华为在全球科技冷战中的新前线:澳大利亚

SYDNEY, Australia — Already essentially shut out of the United States, the Chinese technology giant Huawei is scrambling to salvage its reputation in another country where growing worries over spying and security could hurt its chances at a big chunk of business.

澳大利亚悉尼——已基本被美国拒之门外的中国科技巨头华为，正在另一个国家忙着挽救自己的声誉。在这里，对间谍活动和安全的担忧日渐加剧，可能会损害华为在大量业务上的机会。

In an unusual letter to politicians in Australia made public this week, Huawei defended its status as a longtime supplier of networking gear and other equipment to the country’s biggest telecommunications companies. The letter came after news reports that Australian politicians were likely to shut the firm out of a potentially lucrative contract to upgrade the nation’s mobile network over security concerns. It also followed growing concerns among Australian leaders about Chinese influence in the country.

在本周公开的一封写给澳大利亚政界人士的信中，华为替自己长期为澳大利亚最大的电信公司提供网络设备和其他设备的身份进行了辩护。在这封不同寻常的信出现之前，有资讯报道称，出于安全考虑，澳大利亚政界人士可能会将该公司排除在一份利润可能会相当可观的合同之外。该合同涉及的项目是升级澳大利亚的移动网络。同时，此前澳大利亚领导人对中国在该国的影响力的担忧日渐加剧。

Barring the company from bidding on fifth-generation, or 5G, telecom networks would be “ill informed” and “not based on facts,” Huawei said in its letter.

华为在信中写道，禁止华为竞标第五代（又名5G）电信网络是“过于片面”的，并且“没有事实依据”。

“To completely exclude Huawei from 5G in Australia means excluding Huawei from the entire Australian market,” it said. “We don’t believe this would be in Australia’s best interest.”

“将华为完全排除在澳大利亚5G之外意味着将华为排除在整个澳大利亚市场之外，”信中写道。“我们认为这不符合澳大利亚的最大利益。”

Huawei fears that the world is embarking on a new cold war, this time over technology. As Australia may show, Huawei could get caught in the middle.

华为担心，全世界正在开始一场新的冷战，这一次是围绕技术。正如澳大利亚可能会出现的局面一样，华为可能会被夹在中间。

More and more, the United States and China are offering differing visions of the future of technology, each powered by their own national champions. Security, data protection and cyberspying are big drivers of both countries’ efforts to help homegrown companies and shut out foreign rivals. That hits at Huawei’s core business: supplying the equipment that powers the wireless age.

在各自的行业翘楚驱动下，美国和中国日渐对科技未来给出了不同的设想。安全、数据保护和网络间谍活动是促使两国帮助本土企业并将外国竞争对手拒之门外的主要因素。这打击到了华为的核心业务：供应为无线时代提供动力的设备。

United States officials have said for years that Huawei products pose unacceptable security risks for Americans, citing the company’s ties to Beijing and its murky ownership. As a result, large American wireless carriers already shun its products, and smaller ones may soon be barred from using the brand under proposed new rules.

多年来，美国官方一直以华为与北京的关系和所有权不明为由，称华为的产品给美国构成了不可接受的安全风险。因此，美国大型无线运营商已经放弃了华为的产品，并且根据提议的新规定，较小的运营商可能很快也会被禁止使用该品牌的产品。

Separately, Huawei is also under investigation in Washington over whether it violated American trade sanctions against Iran and other countries. Illegal exports of American-sourced technology were the reason for recent, near-fatal penalties meted out by the Trump administration to ZTE, another Chinese telecom equipment maker.

另外，华盛顿还在就华为是否违反了美国对伊朗和其他国家的贸易制裁进行调查。最近，中国另一家电信设备制造商中兴因非法出口源自美国的技术而被特朗普政府施以近乎致命的处罚。

Huawei officials have said repeatedly that the company is owned by its employees, not the Communist Party, and that it is a private firm that does not answer to any government. It has said it complies with the laws wherever it operates.

华为的领导人多次表示，华为的所有人是它的员工，不是共产党，并且华为是一家私营公司，不向任何政府负责。华为自称遵守业务所在地的法律。

Still, Huawei’s big worry is that officials in other countries may someday follow Washington’s lead. Some of America’s closest political and military allies use the company’s technology. Customers in Britain, Canada, Germany and New Zealand are among its biggest.

但华为最大的担忧是，其他国家的官员有一天可能会效仿华盛顿。美国最亲密的一些政治和军事盟友使用的正是该公司的技术。英国、加拿大、德国和新西兰属于它最大的客户。

Huawei this week pointed to its business in those countries as proof that it can be a reliable and secure partner. It said it had passed security inspections by officials in Britain, Canada and New Zealand. It offered to build a testing center where Australian officials could monitor the security of its gear.

本周，华为以它在这些国家的业务为证据，证明自己可以是一个可靠、安全的合作伙伴。华为自称已经通过了英国、加拿大和新西兰官方的安全检查。它提出建立一个检测中心，澳大利亚官方可在那里监测华为设备的安全性。

“We have an open invitation for Australian officials and security agencies to meet with our world-leading research and development teams to better understand our technology,” it said.

“我们随时欢迎澳大利亚官员和安全机构与我们世界顶级的研发团队见面，以便更好地理解我们的技术，”公开信写道。

Huawei has long been an important supplier to Australian telecommunications companies, and has a profitable Australian business with revenue in excess of 600 million Australian dollars, or about $445 million, last year, employing more than 700 people.

长期以来，华为一直都是澳大利亚各电信公司的重要供应商，在澳业务利润丰厚，去年的收入超过6亿澳元（约合4.45亿美元），员工超过700人。

Still, the company appears to be increasingly caught in a debate in Australia about Chinese companies.

尽管如此，华为在澳大利亚似乎越来越多地陷入了有关中国企业的争论当中。

Last month, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull’s government agreed to fund a multimillion-dollar undersea communications cable linking the Solomon Islands with Australia, effectively blocking Huawei’s plan to lay the cables for the island nation.

上个月，总理马尔科姆·特恩布尔(Malcolm Turnbull)政府同意出资数百万美元，建设连接所罗门群岛和澳大利亚的海下通讯电缆，有效阻止了华为为这个岛国铺设电缆的计划。

Asked about the lengths Australia went through to stop Huawei building the cable, he said: “Our concern is ensuring that Australian aid provides the support for economic and social development in the Pacific.”

在被问及澳大利亚阻止华为建设电缆所作出的努力时，特恩布尔说：“我们的关切是确保澳大利亚的援助为太平洋地区的经济社会发展提供支持。”

More broadly, Australia’s growing economic closeness to China — it is a major supplier of meat, milk, iron ore and other resources to the world’s second-largest economy — has raised concerns among some in the country over Chinese influence in politics and media. That in turn has stirred worries over an anti-China backlash that could hurt the growing numbers of businesspeople, students and others who have become part of Australian society.

更广泛地说，澳大利亚与中国的经济联系日益密切——它是这个世界第二大经济体的肉类、牛奶、铁矿石以及其他资源的主要供应国——使得澳大利亚国内的一些人开始对中国在政治和媒体上的影响感到担心。反过来，这也引起了人们对反中情绪的担忧，它会伤及越来越多的商人、学生和其他已经融入澳洲社会的人士。

Since the accusations of political meddling, Australia has taken steps to curb foreign interference, introducing a series of bills aimed at strengthening the country’s espionage laws and criminalizing efforts to interfere in Australian democracy.

自政治干预的指控之后，澳大利亚便采取了措施遏制外国干涉，推出了一系列旨在加强该国间谍法的法案，并将干预澳大利亚民主行为定为刑事犯罪。

Australian leaders are trying to walk a fine line so they do not alienate a major customer. Speaking to the Australia China Business Council on Tuesday, Mr. Turnbull said, “The Australia-China relationship gets stronger and stronger.”

澳大利亚领导人努力小心行事，以免疏远主要客户。周二，在对澳大利亚中国工商业委员会(Australia China Business Council)讲话时，特恩布尔说：“澳中关系正变得越来越强大。”

“It is built on so many connections,” he added. “It is built on great economic engagement, it is built on history, but, above all, it is built on family.”

“它建立如此多联系之上，”他补充说。“它建立在强大的经济往来之上，建立在历史之上，但最重要的是它建立在家庭之上。”

For its 5G build-out, the race is on between telecommunications companies that have been testing the technology for years and are expected to begin bringing the service to consumers next year.

而5G扩建工程的竞赛则在那些已对该技术进行了多年测试的电信公司之间开展，预计于明年开始为消费者提供服务。

Years of exclusion from the United States have not dented Huawei’s determination to help lead wireless internet into its next era. The company has developed 5G-ready products and patented key technologies. It has hired seasoned experts to represent the company at the global body that is setting the new technology’s standards. These complex technical guidelines will ensure that different manufacturers’ gear can be used on different carriers’ mobile networks.

虽然被排除在美国之外多年，但这并未削弱华为希望带领无线互联网进入下一时代的决心。华为已开发出了5G完备产品和关键专利技术，聘请了经验丰富的专家在全球机构代表公司制定新的技术标准。这些复杂的技术指导方针将确保不同制造商的设备可被用于不同运营商的移动网络。

“Huawei has a very strong position on shaping 5G standards,” said Dieter Ernst, a senior fellow at the East-West Center, a research and educational organization based in Honolulu.

“华为在5G的标准制定方面有着非常强大的地位，”火奴鲁鲁教育研究机构东西方中心(East-West Center)的高级研究员迪埃特尔·恩斯特(Dieter Ernst)说。

The company can count on support within the information technology, or I.T., business not only within Europe, but also in Canada, Japan and other technologically advanced countries, he said.

他表示，不止在欧洲，华为在加拿大、日本以及其他技术先进的国家都可以得到信息技术(IT)行业内部的支持。

“Outside the U.S.,” he said, “Huawei has become an accepted member of the international I.T. community.”

“在美国之外，”他说，“华为已经成为国际IT社区的一员了。”