美商務部擬對中興實施技術出口限制
HONG KONG — ZTE is one of China’s few truly international electronics firms. Yet American companies will now need special permission to sell to it.
香港——中興通訊(ZTE)是中國爲數不多的幾個真正國際化的電子企業之一。但美國公司現在將需要獲得特別的許可，才能向它銷售產品。
The company, which makes smartphones, was found to have violated American sanctions against Iran by selling United States-made goods to the country, according to a Commerce Department statement on Monday. As a result, ZTE will be blocked from buying any technology from American companies without a special license.
美國商務部在週一發表聲明稱，該部發現這家生產智能手機的公司，向伊朗銷售了美國製造的商品，這違反了美國針對伊朗的制裁。因此將禁止中興從美國企業採購任何技術，除非該企業持有專門的許可證。
ZTE planned to “illicitly re-export controlled items to Iran in violation of U.S export laws,” the Commerce Department said. The sanctions against Iran, many of which were recently lifted, were intended to restrict Iran’s nuclear work.
商務部表示，中興計劃“違反美國的出口法規，私自向伊朗再出口管控物品”。美國針對伊朗的制裁，旨在限制伊朗發展核武器，不過其中有不少制裁措施已經在近期取消。
The export controls against ZTE are unusual because such actions are rarely taken against such large companies. The action underscores how important the push is by the United States to gain China’s cooperation in embargoes intended to combat nuclear proliferation.
針對中興通訊採取的出口控制並不多見，因爲美國很少對這樣的大型企業採取此類措施。這一舉動突顯出，美國多麼重視通過施壓，來促使中國配合旨在遏制核武器擴散的貿易禁令。
The export controls are also risky because they could easily prompt a backlash from Beijing. Technology has become an increasingly major sticking point in Chinese-American relations, with Washington having openly accused Chinese government-sponsored hackers of stealing American trade secrets.
此類出口控制措施也存在風險，因爲它們很容易引發北京作出強烈反應。隨着華盛頓公開指責，受中國政府支持的黑客竊取美國商業祕密，技術領域日益成爲了中美關係中的一大難點。
Recent scrutiny in the United States has also scuttled some Chinese investments in American tech companies. ZTE’s much larger domestic competitor, Huawei, is effectively banned from selling its telecom network equipment in the United States.
美國最近的審查行動，也讓一些中國公司對美國科技企業的投資成爲泡影。中興在中國國內有一個規模比它大得多的競爭對手——華爲。這家公司已被禁止在美國出售其電信網絡設備。
Beijing has fought back by increasing scrutiny of American companies’ operations in China. It fined Qualcomm for antitrust violations and raided Microsoft’s offices as part of a continuing investigation.
北京對此予以反擊，加強了對在華經營的美國企業的審視。官方以違反中國的反壟斷法爲由給高通(Qualcomm)開出罰單，並在一項持續多時的調查行動中，對微軟在中國的多個辦公室進行了突擊調查。
Chinese state news media has complained bitterly about revelations from the former National Security Agency contractor Edward J. Snowden about American spying and has called for a domestic purge of United States technology.
對於國家安全局(National Security Agency)前承包商僱員愛德華·J·斯諾登(Edward J. Snowden)披露的美國在華的間諜行動，中國官方媒體曾予以強烈指責，並呼籲在境內消除美國技術。
Although analysts said that the export controls against ZTE were most likely aimed at nuclear proliferation rather than being a new jab in heightened technology trade tensions, China’s interpretation of the action was an open question.
儘管分析人士表示，針對中興的出口控制可能主要是爲遏制核武器擴散，而非進一步刺激本就緊張的中美技術貿易關係，但目前尚不明確中國會如何解讀美國的這一舉措。
“Depending on how both sides read it, this could be a specific case, or it could get overheated and extended,” said Scott Kennedy, a scholar at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a nonprofit research group.
“這取決於雙方如何解讀它，有可能會被看作一個特例，也有可能被激化和擴大，”非營利研究組織國際戰略研究中心(Center for Strategic and International Studies)學者甘思德(Scott Kennedy)說。
Trading of ZTE’s shares was suspended Monday before the announcement. News of the export controls was first reported by Reuters. ZTE was not immediately available for comment.
在美國商務部發出聲明之前，中興的股票已於週一暫停交易。出口控制的消息最早是由路透社報道的。記者未能及時聯繫到中興置評。
ZTE’s status within China is likely to make the export controls big news there. Though not well known in the United States, ZTE is an international champion of the Chinese high-tech industry, with a market capitalization of around $10 billion. After China’s first lady, Peng Liyuan, aroused online criticism by using an Apple iPhone during a 2013 trip to Mexico, she switched to a ZTE phone for a public trip in 2014.
考慮到中興在中國的地位，中國媒體可能會對出口控制進行重點報道。儘管中興在美國並不爲人所知，但它是中國高科技企業國際化的領頭羊，市值約爲100億美元。中國第一夫人彭麗媛2013年訪問墨西哥時使用了蘋果公司的iPhone，這在網上引發了批評。2014年進行公開訪問時，她就換成了一臺中興手機。
In Monday’s statement, the Commerce Department provided two internal ZTE documents to back up the claims that the company was violating sanctions. One, from 2011, signed by several senior ZTE executives, discussed the risks of United States export controls and noted that ZTE had “ongoing projects in all five major embargoed countries — Iran, Sudan, North Korea, Syria and Cuba.” It also said that the Iran project was the “biggest risk.”
在週一的聲明中，美國商務部公佈了兩份中興的內部文件，用以佐證該部對中興提出的違反制裁的指控。其中之一是2011年的一份文件，該文件有多位中興高管簽字，文中討論了美國實施出口控制的風險，並提到“目前我司在伊朗、蘇丹、朝鮮、敘利亞、古巴五大禁運國都有在執行的項目”。它還表示，伊朗的項目是“風險最大”的一個。
In the other document, ZTE mapped out the way it could circumvent American export controls in a complex flow chart, including using a “shell” company structure.
在另一份文件中，中興用一個複雜的流程圖，擬定了規避美國出口控制的辦法，包括採用一個“空殼”公司的結構。
The new export controls are likely to make business difficult for ZTE. Though the company sells its own branded smartphones and telecom infrastructure equipment, it buys components from American tech companies, using, for example, Qualcomm chips in some of its phones. Given the complexity of the electronics supply chain and the mass production of specific devices, it will probably prove costly for ZTE to shuffle the design and sourcing for its products.
美國新實施的出口控制，可能會讓中興比較難做生意。儘管該公司出售自有品牌的智能手機和電信基礎設備，但它也會從美國技術企業採購部件，比如在它的某些手機中採用高通的芯片。考慮到電子行業供應鏈和特殊設備大規模生產的複雜性，它可能會讓中興在調整設計和爲其產品採購部件時，付出不小的代價。
Daniel H. Rosen, a partner at the research firm Rhodium Group, said that given ZTE’s behavior, it would have “required an extraordinary degree of confidence building” between the United States and China to avoid the current situation.
研究公司榮鼎諮詢(Rhodium Group)合夥人榮大聶(Daniel H. Rosen)表示，考慮到中興的行爲，要避免出現目前的狀況，需要中美之間“建立起非同尋常的信任”。
“That does not appear to have taken place,” he said.
“這點似乎不太可能實現，”他說。
