中兴如何成为了中美地缘政治对弈的核心？

President Trump has said that he will help save ZTE, a Chinese electronics maker. The company was on the brink of collapse after United States officials punished it last month for breaking American sanctions against countries including Iran and North Korea.

特朗普总统已表示，他将帮助挽救中国电子产品制造商中兴通讯(ZTE)。美国官员上个月惩罚中兴之后，这家公司已处于崩溃的边缘，惩罚的原因是中兴违反了美国对包括伊朗和朝鲜在内的国家的制裁。

Here’s a look at how a Chinese electronics maker with an awkward name came to be at the center of a geopolitical chess match between Beijing and Washington.

下面介绍一下这家英文名称略不顺口的中国电子产品制造商是怎样变成北京与华盛顿地缘政治对弈的核心的。

What Is ZTE?

ZTE是什么?

Zhongxing Telecommunications Equipment isn’t a household name in most places. Known as ZTE, it is probably best known for making cheap smartphones that are mostly sold in developing countries, though it also sells them in the United States.

中兴通讯设备在世界上大多数地方并不是一个家喻户晓的名字。这家英文简称ZTE的公司，以生产主要是在发展中国家销售、但在美国也有销售的廉价智能手机而闻名。

But in the telecommunications world, the ZTE name carries significant weight. It is one of two Chinese companies — Huawei is the other — that sells equipment for cellular networks. It has about 75,000 employees and says it does business in more than 160 countries.

然而，中兴的名子在电信技术领域仍有相当大的分量。它是销售蜂窝网络设备的两家中国公司之一，另一家是华为。中兴有约7.5万名员工，自称在160多个国家有业务。

That makes it an important geopolitical pawn for Beijing, both as an innovator and as a builder of state-funded projects overseas. If China wants to improve ties with a government in the developing world, it often offers loans that can be used to set a ZTE-powered cellular network.

这让它成为北京的地缘政治上的一个重要棋子，它既是一个创新者，也是国家投资海外项目的建设者。如果中国想改善与某个发展中国家政府的关系的话，政府通常会向该国提供用于采购中兴设备建立蜂窝网络的贷款。

Longer term, China hopes that companies like ZTE will become powerhouses that can help the country wean itself from a reliance on American tech firms, which Beijing views as security threats because of the possibility that they could help Washington spy. 它是如何违反法令的?

How Did It Break Sanctions?

从长远来看，中国希望中兴这样的公司能够成为帮助中国摆脱对美国技术公司依赖的主力军，北京把美国技术公司视为安全威胁，因为它们有帮助华盛顿对中国进行间谍活动的可能性。

Tech supply chains are so intertwined these days that just about every product that ZTE makes has some American components or software in it — think microchips, modems and Google’s Android operating system. So if ZTE sells a smartphone to North Korea, it might also be selling a Qualcomm chip inside that phone. That’s illegal under American sanctions that prohibit the sale of United States tech to embargoed countries.

技术产品的供应链如今已变得如此地紧密相联，以至于中兴生产的差不多每个产品中都有美国的零部件或软件——比如微芯片、调制解调器和谷歌的Android操作系统。所以，如果中兴把一部智能手机卖给朝鲜的话，它可能也在那部手机里把一个高通芯片卖给了朝鲜。那是非法的，因为美国的制裁禁止向禁运国家销售美国技术产品。

When the Commerce Department released its findings against ZTE in 2016, it took the rare step of disclosing evidence of the company’s guilt. One document, signed by several senior ZTE executives, cautioned that American export laws were a risk because the company was selling to “all five major embargoed countries — Iran, Sudan, North Korea, Syria and Cuba.”

美国商务部在2016年公布对中兴的调查结果时，采取了一个罕见的做法，商务部披露了中兴违规行为的证据。一份有几位中兴高管签名的文件警告说，美国的出口法对公司来说是一种风险，因为公司在向“所有五个主要禁运国家——伊朗、苏丹、朝鲜、叙利亚和古巴”销售产品。

A second company document featured flow charts for best practices to circumvent American sanctions. Last year, ZTE acknowledged its guilt and paid a $1.19 billion fine.

另一份公司文件中给出了绕过美国制裁的最佳实践流程图。去年，中兴承认了自己违规，并支付了11.9亿美元的罚款。

How Did the U.S. Hobble ZTE?

美国如何处置中兴?

The Commerce Department wasn’t done with that hefty penalty.

美国商务部并没有因为巨额罚款而就此了事。

Last month, officials said ZTE had violated its agreement with the United States because it didn’t punish senior management for having violated the sanctions. Instead, the Commerce Department said, ZTE paid them bonuses and lied about it. As punishment, the department forbade American technology companies from selling their products to ZTE for seven years.

商务部官员上个月说，中兴违反了与美国的协议，因为中兴没有对违反制裁的高管进行惩罚。商务部说，不仅没有惩罚，中兴还向他们发了奖金，并在发奖金这件事上撒谎。作为惩罚，商务部禁止美国技术公司在未来七年向中兴销售产品。

That means no Qualcomm chips or Android software for its phones, and no American chips or other components for its cellular gear. Analysts estimate that four-fifths of ZTE’s products have American companies. ZTE went into a tailspin, saying last week that it had shut down major operations.

这意味着，中兴的手机不能用高通公司的芯片或Android软件，中兴的移动设备也不能用美国的芯片或其他部件。据分析人士估计，中兴80%的产品里有美国公司的东西。中兴进入失控状态，上周宣布已停止主要经营活动。

Why is Trump Intervening?

为什么特朗普会介入此事?

The American president hasn’t explained his decision to try to help the company, other than to cite the potential for lots of Chinese workers to lose their jobs. But ZTE’s troubles come at a complicated moment.

美国总统并没有解释他试图帮助中兴的决定，只是提到许多中国工人有失去工作的可能性。但中兴的困境出现在一个复杂的时刻。

In normal times, the company’s fate would be a legal matter for the Commerce Department. But the Trump administration is pressuring China to make trade concessions. It may also need Beijing’s help to strike a deal with North Korea as Washington and Pyongyang plan a high-profile meeting next month in Singapore.

在正常情况下，这家公司的命运原本是商务部的一个法律问题。但特朗普政府正在迫使中国做出贸易让步。特朗普政府在与朝鲜达成协议上可能也需要北京方面的帮助，华盛顿和平壤正计划于下月在新加坡举行举世瞩目的峰会。

By offering to intervene, Mr. Trump has effectively suggested that ZTE’s punishment could be a bargaining chip in negotiations with China, rather than a matter of law enforcement. It isn’t clear whether he will follow through on his offer to help the company or whether he will get something in return if he does.

特朗普愿意出面干预的表示实际上已经暗示，对中兴的惩罚可能是与中国谈判的讨价还价筹码，而不是一个执法问题。目前还不清楚，特朗普是否会把要帮助中兴的表示付诸行动，也不清楚，如果他那样做的话，是否会得到某种回报。

A One-Off or Part of a Trend?

是一次性的还是趋势下的一部分?

The fight over ZTE is emblematic of deeper issues in the relationship between China and the United States, the world’s two largest economies.

围绕着中兴的角逐，是世界上两个最大的经济体、中国和美国的关系上更深层次问题的象征。

Neither country trusts the equipment made by the other, particularly after Edward Snowden disclosed how United States intelligence officials turned to American companies to snoop.

中美两国都不信任对方制造的设备，尤其是在爱德华·斯诺登(Edward Snowden)披露了美国情报官员为进行窥探向美国公司求助之后。

With a technological cold war already getting frosty, such squabbles over intertwined supply chains and diverging interests are likely to proliferate.

随着一场技术冷战已进入严冬，这种围绕着紧密相联的供应链与分歧的利益的争论可能会越来越多。