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HONG KONG — As one of China’s few truly international technology companies, ZTE is often held up by Beijing as part of a new generation of firms that is able to compete beyond Chinese borders.
香港——作为中国极少数真正意义上的跨国科技公司之一，中兴常被北京当作能够参与国外竞争的新一代公司中的榜样。
On Tuesday, the United States government made an example of ZTE in a different way.
周二，美国政府以另一种方式把中兴树立成了榜样。
As part of a settlement for breaking sanctions and selling electronics to Iran and North Korea, ZTE agreed to plead guilty and pay $1.19 billion in fines, the United States Department of Commerce said in an announcement. The penalty is the largest criminal fine in a United States sanctions case.
美国商务部在一份通告中称，作为因违反制裁，向伊朗和朝鲜销售电子产品而达成的和解的一部分，中兴同意认罪，并支付11.9亿美元（约合82.2亿元人民币）罚款。这是美国制裁案件中金额最高的刑事罚款。
The action is the latest in a series of skirmishes between the United States and China over technology policy. It also offered a chance for President Trump’s young administration to make a statement about the seriousness of United States sanctions. In addition to ZTE, the Commerce Department is also investigating the company’s larger Chinese rival, Huawei, for violating United States sanctions.
此次行动是美国和中国围绕科技政策发生的一系列小冲突中的最新一起。它也给特朗普总统的新政府提供了一个机会，表明美国对待制裁的严肃态度。除中兴外，美国商务部还在调查中兴的竞争对手华为是否违反了美国的制裁。同为中国公司的华为规模比中兴更大。
“We are putting the world on notice: The games are over,” said Commerce Secretary Wilbur L. Ross. “Those who flout our economic sanctions and export control laws will not go unpunished — they will suffer the harshest of consequences.”
“我们警告全世界：游戏结束了，”商务部长威尔伯·L·罗斯(Wilbur L. Ross)说。“那些公然藐视我们的经济制裁和出口管控法律的人不会逍遥法外，他们将承担最严重的后果。”
ZTE was found to have breached United States sanctions against Iran by selling American-made goods to the country last March. At the time, the Commerce Department said it would force American companies to obtain a special license to sell to ZTE, which makes smartphones and telecommunications infrastructure equipment. The restrictions would have had the potential to cripple ZTE’s supply chain.
去年3月，中兴被发现违反美国对伊朗的制裁，向其销售美国制造的商品。当时，美国商务部表示将迫使美国公司获得一种特别许可证，才能向生产智能手机和电信基础设施设备的中兴销售产品。这些限制本来有可能会破坏中兴的供应链。
The ban, however, was never put in place, and instead the Chinese company was given a series of reprieves.
然而，这一禁令从未实施。这家中国公司获得了一系列缓刑。
Still, ZTE, which is China’s second-largest maker of telecom equipment, has not fared well over the past year. Its revenue from the expansion of China’s 4G cellular networks has slowed and its smartphone business has faced major competition from new Chinese handset makers, as well as Huawei.
但作为中国第二大电信设备生产商，中兴过去一年里的经营状况并不好。它从中国4G手机网络扩张中得到的收入开始减缓，智能手机业务也面临中国新兴手机生产商以及华为的激烈竞争。
On Tuesday, the Commerce Department said that along with selling prohibited American electronics to build Iran’s telecom networks, ZTE also made 283 shipments of microprocessors, servers and routers to North Korea, violating American embargoes in that country as well.
周二，商务部表示，除销售违禁美国电子产品供伊朗建设电信网络外，中兴还违反美国对朝鲜实施的禁令，向朝鲜运输了283批微处理器、服务器和路由器。
“ZTE engaged in an elaborate scheme to acquire U.S.-origin items, send the items to Iran and mask its involvement in those exports,” said the acting assistant attorney general, Mary B. McCord. “The plea agreement alleges that the highest levels of management within the company approved the scheme.”
“中兴参与了一个精心制定的计划，购买美国生产的物品、将它们运送至伊朗并掩盖自己在这些出口中的作用，”代理助理司法部长玛丽·B·麦科德(Mary B. McCord)说。“认罪协议称该公司内部的最高管理层批准了该计划。”
She added that ZTE repeatedly lied to and misled federal investigators, its own lawyers and internal investigators.
她补充说，中兴一再欺骗和误导联邦调查人员和该公司自己的律师及内部调查人员。
In a statement, ZTE said that it had strengthened its compliance policies and undergone a shake-up of top leaders; the company named a new chief executive last April.
在一份声明中，中兴称已加强公司合规政策，并对高层领导进行了调整。该公司于去年4月任命了新总裁。
“ZTE acknowledges the mistakes it made, takes responsibility for them and remains committed to positive change in the company,” said Zhao Xianming, chairman and chief executive of ZTE.
“中兴承认所犯的错误，承担错误的责任并继续致力于在公司进行积极的改革，”中兴董事长兼总裁赵先明说。
Although China and the United States have occasionally traded barbs over technology policy and cyberattacks, the actions against ZTE by the United States government have not had a major impact on the relationship of the two countries, though Beijing could respond harshly to the new fine.
中美两国偶尔会因科技政策和网络袭击而展开言语交锋，但美国政府对中兴采取的行动并未对两国关系产生大的影响，不过北京可能会对新公布的罚款处理进行猛烈还击。
It is unclear whether the Commerce Department has completed its investigations into Chinese telecom equipment makers.
尚不清楚商务部是否已完成了对中国电信设备生产商的调查。
In a rare step accompanying the announcement last March, the Commerce Department provided two internal ZTE documents.
去年3月，除发布通告外，商务部同时还提供了中兴的两份内部文件。此举颇为罕见。
One, from 2011 and signed by several senior ZTE executives, detailed how the company had “ongoing projects in all five major embargoed countries — Iran, Sudan, North Korea, Syria and Cuba.” Another document laid out in a complex flow chart a method for circumventing United States export controls.
一份是2011年的文件，上有多名中兴高管签名。文件详细列出了该公司如何“在全部五个主要禁运国家——伊朗、苏丹、朝鲜、叙利亚和古巴获得正在开展的项目”。另一份文件用一张复杂的流程图说明了一种避开美国出口管控的方式。
Citing an unnamed company as a model for circumventing United States sanctions, that second document seemed to implicate ZTE’s more politically important rival, Huawei.
第二份文件把一家未具名的公司作为规避美国制裁规定的榜样。它似乎指的是该公司政治色彩更浓厚的重要竞争对手华为。
The New York Times reported last year that the United States government was also investigating whether Huawei broke export controls. The Commerce Department subpoenaed Huawei, demanding it turn over all information regarding the export or re-export of American technology to Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Sudan and Syria.
《纽约时报》去年报道，美国政府也在调查华为是否违反了出口管控。商务部曾用传票传唤华为，要求其呈交有关向古巴、伊朗、朝鲜、苏丹和叙利亚出口或再出口的所有信息。
Huawei has said it is committed to complying with laws and regulations where it operates.
华为称其致力于遵守业务所在地的法律法规。
Huawei and ZTE are private companies, but they have deep ties to the Chinese government, in part because they supply much of the equipment that makes the country’s telecom backbone function.
华为和中兴都是私营公司，但它们和中国政府渊源深厚。这在一定程度上是因为承担中国电信中枢功能的设备中，很多都是它们供应的。
