中國收購美芯片企業遭華盛頓抵制

HONG KONG — As Chinese companies try to snap up American tech businesses, they are setting off ripples of unease in the Obama administration and in Congress, inciting a backlash that has stopped the latest acquisition attempt.

香港——隨着中國公司試圖搶購美國科技企業，它們在奧巴馬政府和國會內部引發了不安，並遭到強烈反對，導致最新的一次收購嘗試以失敗告終。

One of the companies that first brought silicon to Silicon Valley — Fairchild Semiconductor International — said it would remain in American hands after rejecting a takeover offer worth about $2.5 billion led by Chinese state-backed buyers. Instead, Fairchild embraced a smaller bid from an American rival on Tuesday, citing concerns that federal regulators might reject the Chinese deal.

最早將硅引入硅谷的公司之一仙童半導體國際公司(Fairchild Semiconductor International)拒絕了由國家支持的中國買家領銜的收購要約，表示自己仍將是一家美國企業。中國買家的要約價值約爲25億美元。週二，該公司以擔心聯邦監管機構可能會否決和中國買家的交易爲由，接受了一家美國競爭對手低於中國買家的要約。

The unsuccessful Chinese bid for Fairchild was just one of at least 10 such offers in the last year for international semiconductor businesses, mostly in the United States. China’s Five-Year Plan, the government’s economic and strategic road map, has emphasized semiconductors as a core industry. And a long list of Chinese companies with varying ties to the government have been trying to acquire foreign technology in the sector.

去年，中國企業對國際半導體公司發出了至少10起類似的要約，此次對仙童發出要約而失敗只是其中之一。這些要約涉及的半導體公司主要是美國公司。中國政府制定的五年計劃，作爲該國的經濟和戰略路線圖，強調了半導體是核心行業。大量和政府有着各種各樣的關係的中國公司，一直試圖獲取半導體行業的外國技術。

Recent Chinese moves in areas like heavy equipment, aerospace and financial services are also drawing attention from both ends of the American political spectrum.

中國最近在重型設備、航空航天和金融服務等領域的動作，在美國政壇左右兩翼人士中均引起了關注。

A group of 44 Republican members of Congress and one Democrat sent a letter on Tuesday afternoon to the Treasury Department, demanding that the Obama administration’s interagency committee on foreign acquisitions “conduct a full and rigorous investigation” of a bid by a company in Chongqing, China, to acquire the small but historic Chicago Stock Exchange.

週二下午，44名共和黨國會議員和一名民主黨議員給財政部寄了一封信，要求奧巴馬政府就外國收購項目成立的跨部門委員會，對中國重慶一家企業發出的收購要約“進行全面、嚴格的調查”。這家重慶公司的收購對象是規模雖小但卻具有歷史意義的芝加哥股票交易所(Chicago Stock Exchange)。

Representative Robert Pittenger, Republican of North Carolina, said in a telephone interview that it had been easy to gather signatures on the letter in the House, with members worried that the deal would give China direct access to America’s financial infrastructure. “It took two days — generally, you’ll spend two weeks trying to get signatures,” he said.

北卡羅來納州共和黨衆議員羅伯特·皮滕格(Robert Pittenger)在接受電話採訪時表示，在衆議院徵集簽名的過程很容易，議員們都擔心這筆交易會賦予中國直接進入美國金融基礎設施的途徑。“只用了兩天，而一般來說徵集簽名要花兩週時間，”他說。

But because semiconductors are the tiny electronic cores of a long list of military systems, including drones and smart bombs, Chinese interest in them has attracted the most attention in Washington. Those worries have been amplified as the Obama administration has repeatedly accused Beijing of cyberespionage against the United States. The worries have further increased as China has expanded its role in the South China Sea, including claims by the United States and Taiwan this week that China has deployed surface-to-air missiles there.

因爲微小的半導體是包括無人機和激光制導炸彈在內的大量軍事系統的電子核心，中國對它們的興趣引起了華盛頓最大的關注。隨着奧巴馬政府多次指責北京從事針對美國的間諜活動，那些擔憂被放大。而且隨着中國在南海日益擴大自己的角色，包括本週被美國和臺灣爆出在那裏部署地對空導彈，美國的擔憂進一步得到強化。

“China’s engaged in a buying spree of international semiconductor firms,” said Michael R. Wessel, a member of the United States-China Economic and Security Review Commission, a group created by Congress to monitor bilateral relations. “What they can’t develop on their own, they intend to buy, if they can, or steal, if they must.”

“中國掀起了一股收購國際半導體公司的狂潮，”美國國會爲監測雙邊關係而成立的美中經濟安全審查委員會(U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission)委員邁克爾·R·韋賽爾(Michael R. Wessel)說。“對無法自主研發的技術，他們想能買的就買，不得已時就偷。”

The Chinese government has vehemently denied that it is responsible for hacking attacks, while pointing to detailed disclosures by Edward Snowden of how the United States engages in extensive electronic intelligence gathering on China. Economists in China — and some in the United States, particularly at Wall Street banks that advise on Chinese acquisitions — argue that the United States needs to remain open to foreign investment, particularly given low American savings rates.

中國政府言辭激烈地否認自己應該爲黑客襲擊負責，同時指出，愛德華·斯諾登(Edward Snowden)透露的細節表明，美國大量蒐集有關中國的電子情報。中國的經濟專家——以及美國的部分經濟專家，尤其是供職於華爾街爲中國收購案提供諮詢服務的銀行的經濟專家——表示，美國需要繼續對外國投資持開放態度，提別是考慮到美國儲蓄利率較低。

When Washington politicians start objecting to Chinese acquisitions, “they’re caught up by old-school, Cold War thinking,” said Fred Hu, a prominent Chinese economist and fund manager.

中國知名經濟學家、基金經理胡祖六稱，當華盛頓的政界人士開始反對中國的收購項目時，“他們陷入了老派的冷戰思維”。

Fears about Chinese control over critical technologies recently prompted United States officials to block a $2.9 billion deal for Chinese investors to buy a controlling stake in a unit of the Dutch electronics company Philips.

最近，對中國控制關鍵技術的擔憂促使美國官員叫停了一筆價值29億美元的交易。在該交易中，中國投資者擬收購荷蘭電子公司飛利浦(Philips)旗下一家公司的控股權。

Fairchild said in early January that it expected a bid from China Resources Microelectronics — a unit of the state-owned China Resources Holdings — and Hua Capital Management to be a “superior proposal.” That offer amounted to $21.70 a share in cash, compared with the $20 a share that ON Semiconductor, an American company, had on the table. But worries about the likelihood of approval from the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States outweighed the attractiveness of the bid.

仙童曾在1月初稱，預計華潤集團旗下子公司華潤微電子和華創投資的要約會是“最高報價”。該報價相當於每股21.70美元現金，而相比之下，美國公司ON半導體(ON Semiconductor)的報價僅爲每股20美元。但和報價的吸引力相比，對美國海外投資委員會(Committee on ForeignInvestment in the United States)可能不會批准交易的擔憂佔了上風。

Fairchild’s decision shows the effect of broader political suspicion in the United States toward Chinese investment in the high-tech sector. Last summer, a similar but much larger deal was derailed before it even made it to regulators. The $23 billion bid for the American memory chip maker Micron by a Chinese state-controlled firm was undone by concerns about its political feasibility.

美國政界廣泛懷疑中國在高科技領域的投資，仙童的決定則顯示出了這種懷疑的影響。去年夏天，一宗規模更大的類似交易甚至還沒上報給監管機構就落空了。因爲對政治可行性的擔憂，中國一家國有公司出價230億美元收購美國存儲芯片生產商美光(Micron)的要約被取消。

In that case, Senator Chuck Schumer, Democrat of New York, voiced worries about the deal’s effect on national security in a public letter to Treasury Secretary Jacob J. Lew. But Republicans are now starting to take up the issue, which means that it could take on a partisan dimension in an election year.

在那件事中，紐約州民主黨參議員查克·舒默(Chuck Schumer)在寫給財政部長雅各布·J·盧(Jacob J. Lew)的一封公開信中表示，擔心交易會影響國家安全。但共和黨現在又開始重提此事，這意味着在選舉年，這個問題可能會表現出黨派紛爭的一面。

Despite the difficult climate, Chinese bids for American companies seem likely to increase, affected by a slowing Chinese economy and a desire by many Chinese companies to move money out of the country before China’s currency can weaken further against the dollar. In the sensitive microchip industry, deals are also being driven by more than $100 billion set aside by the Chinese government to help the country improve the sophistication and scale of the critical industry.

儘管形勢艱難，但中國對美國公司發出的要約似乎可能會增多。這是受了中國經濟日漸放緩的影響，很多中國企業希望在人民幣兌美元進一步貶值之前把資金轉移到國外。在敏感的微芯片行業，中國政府爲幫助增強這個關鍵行業的先進性，並提升其規模而預留的1000多億美元，也推動了交易的達成。

The number of deals involving a Chinese company that is trying to buy an overseas chip maker rose to 21 last year, including the offer for Fairchild, from eight in 2010, according to the data company Dealogic. There have already been five this year, worth $857 million.

從Dealogic公司的數據來看，涉及試圖購買海外芯片生產商的中國公司的交易數量，已經從2010年的八宗增加了到了去年的21宗，其中包括對仙童發出的要約。今年已經有五宗了，涉及的金額達8.57億美元。

That has drawn more attention to the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, also known as Cfius. An interagency body that includes representatives from the Treasury, Justice and Defense Departments, Cfius can recommend against foreign deals made for American companies, or companies connected to the United States, on grounds of national security. The agency can also broker compromises in which companies enact special security checks for sensitive aspects of an acquisition or sell off those assets.

這讓又名Cfius的美國海外投資委員會得到了更多的關注。作爲一個跨部門機構，Cfius的成員包財政部、司法部和國防部的代表。它可以以國家安全爲由，建議否決外國公司對美國公司，或和美國有關的公司發出的交易要約。該機構還能從中斡旋，促使各方達成妥協。在這些妥協中，公司要對收購的敏感方面進行特別的安全檢查，或是變賣掉那些資產。

Many in the semiconductor industry are watching closely to see whether Cfius will investigate a bid by the Chinese chip maker Tsinghua Holdings for a stake in the American company Western Digital, which makes hard disk drives. A lack of an investigation could herald more moves by Chinese investors to take minority stakes in American chip and memory companies.

半導體行業的很多從業者都在密切關注，看Cfius是否會調查中國芯片生產商清華控股對生產硬盤設備的美國公司西部數據(Western Digital)的股份發出的收購要約。如果Cfius不調查，則可能預示着中國投資者收購美國芯片和存儲設備公司少數股權的動作會增多。

The potential Chinese buyers of Fairchild had already agreed to pay a $108 million termination fee if the deal did not get approval from Cfius. They also increased their offer to $22 a share after Fairchild raised concerns. But Fairchild’s transaction committee said an agreement would still be too risky.

此前，仙童的潛在中國買家已同意，如果交易得不到Cfius的批准，便支付1.08億美元的終止費。在仙童提出擔憂後，它們還將報價增至每股22美元。但仙童的交易委員會稱，達成協議的風險還是太高。

The Fairchild board said in a regulatory filing on Tuesday that it found the higher offer attractive but that there was “nonnegligible risk of a failure to obtain Cfius approval.”

週二，仙童董事會在一份監管文件中稱，公司覺得較高的報價很有吸引力，但“無法從Cfius獲批的風險不可忽視”。

Fairchild works on several technologies that could have raised concerns. In particular, it develops and produces sensors that track motion in three dimensions, which are used in many cutting-edge technologies. Xsens, a company acquired by Fairchild in 2014, works on sensors that guide unmanned submarines and drones and help in maritime surveillance.

仙童擁有的幾項技術可能引起了擔憂。特別是其研發和生產的能在三維層面追蹤運動的傳感器。這種傳感器被用在了很多尖端技術上。2014年被仙童收購的公司Xsens生產的傳感器，能引導無人潛艇和無人機，並協助海上監視行動。

Shares of ON Semiconductor closed up more than 6 percent on Tuesday, when Fairchild announced that it still favored the American company’s bid. Fairchild’s stock dropped almost 3 percent.

在仙童宣佈依然支持ON半導體的要約的週二，後者的股價收高逾6%。而仙童的股價則下跌近3%。