歐盟撤銷對華電信反補貼案

The EU has dropped an anti-subsidies case against two Chinese telecoms companies as Brussels seeks to repair trade relations with Beijing and distance itself from Washington’s more confrontational approach.

歐盟(EU)撤銷了針對兩家中國電信公司的反補貼案，因其尋求修復與北京方面的貿易關係，遠離華盛頓的更爲對抗的做法。

The ceasefire between Brussels and Beijing brings to a close the two bruising trade disputes with China that have coloured Karel De Gucht’s stint as EU trade commissioner.

中歐和解結束了雙方之間的兩宗激烈貿易糾紛，後者是歐盟貿易專員卡洛•德古赫特(Karel De Gucht)任期的一個鮮明特點。

Mr De Gucht, who will be succeeded by Sweden’s Cecilia Malmström at the end of this month, also launched an investigation over the alleged dumping of Chinese solar panels into the EU last year.

德古赫特去年還對中國涉嫌向歐盟傾銷太陽能面板展開調查。瑞典的塞西莉亞•馬姆斯特羅姆(Cecilia Malmström)將於本月底接替德古赫特出任歐盟貿易專員。

In both cases, EU officials met a persistent set of problems that have forced them to rethink the way that they approach China – their second-biggest trade partner.

歐盟官員在這兩案中持續遭遇了一系列問題，被迫重新考慮與中國這個歐盟第二大貿易伙伴打交道的方式。

In the telecoms case, Brussels argued that Huawei and ZTE, two Chinese makers of telecommunications equipment, benefited unfairly from illegal state subsidies. The companies deny the accusation.

在電信糾紛案中，布魯塞爾方面稱，華爲(Huawei)和中興(ZTE)這兩家中國電信設備製造商不公平地從非法的政府補貼中受益。兩家公司否認該指控。

Leading European companies such as Alcatel-Lucent, NSN and Ericsson did not want a trade war with China to shatter their prospects of winning a slice of China’s $3.25bn 4G tender.

阿爾卡特-朗訊(Alcatel-Lucent)、諾基亞西門子網絡(Nokia Siemens Networks,簡稱NSN)和愛立信(Ericsson)等歐洲主要電信公司不想與中國打貿易戰，以免破壞從中國價值32.5億美元的4G招標中分一杯羹的前景。

In contrast to Europe’s soft approach to Huawei, the company is restricted from bidding for US government contracts.

與歐洲對華爲的溫和做法相反，美國不允許華爲競標本國政府合同。

“The case has shown that the era in which Europe, as a collective, can deal with China unilaterally is over,” said Hosuk Lee-Makiyama, director at the European Centre for International Political Economy.

歐洲國際政治經濟中心(ECIPE)主任霍素克•李-牧山浩石(Hosuk Lee-Makiyama)表示：“該案表明，歐洲作爲一個集體以單方面行動與中國打交道的時代結束了。”

The case demonstrates how adept China has become at exploiting internal divisions between EU countries and companies. In the solar panels case, Germany undermined the case to protect parts of its own solar industry, which saw Chinese companies as partners rather than competitors.

它表明中國是多麼擅長利用歐盟國家和公司之間的內部分歧。在太陽能面板案中，德國從中阻撓以保護自身太陽能面板行業中的某些公司，後者將中國公司視爲合作伙伴、而非競爭對手。

EU officials also complained that China was consistently able to mobilise countermeasures – such as a threat to block European wine imports – which would again sow divisions in the EU. “They were just too strong at fighting that way,” said one EU official dealing with trade disputes.

歐盟官員還抱怨稱，中國始終能夠發起反制措施，比如威脅禁止進口歐洲紅酒，這將會再次引起歐盟內部的分裂。一位處理貿易爭端的歐盟官員表示：“他們太擅長這麼做了。”

Yesterday’s settlement of the telecoms case offers a foretaste of the more co-operative diplomacy that looks likely to be used to settle disputes with China.

昨日電信案的和解預示着更爲合作的外交策略，在解決與中國的貿易糾紛中，歐盟未來看來很可能使用這種策略。

Under the terms of the truce, European companies should be fully consulted on the development of standards for next-generation technologies in China.

按照和解協議的規定，中國在開發下一代技術標準的過程中，應充分諮詢歐洲企業。

The deal will also seek to ensure there is no discrimination in public tenders and that European companies will not be cut out of funding for research in China. Market shares will be monitored and a working group will be set up on limiting companies’ access to state export credits.

該協議還尋求確保在公開招標中沒有歧視行爲，並確保歐洲企業在中國不會被切斷研究經費融資。市場份額將會得到監控，而且還會成立一個工作組，負責限制企業獲得政府出口信貸。

Commission officials expect more of these sort of compromises to feature in the framework of a trade accord called the EU-China Investment Agreement, currently under negotiation.

歐盟委員會官員預計，目前正在談判的中歐投資協定(EU-China Investment Agreement)框架協議將會出現更多此類的妥協。

Still, Mr Lee-Makiyama said that China had also learned the importance of not pushing Brussels to a point where it was forced to act politically.

此外，李-牧山浩石表示，中國也明白有一點很重要，就是不能把布魯塞爾逼到不得不採取政治行動的地步。

“Europe does have leverage . . . The Chinese are rethinking – that they should not focus everything on the US, Europe does matter.”

“歐洲的確具有影響力……中國人正在重新思考——他們不應完全專注於美國，歐洲的確非常關鍵。”