的“高層對話”的第5輪。北京沒有進一步提供下星期會談日程的細節。雙方最近的討論集中在中國對美國的巨大貿易順差以及遏制北韓及伊朗核野心的國際努力。

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.

南韓法庭裁決議員可對當選總統展開調查 (South Korean Court Says Lawmakers Can Proceed With Probe Against President Elect)

南韓憲法法庭裁決說，對當選總統李明博涉嫌金融欺詐指控的特別調查可以進行。法庭星期四的裁決為一名特別檢察官最早下星期開始調查李明博被指與2001年一起股票操控醜聞有牽連鋪平了道路。調查預計會在李明博2月25號宣誓就職時完成。

法庭的裁決是對李明博的一些親屬和商業夥伴上星期提出的一項要求做出的回應。他們聲稱這項調查違憲。南韓檢察官已經認定對李明博的指控不成立，但是他的政治對手在李明博以壓倒優勢贏得上個月總統大選勝利的前幾天提出了此案的新證據。

李明博否認這些詐騙指稱，並保證如果被判定有罪，他將放棄總統職位。

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.