原作者：
来源China Is Coming Under Fire
译者foxhidden
A series of comments by some of the world’s top executives questioning China’s treatment of international companies reflects an anxiety that is altering the relationship between foreign business and Beijing.
世界顶级高管质疑中国对待跨国公司做法的一系列言论显示了他们的忧虑，这些忧虑正在改变外国企业和北京之间的关系。
For years companies that do business in China largely avoided public criticism of Beijing’s policies, fearing this could jeopardize their standing in the world’s fastest-growing major market. But recent months have seen executives from some of the biggest companies in Europe and the U.S. speak out—a testament to mounting concern that China’s economy is moving in a direction less friendly to foreign companies that have staked much of their future on it.
多年以来，在中国经商的企业都避免对北京的政策进行广泛批评，他们担心此举会破坏其在世界增长最快市场上的地位。但近几个月来在欧洲一些大公司和美国的言论表明这个跟他们有着切身重大利益的市场对待外国企业越来越不友好。
The latest example came when two of Germany’s leading industrialists—Jürgen Hambrecht, chairman of chemical giant BASF SE and Peter Löscher, chief executive of conglomerate Siemens AG—raised complaints about a range of Chinese policies toward foreign business during a public meeting with Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao and visiting German Chancellor Angela Merkel. That followed complaints in recent months from other top executives of General Electric Co., Microsoft Corp. and Google Inc.
最近的例子就是德国的两位知名企业家：化工企业巴斯夫公司主席尤根·汉伯乐希特（Juergen Hambrecht）和西门子集团首席执行官罗旭德(Peter Loescher)在温家宝总理与来访的德国总理默克尔举行公开会议上，对中国对待外国企业的一系列政策进行抱怨。之前几个月，通用电气、微软和谷歌的高管们也发出过类似言论。
Foreign businesses are increasingly emboldened, executives and analysts say, by a sense that the Chinese market has become too important to stay silent over policies they feel jeopardize their future.
高管和分析师表示现在外国企业批评中国政府的声音越来越大，说明中国市场太过重要，如果他们保持沉默会对其以后的发展造成伤害。
“In the past, people would have preferred to do this either privately…or through a chamber of commerce or bilaterally in government negotiations,” said Christian Murck, a veteran China-based executive who is president of the American Chamber of Commerce in China. But now, he says, “there’s a greater degree of uncertainty about future Chinese policies and future treatment of foreign companies.”
中国美国商会会长孟克文（Christian Murck）表示在过去人们更愿意私下这么做，或通过商会或政府双边谈判来表达意见，但现在中国政府的政策和在华外国企业的待遇变得愈加没有确定性。
The concerns center on policies that foreign executives feel put them at a disadvantage against increasingly potent Chinese competitors, or compel them to transfer valuable technology to China, or otherwise limit their access to what is now the world’s biggest market for everything from trains to cars to cellphones.
外国高管关注的核心在于现在的政策使他们面对日益强大的中国竞争对手时，处于不利的地位，这些政策包括或迫使他们不得不向中国转让有价值的技术，或限制他们进入从汽车到移动电话的各个领域。
“Some of these issues have been longstanding. But the fact is that China is so crucial to the growth of companies that more light is being thrown on them,” said Duncan Clark, head of Beijing-based consultancy BDA China and chairman of the British Chamber of Commerce in China. “The stakes are higher than ever.” GE CEO Jeffrey Immelt, at a private dinner in Rome late last month, complained that it is getting harder for foreign companies to do business in China.
在北京的咨询公司BDA中国主管，同时也是英国商会会长的邓肯•克拉克(Duncan Clark)表示这些问题有些是长期的。但事实是中国对这些公司的成长非常的重要，所以有更多的目光聚焦在它们身上。通用电气首席执行官杰弗里·伊梅尔特(Jeffrey Immelt)在上月底罗马的一次私人晚宴上称“现在的价码比以往任何时候都高。”，并抱怨外资企业在中国开展业务越来越难了。
Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, in remarks at the All Things Digital technology conference in June, said China’s weak intellectual-property protection regime will be problematic for the technology industry going forward. As for Chinese censorship, he said that Microsoft has a few thousand people in China, and “we have to do something to comply with law,” adding, “We are staying and trying to be part of a reformation process.”
微软公司首席执行官史蒂夫·鲍尔默（Steve Ballmer）在6月份的All Things Digital技术大会上表示中国薄弱的知识产权保护制度将会拖科技产业发展的后腿。谈到中国的审查制度，鲍尔默微软在中国的雇员有几千人，我们必须做一些事来遵守法律，我们留下来并试图成为改革进程的一部分。
Google effectively dismantled its mainland Chinese search service in March after its top executives rebuked Beijing’s censorship practices and charged that China was the source of a series of cyberattacks against Google and other foreign companies.
自3月份谷歌高管指责北京的审查方法，并指控中国是攻击谷歌和外国公司网站的源头后，谷歌在中国大陆的搜索服务被完全终止。
At Saturday’s meeting between German and Chinese executives and officials, Mr. Hambrecht complained about companies facing the “forced disclosure of know-how” in order to do business in China. “That does not exactly correspond to our views of a partnership,” he said, according to a report by Germany’s Deutsche Presse-Agentur, whose reporter was at the meeting.
在周六中德企业高管和政府官员的一次会议上，汉伯乐希特抱怨公司面临“被迫披露公司专有技术”的情况，以便能在中国继续开展业务。根据德国德意志新闻社的现场报道，汉伯乐希特称“这不完全不符合我们对合作伙伴关系的看法”。
Mr. Löscher said German companies expect to be treated equally in the Chinese market, that technology transfer should be strictly voluntary, and that protection of intellectual-property rights should be strengthened, according to a Siemens spokesman. He also called for fewer restrictions on foreign investment in the auto and financial sectors.
据西门子公司发言人的说法，罗旭德表示德国公司希望在中国被同等对待，技术转让应严格遵守自愿原则，而且对知识产权的保护应该得到加强。他还呼吁对在汽车和金融部门的外国投资减少限制。
China insists such concerns are unfounded. Mr. Wen, speaking at Saturday’s meeting with German executives and officials, said China remains committed to opening its economy and noted that inflows of foreign investment continue to grow. “Currently, there is an allegation that China’s investment environment is worsening. I think it is untrue,” the state-run Xinhua news agency quoted Mr. Wen as saying in response to Mr. Hambrecht’s remarks.
中国坚称并未发现罗旭德的上述担忧问题。在上周六与德国企业高管和政府官员的会谈中，温总理表示中国仍然致力于开放经济，并指出流入中国的外资还在不断增长。新华社援引了温总理回应汉伯乐希特时的讲话，其中提到：“目前世界上有一种舆论，（认为）中国的投资环境变得不好了，我认为这是不符合事实的。”
Mr. Hambrecht and others have raised such concerns before with Chinese officials, and people present said the discussion Saturday was cordial, not confrontational. But the comments were noteworthy because they were so open, made in the presence of German reporters, in a country where public criticism—especially directed at a top leader—is rare.
在会晤中国官员以前，汉伯乐希特与同行人士都强烈表达出这样的忧虑。但此番评价依然值得一提，因为他们面对德国记者毫无顾忌说出了自己的想法，而且话题直接关系最高领导人。这在一个很少公开提出批评的国家尤为难得。
Many companies remain reluctan t to speak out, and even those whose executives complain aren’t reducing their presence in China. Spokesmen for BASF and Siemens stressed that they are continuing to expand in China, where they both have an enormous amount at stake. BASF has invested some €3.5 billion ($4.5 billion) in China since 1990. Siemens, which employs some 43,000 workers in China, had sales in the country of €5.2 billion in the fiscal year that ended in September.
许多公司依旧不愿吐露想法，甚至那些公司里高管的不满也没有影响它们在中国的这种沉默形象。巴斯夫与西门子的发言人都强调，尽管在中国已占有了巨大的市场份额，但它们会继续开拓这里的市场。1990年以来，巴斯夫已在中国投资约35亿欧元（折合45亿美元）。西门子在中国拥有4.3万名员工。截止去年9月的上一财年中，它在这个国家的年销售额为52亿欧元。
Spokesmen for Siemens and BASF say Mr. Hambrecht and Mr. Löscher were speaking broadly on behalf of German business. Mr. Löscher took over from Mr. Hambrecht this month as chairman of the Asia-Pacific Committee of German Business, a group that advises Germany’s government.
西门子与巴斯夫的发言人均表示，汉伯乐希特和罗旭德讲出了广大德国企业的心声。罗旭德本月接替汉伯乐希特担任德国企业亚太区委员会主席。该组织主要为德国政府提供咨询建议。
It’s too early to know if companies whose executives speak out might suffer consequences. But some business observers say another reason executives are more willing to speak out now is that China’s government is more open to input from companies than in years past. They point to the fact that even Google, despite its public slap at China’s government, was able to get its content license renewed in China this month, effectively allowing it to continue to use a mainland Chinese Web address.
至于那些袒露心迹的企业高管们会面对怎样的后果，现在还不得而知，因为为时尚早。不过，一些企业观察家表示，高管们更乐意现在敞开心扉的另一个原因是，中国政府对国外公司进入本国市场的态度比过去开放了。他们指出，即使谷歌事件公开地让中国政府难堪，谷歌公司也能在本月重新获得营业执照的颁发许可，得以继续在使用在中国大陆的网址。
“This new trend shows, on one hand, that the business environment is really getting unsustainable for some top executives … and, on the other hand, that the Chinese government is reducing the use of administrative revenge for criticism,” said Jingzhou Tao, a Beijing-based partner at law firm Jones Day. In the past, companies that spoke out were likely to experience retaliation, but “now it [can] be considered ‘constructive criticism’ ” by the government.
“这一新趋势表明，一方面企业环境确实让一些最高层的管理者无法持续经营···另一方面，对于那些企业提出的批评意见，中国政府正减少针对性的行政报复行为。”众达国际法律事务所（Jones Day）所驻北京的合伙人陶景洲这样说。过去，说出真实想法的公司很可能遭到打击报复，而“现在，政府会将企业的反映视为‘建设性意见’。”
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