蒂勒森要求東盟降低和朝鮮的外交關係

The United States is rallying Southeast Asian countries to advance Washington's approach to address North Korea's threats and to uphold principles including freedom of navigation in the South China Sea. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, in his first meeting with all members of the 10-nation Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) on Thursday, asked the bloc to speak in one voice to tackle North Korea's nuclear and missile proliferation.

“Very specifically, the U.S. is asking countries, including our partners in ASEAN, to take efforts to deny the revenue streams that North Korea has enjoyed around the region, and to take a look at the diplomatic relations to minimize them,” Patrick Murphy, deputy assistant secretary of state for Southeast Asia, said in a telephone briefing on Thursday. “So that North Korea does not gain benefit from its diplomatic channels for its nuclear and missile aspirations,” Murphy added.

All ASEAN members have diplomatic relations with North Korea. Eight of them host North Korean embassies and five have embassies in Pyongyang.

Washington said there was a shared concern among the Southeast Asian bloc that North Korea's provocation has threatened the stability and peace in the Asia-Pacific region and around the globe.

Some countries have told the U.S. they “are taking measures and steps, relooking (at) the size of North Korea's diplomatic presence in individual countries, their activities, their commercial transactions that are conducted under diplomatic cover in the light,” Murphy said.

On the South China Sea, Secretary Tillerson made a particular appeal to his counterparts that all parties involved to “stop militarization, construction and reclamation of land in the South China Sea area” while talks are going on.美國爭取東南亞國家的支持來推動解決朝鮮的威脅並維護包括南中國海航行自由在內的原則。星期四在和東盟十國官員的首次會晤中，美國國務卿蒂勒森要求東盟各國在解決朝鮮核項目和導彈擴散的問題上統一立場。

國務院負責東南亞事務的副助理國務卿帕特里克·墨菲星期四在電話記者會上說：“非常具體地說，美國要求其他國家，包括我們的合作伙伴東盟成員國，努力切斷朝鮮在這個地區的收入來源，降低和他們的外交關係，使朝鮮無法從外交渠道爲其核項目和導彈項目獲得好處。”

東盟所有國家都同朝鮮有外交關係，其中8個國家設有朝鮮大使館，5個國家在朝鮮設有大使館。

美國說，東盟國家都擔心，朝鮮的挑釁正威脅到亞太乃至全球的穩定與和平。

副助理國務卿帕特里克·墨菲說，一些國家已經告訴美國，他們”將採取措施和步驟，重新審視朝鮮在駐在國使團的規模、活動以及打着外交旗號進行的商業交易。

在南中國海問題上，蒂勒森向東盟國家外長髮出呼籲說，在談判進行期間，所有各方都應“停止在南中國海地區進行軍事化、建築活動和填海造島”。