中国电信巨头进军美国市场

SANTA CLARA, Calif. — This spring, an executive from a Chinese telecommunications equipment company made an intriguing job offer to a Silicon Valley software engineer. The Chinese company, Huawei Technologies, wanted to get into the booming market for Internet-based computing, and it had just moved its United States research headquarters here to capture some of the best local talent.

圣克拉拉，加尼福利亚州。——今年春天，一个中国电信设备公司的高层向硅谷的软件工程师发出了一个足以吸引人的招聘，这家中国公司就是华为技术有限公司。华为公司希望能够加入到网络计算这个蓬勃发展的市场，而且它刚刚已经将其美国研究所总部设在了硅谷，为的就是赢得一些当地的最好的人才。

 “How many engineers would you like for your team? Several hundred? That’s not a problem,” the recruiter said, according to the engineer.

“你想为你的团队招聘多少工程师？几百个？这一点都不成问题。”招聘人员根据当地工程师的说法说道。

When the software manager turned down the offer, the Chinese executive was undeterred and asked for the name of the engineer working under him.

当某个软件管理员拒绝了这份邀请时，这个中国的高层并不感到惊讶，并且询问了这位工程师的姓名。

The exchange underscores Huawei’s bold entrance onto the world’s technology stage. In the span of a decade, it has gone from imitating others’ products to taking on international rivals with its own innovative computing and communications gear. But Huawei has largely been locked out of the United States — until now.

这一改变强调了华为进军国际技术舞台勇敢无畏的精神。在过去的十年里，华为从模仿他人的产品到推出自己的富有创新的计算与交流的设备而赶上国际上的竞争对手。但是华为还是很大程度上被美国拒之门外----至少现在是这样。

Sprint Nextel, the nation’s third-largest wireless carrier, is preparing to make a decision on buying $3 billion in advanced wireless equipment, and Huawei is considered to be a front-runner for the deal.

Sprint Nextel，作为美国第三大的无线运输公司，正在准备投资30亿购买一批先进的无线设备，而华为正打算成为这项交易的领跑者。

Huawei is one of many Chinese companies that are pushing into more sophisticated and lucrative businesses. But security concerns make telecommunications a particularly delicate industry in this country, and even the hint of a Huawei deal with Sprint has generated worries in Washington.

华为是中国众多想要投身于更尖端更盈利的领域的公司中的一家。但是在美国，安全问题使电信变成了一个十分脆弱的产业。即使是华为与Sprint的合作意向也在华盛顿引起了恐慌。

Some in Congress and the national security establishment fear that Huawei’s close ties to the Chinese military might allow China to tamper with American communications gear.

美国国会议员和国家安全机构担心由于华为与中国军队的密切联系可能会导致中国对美国通讯设备的窜改。

Last week, Senator Joseph I. Lieberman, independent of Connecticut, and three other members of Congress wrote a letter to Julius Genachowski, chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, raising the specter that an equipment sale might permit the Chinese government to manipulate parts of the communications network, making it possible to disrupt or intercept phone calls and Internet messages.

上个星期，Senator Joseph I. Lieberman（来自康涅狄格州），和其他三名国会议员给联邦通讯委员会主席写了封信，阐述了这次设备交易可能引起的恐慌：中国政府将能够操纵美国部分的交流网络，从而能够扰乱或者拦截电话通讯以及网络邮件。

Anticipating these hurdles, Huawei has hired a remarkable array of Washington lobbyists, lawyers, consultants and public relations firms to help it win business in the United States. It has also helped create Amerilink Telecom, an American distributor of Huawei products whose high-powered board includes former Representative Richard A. Gephardt, the former World Bank president James D. Wolfensohn and the one-time chief executive of Nortel Networks, William A. Owens.

预期到如此多的障碍，华为已经聘用了大批的知名的游说议员、律师、法律顾问以及一些公共关系公司来帮助它在美国赢得这次交易。由于这个事件，还促使华为成立了在美国的经销商Amerilink Telecom。该经销商拥有十分高效的管理平台，它包括美国前众议院议员Richard A.Gephardt、前世界银行主席James D.Wolfensohn 和 Nortel Networks的前执行长官William A.Owens.

Amerilink executives say they are primarily interested in helping Huawei overcome objections that its entry into the American market could jeopardize national security.

Amerilink的管理者讲他们首要关心的是如何帮助华为去应对那些反对声，即华为进入美国市场将会损害到该国的安全。

“We take the accusations very seriously,” said Kevin Packingham, who recently left Sprint to become chief executive of Amerilink. “But regardless of the accusations, we have a model in place that ensures the security” of the network should Huawei win American contracts, he said.

“我们将非常严肃的对待此次指控，”Kevin Packingham说道。他刚刚离开了Sprint，而成为了Amerilink的执行长官。“让我们先不去管这份控告，我们已经有了一个合适的模型来确保美国网络的安全。华为应该赢得这份合同。”他说道。

The effort is beginning to pay off. This fall, the American Internet communications firm Clearwire will begin testing a system based on Huawei’s 4G, or fourth-generation, network technology.

努力将要得到回报。这个秋天，美国的因特网交流公司Clearwire将要开始对华为的4G系统进行测试，即第四代的网络技术。

The Sprint contract would be Huawei’s largest American deal by far. A Sprint spokesman, Scott Sloat, declined to discuss any potential deal. Sprint bought its last round of network equipment from Motorola, Nortel Networks and Lucent, now part of Alcatel-Lucent.

与Sprint公司的合同将是华为目前为止最大的美国订单。Sprint的发言人Scott Sloat谢绝谈论任何潜在的交易。Sprint上一轮设备的购买来自于Motorola、Nortel Networks 和 Lucent，它现在是Alcatel-Lucent公司的一部分。

Huawei’s American drive is significant because it is China’s first truly home-grown multinational corporation. And some analysts say they believe its spectacular rise will serve as a model for other Chinese companies seeking to compete internationally.

华为的美国之行是有重大意义的，因为它是中国真正意义上的本土跨国公司。而且一些分析家说，他们认为华为惊人的崛起将为中国其他寻求国际化竞争的公司提供一个模型。

Huawei is now the world’s second-largest telecom equipment supplier behind Ericsson of Sweden, and with Chinese government backing, it has sewn up major deals in Asia, Africa and Latin America. In Europe, Huawei has outmaneuvered Ericsson to supply equipment to big carriers.

华为现在是世界上第二大仅次于瑞典Ericsson的电信设备供应商。并且在中国政府的支持下，它赢得了大多数来自亚洲、非洲以及拉丁美洲的订单。在欧洲，华为已经依靠策略战胜了Ericsson来为一些大的运输公司提供设备。

Despite those successes, Huawei has struggled to break into the United States market, largely because of the security concerns and accusations of intellectual property theft and corporate espionage.

尽管取得了这些成功，华为打入美国市场还是如此的艰难。这主要是因为一些安全因素和一些智力方面盗窃的指控以及合作性间谍行为而造成的。

The company has repeatedly been linked to the People’s Liberation Army of China. And over the last decade, Huawei has been sued in the United States by two of its major competitors, Cisco Systems and Motorola, over accusations that it stole software designs and infringed on patents.

华为公司总是被和中国解放军扯上联系。并且在过去的十年里，华为还在美国被两家主要竞争者Cisco System和Motorola所起诉，控告内容是华为偷窃软件设计并侵犯专利。

Cisco settled its suit with Huawei soon after filing it. But in court documents filed in a lawsuit last summer, Motorola claimed that a group of Chinese-born Motorola engineers developed contacts with Huawei’s founder and then, between about 2003 and 2007, conspired to steal technology from Motorola by way of a dummy corporation they had set up outside the company.

Cisco公司在它与华为的官司呈递后迅速将其调停。但是在去年夏天法庭上的起诉中，Motorola公司声称一群中国籍的工程师与华为的创始人签订了合同。然后，在2003年到2007年间，通过在Motorola公司外面建立一个假的公司来盗取公司的技术。

The national security issue has been bubbling up for some time. In a letter in August, a group of Republican senators wrote to the heads of four federal agencies asking questions about the risks of Huawei’s entering a deal with Sprint, whose customers include the United States military and law enforcement agencies.

国家安全问题已经出现了一段时间了。在八月份的一封信中，一些共和党参议员向四个首要的联邦机构写信询问关于华为与Sprint贸易所带来的风险。而Sprint公司的顾客包括美国军队和法律执行机构。

The senators, who are seeking a stringent government review of Huawei, said they were troubled by the company’s history, including evidence it had supplied communications equipment to Iran and Iraq during Saddam Hussein’s regime, possibly in violation of United Nations sanctions.

那些参议员，希望美国政府对华为进行严厉地检查。他们说他们对华为的历史感到担忧，包括在萨达姆·侯赛因执政期间为伊朗和伊拉克提供通讯设备，这很可能违反了美国对它们的制裁。

“We are concerned,” the senators wrote, “that Huawei’s position as a supplier of Sprint Nextel could create substantial risk for U.S. corporations and possibly undermine U.S. national security.”

“我们十分担忧，”那些参议员写到，“华为作为Sprint Nextel公司的供应商可能会为美国公司带来重大的风险，并且很可能暗中破坏美国的安全系统。”

The reservations about Huawei extend to other countries. In Europe, some competitors are now complaining about so-called subsidies that Huawei receives from the Chinese government. And in India, there are worries that Huawei networks could pose security risks.

各方关于华为进军其他国家产生了许多保留意见。在欧洲，一些竞争者抱怨华为从中国政府那里领取的所谓的“补贴”。在印度，也有许多人担心华为会引起安全问题。

Huawei denies it has ties to the Chinese military and disputes accusations of intellectual property theft. Ross Gan, a company spokesman, says that Huawei is employee-owned and that it has grown by developing its own technology.

华为公司否认它与中国军队有联系，并且对关于智力性质的犯罪提出争议。一个公司的发言人Ross Gan说华为是一家被员工所拥有的公司，并且它是依靠着自己的技术发展起来的。

“We’re an innovative company driven by the business needs of customers,” he said. In a statement, the company added: “Huawei has never researched, developed, manufactured or sold technologies or products for military purposes in any country.”

"我们是一家以用户需求为驱动的具有创新精神的公司，"他说。在一次陈述中，华为公司补充道：“华为从来没有为任何国家的任何军事目的而研发、发展、操纵或者出售技术或产品。”

Industry analysts say Huawei, based in Shenzhen, has quickly matured into a fierce competitor in one of the most important and hotly contested technology arenas: sophisticated equipment that enhances the delivery of voice and video over the Internet and through wireless devices.

工业分析者说华为，基于深圳的一家公司，已经快速地成长为在一个或者多个竞争激烈的技术领域里的强大的竞争者；其精密的设备加强了语音和视频在因特网和无线装置中的传递。

They say Huawei is gaining, in part, because of heavy spending on research and development. Chinese companies are generally weak in R.&D., but Huawei has 17 research centers around the world, including in Dallas, Moscow and Bangalore, India, and most recently in Santa Clara.

他们说华为在某些方面正在继续前进，因为它花费了大量的资源在研究和发展上。中国的公司整体上在研发领域处于劣势，但是华为却在全世界有17加研究中心，包括达拉斯、墨西哥、班加罗尔、印度还有最近的圣克拉拉。

Indeed, of the company’s 96,000 employees, nearly half are engaged in research and development. In May, Huawei opened a stunning $340 million research center in Shanghai that it says will eventually house 8,000 engineers.

事实上，华为公司的96000个员工有接近一半的在从事研发工作。五月，华为投资34亿在上海开设了一个研究中心。也就是说它最终将要容纳8000个工程师。

Huawei’s rush to become multinational has not been entirely smooth. “It was a huge challenge for the company,” said Geoff Arnold, a veteran Silicon Valley software designer who spent several years helping the company develop a cloud computing product.

华为努力成为一家跨国公司并不是那么一帆风顺。“对整个公司来说这都是一项巨大的挑战，”Geoff Arnold，来自硅谷的，多年来帮助华为研究云计算产品的硅谷资深工程师说道。

“The bean counters in Shenzhen didn’t have a clue about how to operate outside of China,” Mr. Arnold said. “Huawei has great difficulty understanding what is happening outside of China and adapting their business practices.”

“深圳这方面的专家也不知道对于中国以外的地方该如何操纵，”Arnold先生说道。“华为对中国以外发生的事情还十分缺乏了解，它正在努力适应它们的商业模式。”

Ren Zhengfei, a former soldier who worked for 10 years in China’s Army Engineering Corps, founded Huawei as a reseller of telecommunications equipment in 1988.

任正非，曾经担任中国国防部陆军工程兵10年，于1988年建立了华为公司，使其作为电信设备的销售代理商。

Mr. Ren, now 66, rarely grants interviews. But according to a biography published in China, he insists on military-style efficiency and a “wolf spirit” mentality that encourages the sales force to relentlessly attack competitors.

任先生现年66岁，很少接受采访。但是据中国一家传记出版商说，他坚持着军人般有效的作风,并且奉行着“狼的精神”，即鼓励销售部毫不留情地打击竞争对手。

In 2008, worries about national security and China’s weak protection of intellectual property forced Huawei to drop its $2.2 billion joint bid with the American firm Bain Capital to acquire 3Com, the American networking company. Huawei also failed in other bids this year to acquire the wireless network division of Motorola as well as 2Wire, an American maker of broadband Internet software, according to people familiar with those deals.

2008年，由于担心国家安全问题以及中国对知识产权无力的保护，迫使华为出22亿的标价和美国的Bain Capital 公司联合拥有了美国一家网络公司3Com。同年，华为在竞标Motorola无线网络部门和2Wire公司时惨遭失败。

Those bids collapsed, analysts say, because both Motorola and 2Wire were told that Washington was likely to block any deals.

分析家说，这几次竞标的失利是由于Motorola公司和2Wire公司被告知华盛顿倾向于阻止任何交易。

Analysts note that Chinese companies have been willing to buy telecommunications equipment from American makers like Motorola, apparently setting aside any concerns about American espionage.

分析家指出，中国公司很希望从美国制造商（如Motorola）手中购买电信设备，很显然这是置美国间谍行为于不顾。

Peter J. Williamson, a professor of business at Cambridge University, said that while some continued to be bothered by Huawei’s origins, its technological prowess was increasingly hard to ignore.

Peter J.Williamsom，剑桥大学商业教授，说道当大家还在不停地为华为的起源感到困惑时，它那突飞猛进发展的技术难以使我们将其忽略。

“The hardest market to crack is the U.S.,” he said. “But they’ve cracked Europe. And if they can work with Vodafone, one of the biggest carriers in the world, they can work with anyone.”

“最难开拓的市场就是美国，”他说道。“但是它们却开拓了欧洲市场.但是如果它们能和世界上最大的原属公司之一的Vodafone公司进行合作的话，它们和任何人合作就都不是问题了。”

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