Chinese Telecom Firm Finds Warmer Welcome in Europe
华为中兴在欧洲更受欢迎
PARIS — A month ago, as a U.S. congressional committee prepared to warn American telecommunications networks against doing business with two Chinese suppliers, the founder of one of those companies, Huawei, posed for photos with Prime Minister David Cameron of Britain in front of the fireplace at 10 Downing Street in London.
巴黎——一个月以前，就在美国国会的一个委员会准备警告美国电信网络公司，不要和中国的两家设备供应商进行业务往来的时候，其中一家中国公司——华为的创始人正在伦敦唐宁街10号的壁炉前，与英国首相戴维·卡梅伦(David Cameron)合影。
Declaring that Britain was “open for business,” Mr. Cameron announced that Ren Zhengfei, the chief executive of Huawei, had agreed to expand the company’s already sizable operations in Britain with an investment of £1.2 billion, or $2 billion, including the creation of 700 jobs over the next five years.
卡梅伦宣称英国“对商业活动是开放的”，并宣布华为的首席执行官任正非已经同意斥资12亿英镑，约合20亿美元（约合121亿元人民币），在英国扩展其目前已经相当庞大的业务规模，包括在未来五年里为当地创造700个工作机会。
“The British government values the important relationship with China,” Mr. Cameron said at the time. “Both countries have much to offer each other, and the business environment we are creating in the U.K. allows us to maximize this potential.”
“英国政府珍视和中国的重要关系，”卡梅伦当时说，“两国能在很多方面实现互利互惠，英国正在营造的商业环境能使双方在最大程度上实现这种潜力。”
The reception given to Mr. Ren and his company in Britain, and across much of Europe, differs strikingly from the suspicion that has met Huawei and another Chinese equipment provider, ZTE, in Washington. On Monday, the Intelligence Committee in the U.S. House of Representatives branded the companies security threats, raising the possibility that their gear could be used to spy on American interests if used in U.S. telecommunications networks.
任正非和他的公司在英国以及其他欧洲国家所受到的礼遇，与华为和另外一家中国设备供应商中兴通讯在华盛顿遭受的猜忌实有天壤之别。本周一，美国众议院特别情报委员会(Intelligence Committee in the U.S. House of Representatives)将这两家公司打上了威胁美国国家安全的标签。报告提出，这两家公司的设备如果为美国电信运营商所用，可能会被中方用于暗中搜集与美国国家利益有关的情报。
Huawei has rejected the allegations as “little more than an exercise in China bashing and misguided protectionism.”
华为驳斥了这项指控，称它“不过是美方用以攻击中国的举动，和错误的贸易保护主义”。
As the second largest supplier of telecommunications network equipment, after Ericsson of Sweden, Huawei generated only 4 percent of its $32.4 billion in revenue in 2011 in the United States. By contrast, Europe accounted for nearly 12 percent of that total, and its share is increasing fast; European sales rose by 26 percent last year, more than twice the company’s worldwide growth rate.
华为是瑞典爱立信公司(Ericsson)之后的全球第二大电信网络设备供应商。2011年，华为在美国的营业收益只有324亿美元(约合2039亿元人民币)。与此相反，欧洲市场在华为的总收益中占到了12%，而且份额还在快速增加；去年，华为在欧洲的销售额增长了26%，是公司全球增长的两倍还多。
Huawei counts as its customers many of the biggest telecommunications companies in Europe, including BT and Vodafone of Britain, Telefónica of Spain and Everything Everywhere, a partnership between France Télécom and Deutsche Telekom in Britain. The company’s equipment is in high demand, analysts say, as those companies scramble to roll out next-generation wireless broadband networks.
华为的客户中包括许多欧洲最大的电信运营商，包括英国电信公司(BT)、英国沃达丰(Vodafone of Britain)、西班牙电信公司(Telefónica of Spain)、以及由法国电信(France Télécom)和德国电信(Deutsche Telekom)在英国合资建立的每事每地电信公司(Everything Everywhere)。分析人士称，鉴于这些公司都在争先恐后地推出下一代无线宽带网络设备，华为设备的需求量相当高。
“Europe is almost like a second home market for us,” said Roland Sladek, a spokesman for Huawei.
“欧洲几乎像是我们的第二国内市场，”华为的一位发言人罗兰德·斯拉德克(Roland Sladek)表示。
ZTE’s European telecommunications clients include KPN of the Netherlands. In Sweden, Ericsson’s home turf, it is working with Hutchison Whampoa of Hong Kong on a high-speed wireless network.
中兴在欧洲的电信运营商客户包括荷兰皇家电信公司(KPN of the Netherlands)。在爱立信的老巢瑞典，中兴正和香港和记黄埔合建无线高速网络项目。
Given the typically close cooperation between the United States and Britain on security issues, the trans-Atlantic divide over Huawei is striking. Mr. Cameron’s government said it had no plans to change its relationship with the Chinese company in the wake of the U.S. committee’s recommendations.
考虑到英美一向在安全议题上合作紧密，大西洋两岸对华为的态度分歧令人震惊。卡梅伦政府称，在美国国会表态之后，英国没有计划改变和这家中国公司的关系。
“We have put in place robust procedures that satisfy our security exports,” said a spokesman for the Cabinet Office in London, who asked not to be identified as a matter of government policy. “We recognize, of course, that no systems can be completely invulnerable, but by working together we can mitigate some of the risks.”
“我们设置了严格的流程，符合我们的安全输出要求，”伦敦内阁办公室的一位发言人表示。按照政府政策，他要求匿名。“当然，我们知道，没有哪个系统是完全无懈可击的，不过，通过共同努力，我们能够减轻某些风险。”
In an effort to alleviate concerns, Huawei set up a Cyber Security Evaluation Center two years ago in Banbury, England. There, its engineers work alongside officials of Government Communications Headquarters, a British spy agency, to vet Huawei equipment for use in Britain.
为了减轻客户的担忧，华为于两年前在英格兰班伯里设立了网络安全评估中心。中心的工程师和英国官方的一个情报机构，政府通信总部(Government Communications Headquarters)的官员合作，审查华为为英方提供的设备。
BT, which uses Huawei gear in the metal-clad sidewalk boxes where local telephone lines are fed into the company’s network, considers Huawei a “trusted equipment supplier,” the company said in a statement.
英国电信公司在一份声明中称，他们认为华为是“值得信赖的设备提供商”。英国电信在人行道边的金属包覆集线盒中使用了华为的设备，盒里的电话线被接入英国电信公司的网络。
“We find them to be good value and high quality — that’s why they have been chosen as a supplier in a fiercely competitive international market,” BT added.
英国电信公司补充说，“我们发现，华为提供的设备性价比很高。因此，在激烈竞争的国际市场上，他们被选择成为我们的供应商。”
The company declined to comment on whether it had received any requests from U.S. officials to stop doing business with Huawei. The Cabinet Office spokesman said he was unaware of any such pressure.
该公司不愿就是否已接到美国官员要求停止与华为进行业务往来一事做出评论。内阁办公室发言人称，他并不知晓是否存在任何这方面的压力。
“We don’t see this as an issue that affects our relationship,” he said.
“我不认为这是个问题，也不认为它会影响我们和华为之间的关系，”他说。
The U.S. House committee said Huawei and ZTE had offered to set up review systems to address U.S. concerns, like the possibility of “back doors” that would allow Chinese government officials to tap into U.S. telecommunications traffic. But the committee’s report says that unlike in Britain, the companies offered only to let outside security contractors, rather than government officials, do the monitoring.
美国众议院特别情报委员会说，华为和中兴已提出愿意建立审核系统化解美国的担忧，比如有关是否存在系统“后门”使中国政府官员可以进入美国通信系统的担忧。不过，委员会的报告称，与在英国的运作不同，这两家公司提出，只允许外部安全承包商，而非政府官员，监督其业务安全。
Huawei disputes this version of events, with Mr. Sladek saying the company had “indicated its openness to consider all options in dialogue with the U.S. authorities,” including the creation of a system like the one in Britain.
华为否认了委员会的这一说法，其发言人斯拉德克称，华为已经“表明在和美国当局对话时持开放态度，并愿意考虑所有的可能性”，包括创建一个类似目前在英国运行的系统。
In any case, the congressional report concludes that “unfortunately, there are concerns that such efforts, if taken in the United States, will fall short of addressing security concerns, given the breadth and scale of the U.S. telecommunications market.”
无论如何，美国国会的报告总结道，“不幸的是， 鉴于美国电信市场的广度和规模，仍然存在这样的担心，认为这些努力可能不足以化解安全方面的忧虑。”
Huawei says it is the second-biggest Chinese investor in Europe — after Zhejiang Geely, which owns the Swedish carmaker Volvo — and the biggest Chinese employer in the region, with 7,300 workers. Executives say that additional investments in Europe will be announced in the coming weeks and that the company’s plans will be unaffected by the developments in the United States.
华为称，自己是欧洲第二大中国投资商和本区域雇佣人数最多的中国雇主。在欧洲，华为雇佣了7300名员工。中国在欧第一大投资商为旗下拥有瑞典汽车制造商沃尔沃的浙江吉利集团 。华为的高管说，公司下周将宣布追加对欧洲的投资，公司的欧洲发展计划不会受到其在美国发展进程的影响。
The company wants to make Europe a focus of its efforts to expand its smartphone business, which has been smaller than its network infrastructure division. In the coming weeks, Huawei plans to roll out new handsets to compete with devices like the Apple iPhone.
华为意欲将欧洲作为拓展智能手机业务的重点开发区，这项业务的规模比其运营的基础电信网络业务略小。华为计划在未来几周推出新款手机，和像苹果iPhone这样的产品竞争。
Even outside the United States, however, there are some worrying signs for Huawei and ZTE. While the Chinese companies have attempted to portray the report by the House Intelligence Committee as being out of step with what is happening in the rest of the world, similar concerns have been raised elsewhere.
然而， 有迹象表明，即便在美国之外的地区，也存在对华为和中兴的疑虑。虽然这两家中国公司试图把众议院特别情报委员会的报告描绘成脱离世界主流的不合拍产物，但其他地区也出现了类似的担心 。
In March, the government of Australia blocked Huawei from supplying equipment for a national broadband network that country is building. This week, following the release of the congressional report in Washington, Canadian officials indicated that they were inclined to exclude Huawei from participating in the construction of a secure government communications system.
今年3月，澳大利亚政府阻止了华为为该国正在建设的全国宽带网络系统提供设备。本周，随着美国国会发布报告，加拿大官员暗示，他们倾向于拒绝让华为参与一项政府安全通讯系统工程。
Japan, too, has been a tough market for Huawei to crack. And in Europe, one major telecommunications provider has ruled out the use of the company’s equipment in its domestic market because of security concerns, according to a person briefed on purchasing decisions, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the information has not been publicly disclosed.
日本也是一个华为难以打入的市场。在欧洲，根据知情人士的介绍，一家重要的电信运营商因为安全顾虑，拒绝在本国市场使用华为的产品。由于信息尚未公开披露，此人要求匿名。
In July, a French senator, Jean-Marie Bockel, presented a report calling on the government to ban the use of routers and other equipment from Huawei and ZTE in French telecommunications networks. Mr. Bockel, a former high-ranking official in the Defense Ministry, cited concerns similar to those raised by the U.S. House committee.
7月，法国议员让·马里·博克尔(Jean-Marie Bockel)递交了一份报告，呼吁政府禁止法国通信网络使用华为和中兴提供的路由器及其他设备。博克尔是法国国防部(Defense Ministry)前任高官，他提及的担忧之处和美国参议院委员会的表述类似。
“I am not at all against Huawei developing its business in Europe,” Mr. Bockel said by telephone. “But on the subject of security, I am in full agreement with the Americans. We should not be naïve.”
“我完全不反对华为在欧洲开展业务，”博克尔接受电话采访时说，“但在安全问题上，我完全同意美国人的看法。我们不应该这么天真。”
Mr. Bockel’s report has been submitted to the Defense Ministry, though the government of President François Hollande has not taken action on it. The French cybersecurity agency declined to comment.
博克尔的报告已经提交给法国国防部，不过佛朗索瓦·奥朗德(François Hollande)政府还没有采取行动。法国网络安全机构拒绝就此事置评。
Meanwhile, trade officials at the European Commission in Brussels are scrutinizing the operations of Huawei and ZTE, amid allegations — denied by the companies — that they may have received unfair subsidies or engaged in so-called dumping of telecommunications gear, or selling it below their own production costs in order to undercut competitors.
与此同时，布鲁塞尔欧盟委员会(European Commission)贸易官员正在围绕针对华为和中兴的一些指控进行审查。指控包括接受政府不公正的补贴和倾销通讯设备，即以低于成本的价格销售产品，借以打击竞争对手。两家公司对这些指控均予以否认。
The commission has received no complaints from European rivals of the Chinese companies, which would be the normal prerequisite for an anti-dumping or anti-subsidy case. Analysts say, however, that that could be for fear of reprisals. European telecommunications suppliers like Alcatel-Lucent, Ericsson and Nokia do not want to be shut out of the fast-growing Chinese market.
欧盟委员会没有接到这两家中国公司在欧洲的竞争对手发起的投诉。正常情况下，只有接到投诉，才会开展反倾销和反补贴调查。不过，分析人士说，这可能是因为对手们惧怕这两家公司的报复。欧洲电信设备商，像阿尔卡特-朗讯(Alcatel-Lucent)、爱立信和诺基亚(Nokia)都不想被快速增长的中国市场拒之门外。
Karel de Gucht, the E.U. trade commissioner, is considering opening a formal investigation against the companies on the commission’s own initiative, though he has given no timetable for action.
欧盟贸易专员卡雷尔·德·古特(Karel de Gucht)正在考虑由委员会主动发起针对这两家公司的正式调查，不过，他还没有给出行动时间表。
“Mr. De Gucht continues to actively gather evidence so as to be ready to launch the case as and when required,” said a senior E.U. official, who insisted on anonymity because of the preliminary nature of the proceedings.
“古特持续不断地积极收集证据，以便做好准备，随时根据要求发起调查。”一名欧盟高级官员说，鉴于行动尚处于初级阶段，这名官员坚持要求匿名。
Despite the possible challenges for Huawei and ZTE, both companies say Europe remains a much friendlier place for them to do business than the United States.
尽管面对潜在的挑战，华为和中兴仍表示，对它们来说，欧洲的业务经营环境依然比美国更加友好。
“Compared with the U.S. market, the European market is much more open and much more transparent,” said David Dai Shu, a spokesman for ZTE.
“和美国市场相比，欧洲市场更加开放、也更加透明，”中兴发言人戴澍说。
纽约时报
2012-10-14
纽约时报
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