UN scrutinises N Korea images

　　UN officials are studying images of military equipment paraded by North Korea at the weekend after a tip-off that one of the new missile launchers included significant Chinese technology that could put Beijing in breach of international sanctions against Pyongyang.

　　联合国官员正在研究上周末朝鲜阅兵式上亮相的军事装备的图片。此前，有人举报称，其中一种新型导弹发射车采用了大量中国技术，这可能意味着中国违反了国际社会对朝鲜的制裁。

　　The panel of experts that advises the UN Security Council’s sanctions committee, which is charged with monitoring compliance with UN resolutions passed in 2006 and 2009, is studying images of the transporter bearing a large new North Korean missile. The images were passed to the panel by IHS Jane’s, the military analysts.

　　联合国安理会制裁委员会负责监督2006年和2009年通过的联合国决议的遵守情况。为该委员会提供咨询的一个专家小组正在研究朝鲜一款新式大型导弹的运输车的图片。这些图片是由军事分析机构简氏防务(IHS Jane’s)转交给该专家小组的。

　　In an email seen by the Financial Times, a senior UN official close to the committee states his intention to pass the matter to the expert panel. The secretive panel rarely makes its findings public and has only investigated two similar cases, according to a report leaked last year. South Korean officials are also said to be studying the images.

　　英国《金融时报》看到的一封电子邮件显示，接近制裁委员会的一名联合国高官表明，他有意将此事移交专家小组。这个行事隐秘的小组很少公开其分析结果，而且根据去年泄露的一份报告，该小组迄今仅调查过两个类似案例。韩国官员据悉也在研究这些图片。

　　Past parades and intelligence have revealed Iranian involvement in North Korea’s big weapons programmes but not that of China, which maintains that it adheres to the sanctions regime. China is also integral to the diplomatic dialogue between Pyongyang, Washington, Japan, South Korea and the European Union.

　　以往的阅兵式和情报曾揭示，伊朗参与了朝鲜的大型武器计划，但没有迹象显示中国参与。中国坚称其严格遵守制裁制度。中国还在朝鲜、美国、日本、韩国以及欧盟之间的外交对话中，扮演着不可或缺的角色。

　　Marcus Noland, deputy director at the Petersen Institute for International Economics and an expert on North Korea, said China would lose its veil of “honest broker” if Beijing was found to be passing on military equipment or knowhow to North Korea in violation of resolutions it says it supports.

　　位于华盛顿的彼得森国际经济研究所 (Petersen Institute for International Economics)副所长、朝鲜问题专家马库斯•诺兰(Marcus Noland)表示，如果北京方面被发现向朝鲜转移军事装备或技术专长、违反其宣称支持的联合国决议，那么中国将失去“诚实中间人”的招牌。

　　“This would be really big, it really changes things. If China is seen to be violating Security Council sanctions by helping to militarise North Korea, it puts China in a different light and changes the diplomatic relations between it and South Korea, Japan and the US,” he said.

　　“这是一桩大事，它真的能改变格局。如果中国被认为违反安理会制裁，帮助朝鲜军事化，那将改变中国的形象，改变中国与韩国、日本和美国的外交关系，”他表示。

　　“It would also heat up the US presidential election with [the Republican candidate Mitt] Romney going after [President Barack] Obama for being weak on China.”

　　“这件事也将使美国总统竞选更趋激烈，（共和党候选人）米特•罗姆尼(Mitt Romney)会指责巴拉克•奥巴马(Barack Obama)对中国太软弱。”

　　The vehicle under examination is a transporter erector launcher, or TEL, that can carry, elevate to launch position and fire a missile. Some – though not all – analysts believe its main modifications are based on a design from the Ninth Academy of the China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation, also known as the WoSang truck factory, which produces a series of TELs used to deploy short and medium-range ballistic missiles.

　　各方密切关注的朝鲜导弹运输车是一种运输-架设-发射车(TEL)，能够运输一枚导弹，使其进入发射位置，然后直接发射。一些（尽管不是全部）分析人士相信，其主要改良是基于中国航天科工集团公司第九研究院(Ninth Academy of the China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation)的一种设计，这个单位亦称为万山特种车辆有限公司，生产各型用于部署中短程弹道导弹的TEL车辆。

　　If confirmed, China’s involvement could breach UN Security Council resolution 1874.

　　若得到证实，中国的参与将违反联合国安理会第1874号决议。

　　However, the UN panel would have to show that the technology was passed to North Korea after the sanctions on major military equipment came into force in 2006. That could prove difficult unless the US, which has the world’s most sophisticated analysis capabilities, saw it in its interest to take up the issue.

　　不过，联合国的专家小组将必须证明，相关技术是在2006年有关大型军事装备的制裁实施后转移给朝鲜的。这一点可能有难度，除非拥有全球最先进分析能力的美国从自身利益出发，在这个问题上作一番文章。

　　the UN’s sanction’s committee is made up of the members of the Security Council, which include the US and UK, neither the Pentagon nor the Ministry of Defence were willing to confirm their involvement.

　　虽然联合国的制裁委员会是由包括美国和英国在内的安理会成员国组成的，但美英国防部均不愿证实其参与相关工作。

　　Additional reporting by Christian Oliver in Seoul

　　克里斯蒂安•奥利弗(Christian Oliver)首尔补充报道