中資收購德企，為何奧巴馬說了算

HONG KONG — A Chinese company is setting up a rare and potentially tone-setting showdown with the American government over its deal to buy a high-tech firm that the United States says could impact national security.

香港——一家中國公司希望收購一家海外高科技公司，美國聲稱該交易可能會(huì)影響其國家安全，這家中國公司目前打算與美國政府進(jìn)行最后的較量，此舉不僅罕見，而且可能會(huì)為今后定調(diào)。

The showdown involves Aixtron, a German semiconductor firm being acquired by a Chinese company, Fujian Grand Chip. In a statement on Friday, Aixtron said an American security panel that advises the White House on foreign deals had recommended the two sides drop their plan, citing unspecified national security concerns.

這個(gè)較量涉及中國公司福建宏芯基金對(duì)德國半導(dǎo)體公司愛思強(qiáng)(Aixtron)的收購。愛思強(qiáng)在上周五的聲明中說，美國一個(gè)向白宮提供海外交易建議的安全小組表示，出于國家安全考慮，建議雙方放棄計(jì)劃，但未指明具體原因。

Normally, a recommendation like that would be enough to persuade the companies to scotch their plans. But in its statement, Aixtron said it and its Chinese suitor would do something unusual: They would appeal to President Barack Obama directly to approve the deal.

通常，像這樣的建議就足以說服公司放棄計(jì)劃。但愛思強(qiáng)發(fā)表聲明說，它和福建宏芯基金將采取非同尋常的舉動(dòng)：他們將呼吁奧巴馬總統(tǒng)直接批準(zhǔn)這宗交易。

Chinese and German companies “plan to continue to actively engage in further discussions to explore means of mitigation that may be amenable” to the White House and the American security panel, according to the Aixtron statement.

根據(jù)愛思強(qiáng)的聲明，該公司和福建宏芯基金“計(jì)劃繼續(xù)積極進(jìn)行進(jìn)一步的討論，探討可以緩解”白宮和美國安全小組的“擔(dān)憂的措施”。

Mr. Obama has 15 days to decide the fate of the deal, though most likely Mr. Obama will scupper it given presidents usually follow the recommendations of the panel. If the deal is struck down, it would send the message that the United States will continue to carefully scrutinize similar deals — and may act quickly to kill them for national security reasons.

奧巴馬有15天時(shí)間來決定這宗交易的命運(yùn)，不過奧巴馬很可能會(huì)否決它，因?yàn)榭偨y(tǒng)通常會(huì)遵循專家小組的建議。如果交易被阻止，就會(huì)傳達(dá)出這樣的訊息：美國將繼續(xù)仔細(xì)審查類似的交易——并有可能出于國家安全方面的原因，迅速采取行動(dòng)來阻止交易。

The unusual move is sure to spotlight the growing tensions between the United States and China over the latter country’s ambitions to become a power in microchips. While China has made major advancements in technology and computers in recent years, its chip industry is in its infancy, and it still relies on foreign companies for the chips that power even sensitive systems.

這種不尋常的舉動(dòng)肯定會(huì)突顯中美之間因?yàn)橹袊Ｍ蔀槲⑿酒瑥?qiáng)國而日益緊張的關(guān)系。雖然中國近年來在技術(shù)和計(jì)算機(jī)方面取得了重大進(jìn)展，但其芯片業(yè)仍處于起步階段，甚至是很敏感的系統(tǒng)，也仍然要靠外國公司來提供芯片。

The move will also shine a light on the shadowy security panel that recommended the deal be dropped. The panel — called the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, and commonly known as Cfius — has been increasingly at odds with an expansive new Chinese effort to spend billions acquiring foreign high-tech companies.

建議放棄該交易的安全小組鮮為人知，它也因此舉而曝光。該小組名為美國外國投資委員會(huì)(Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States)，通常簡(jiǎn)稱為Cfius。隨著中國花費(fèi)數(shù)以十億的資金收購?fù)鈬呖萍脊荆珻fius與其產(chǎn)生的矛盾也越來越多。

The panel is composed of representatives from major departments and intelligence agencies like Commerce and Justice and the Central Intelligence Agency. Cfius has the power to review any deal that could impact American national security, and either come up with ways to mitigate that impact or recommend the president block the deal. While the Aixtron deal does not involve an American company, Aixtron itself does considerable business in the United States, and lack of American approval would shut that business off.

該小組由主要政府部門和情報(bào)機(jī)構(gòu)的代表組成，比如商務(wù)部、司法部和中央情報(bào)局。Cfius有權(quán)審查任何可能影響到美國國家安全的交易，并且提出減輕這種影響的方法，或是建議總統(tǒng)阻止交易。雖然愛思強(qiáng)的交易不涉及美國公司，但愛思強(qiáng)本身在美國有相當(dāng)廣泛的業(yè)務(wù)，如果美國不批準(zhǔn)，它就會(huì)失去這個(gè)市場(chǎng)。

Beijing has highlighted its intentions of catching up to the rest of the world in semiconductors. It has spent hugely to help fund efforts by private Chinese companies and state-run national champions to acquire foreign firms that make microchips, the brains of everything from supercomputers to smartphones to guided missiles.

北京極力想在半導(dǎo)體領(lǐng)域趕上世界其他地區(qū)。他們花費(fèi)巨額資金，資助私企和國企收購制造微芯片的外國公司。從超級(jí)計(jì)算機(jī)、智能手機(jī)到導(dǎo)彈，微芯片是所有這些東西的大腦。

But Cfius reviews or concerns about them have derailed a number of proposed Chinese acquisitions of chip makers around the world. Earlier this year a group of Chinese investors abandoned plans to spend $2.9 billion on a majority stake in a business owned by Philips of the Netherlands after Cfius noted the business specialized in a material key to making semiconductors.

但Cfius的意見或關(guān)注已經(jīng)挫敗了中國在全球各地并購芯片制造商一些努力。今年早些時(shí)候，中國投資者斥資29億美元，收購荷蘭飛利浦下屬一家企業(yè)多數(shù)股權(quán)的計(jì)劃被迫終止，因?yàn)镃fius注意到，該企業(yè)經(jīng)營著半導(dǎo)體材料領(lǐng)域的一項(xiàng)關(guān)鍵材料。

In the case of Aixtron, the companies are asking Mr. Obama to decide directly — a move that has been made only twice before. In 1990 President George H.W. Bush canceled the sale of an aviation company to Chinese bidders. In 2012 President Obama forced a Chinese firm to divest from a wind project deemed too close to a Navy facility in Oregon.

在愛思強(qiáng)收購案中，兩家公司要求奧巴馬直接做出決定——這種情況只有兩次先例。一次是1990年喬治·H·W布什(George H.W. Bush)總統(tǒng)取消了將一家航空公司出售給中國投標(biāo)人的交易。另一起是2012年，奧巴馬總統(tǒng)迫使一家中國公司放棄一個(gè)風(fēng)電項(xiàng)目，因?yàn)檎J(rèn)為該項(xiàng)目離俄勒岡海軍設(shè)施太近。

The continuing Aixtron saga is a study in how difficult it can be to track which Chinese investments are private and which are state led.

一波三折的愛思強(qiáng)收購案，是一個(gè)很難追蹤哪些中國投資來自私人企業(yè)、哪些是由國家主導(dǎo)的好案例。

In October, The New York Times highlighted how a Chinese customer that dropped a large order — in turn crashing Aixtron’s shares — had a relationship with the acquirer, Fujian Grand Chip, through government investment funds. The connection doesn’t indicate wrongdoing, but does illustrate the blurred lines between Chinese industrial policy and the constellation of privately owned but state-supported companies that have been tasked with acquiring new Chinese technological capabilities.

《紐約時(shí)報(bào)》10月曾報(bào)道過，一家中國客戶取消了大量訂單，導(dǎo)致愛思強(qiáng)股價(jià)暴跌，而這個(gè)客戶與愛思強(qiáng)的收購方福建宏芯基金都有政府的投資基金在里面。這種聯(lián)系并不意味著存在不法行為，但也確實(shí)表明中國產(chǎn)業(yè)政策和一些私企之間的界限很模糊，這些私企背后有政府支持，任務(wù)之一就是收購?fù)馄?，為中國擴(kuò)張技術(shù)能力。

In a surprise move last month, German authorities withdrew approval for the takeover without specifying a reason. 德國當(dāng)局上個(gè)月意外撤回了發(fā)放給這起收購案的許可，但沒有說明理由。

Because Cfius decisions are considered confidential, the regulator did not say what concerns it had with the acquisition. One possibility is Aixtron’s leading position making technology that creates chips based on an advanced semiconductor material called gallium nitride.

因?yàn)镃fius的決定被認(rèn)為是保密的，該監(jiān)管機(jī)構(gòu)沒有透露這起并購案令其不安的原因。一種可能性是愛思強(qiáng)擁有領(lǐng)先的制造工藝，可以用先進(jìn)的半導(dǎo)體材料氮化鎵來制造芯片。

The technology has been used in tech as mundane as Blu-ray Disc players, but its resistance to heat and radiation give it a number of military and space applications. Chips based on the technology are used in radar for antiballistic missiles and in an Air Force radar system, called Space Fence, that is used to track space debris. Cfius’s recommendation against the Philips deal earlier this year stemmed in part from that business’s involvement in gallium nitride.

一些公司用這種技術(shù)來制造藍(lán)光播放器這樣的普通產(chǎn)品，但其耐熱耐輻射的特性也讓它具有多種軍事和太空用途。基于該技術(shù)的芯片已經(jīng)搭載在反彈道導(dǎo)彈雷達(dá)和用于跟蹤空間碎片的“太空藩籬”(Space Fence)空軍雷達(dá)系統(tǒng)中。Cfius今年早些時(shí)候阻止飛利浦那起交易，部分原因就是因?yàn)樵摴旧婕暗墭I(yè)務(wù)。