中国对外国技术的疑心病

Beijing — Since China opened to the West three-and-a-half decades ago, foreigners, foreign companies, and foreign technology have oftentimes been suspect in the eyes of some government factions. Chinese reformers have had an uphill battle in overcoming these deeply rooted cultural fears.

北京——自从30多年前中国向西方开放以来，外国人、外国公司和外国技术常常受到一些政府派系的猜疑。为了战胜这些根深蒂固的文化恐惧，中国的改革派付出了艰辛的努力。

The authorities’ paranoia is at the heart of the 1985 Chinese film “The Black Cannon Incident.” In the picture, the lead character, Zhao Shuxin, is a capable and competent German-speaking engineer in a state-owned mining company that seeks to obtain West German technology. Mr. Zhao is an avid player of Chinese chess and when he finds one of his chess pieces missing — the black cannon — he sends a telegram to a hotel that he previously stayed at requesting the hotel’s help in finding it: “Missing black cannon. 301. Search for Zhao.”

官方的这种过度猜疑正是1985年的中国电影《黑炮事件》所反映的主题。影片的主角赵书信是一家国有矿业公司的工程师，会说德语，工作能力出色，他所在的这家公司希望得到西德的技术。赵书信十分喜欢中国象棋，有一天，他发现少了一颗棋子——黑炮——于是就给之前待过的旅馆发了一封电报，要求帮忙寻找，电报的内容是：“丢失黑炮301找赵”。

The ambiguously worded telegram arouses the interest of security authorities and the police detain Mr. Zhao, believing he is spying for foreigners and involved in an illicit arms deal. The chess piece is finally found and Mr. Zhao is cleared, but the factory Communist Party chief chastises him for sending the telegram anyway.

这封措词模糊的电报引起了安全机关的注意，警方把赵书信抓了起来，认为他替外国人从事间谍工作，参与非法武器交易。这枚棋子最终被找到，赵书信也洗脱了罪名，但工厂的党委书记还是批评他发了这封电报。

“The Black Cannon Incident” reflects how innocuous communications can be misinterpreted as something sinister and as a threat to national security — and it’s also a not-so-subtle attack on the overreaching and paranoia of the authorities. The reformers in the government in 1985 allowed this political satire to be shown in limited release to send the nation a message that people should be more trusting of foreigners to encourage foreign direct investment and the introduction of new technology.

《黑炮事件》反映出，无关紧要的沟通也可能被解读成带有恶意的内容，并被视作国家安全威胁。这部电影也以不那么含蓄的口吻，批评了当局的过度监管和无端猜疑。1985年，政府中的改革派允许这种政治讽刺电影在有限的范围内放映，从而向全国发出这样的信息：为了鼓励外国直接投资和新技术的引进，人们应该更加信任外国人。

Fast forward to 2015 and there is a worrying trend involving a series of policy initiatives that could restrict the flow of foreign goods and services in the information communications technology sector.

然而时间到了2015年，一系列政策措施却呈现出了一种令人担忧的趋势，因为在信息通信技术领域，这些措施可能会限制外国商品和服务的流动。

Such restrictive policies could put the country and its companies at a significant disadvantage in the global marketplace. Indeed, one unfortunate consequence of overbroad antiterrorism and national security policies would be to isolate China technologically from the rest of the world, and the end result of that could be to limit the country’s access to cutting-edge technology and innovation.

这类限制性政策可能会导致中国和中国企业在全球市场处于十分不利的地位。实际上，过于宽泛的反恐和国家安全政策带来的不利后果之一，就是在技术上把中国和世界其他地区隔离开，这种情况导致的最终结果可能就是限制了中国接触尖端技术和创新的途径。

For example, the proposed antiterrorism law — which is under consideration at the National People’s Congress currently meeting in Beijing — contains requirements for any information communications technology suppliers in the China market to provide in-country data storage and to alter or modify their products or services to assist in the “counterterrorism” work of the authorities. Under the law, telecom and Internet operators will be required to install intercept support and decryption capabilities in their systems prior to the use or sale in the Chinese market.

比如，目前在北京召开的全国人民代表大会，正在审议反恐法草案。该草案的相关条款要求，中国市场上的所有信息通信技术供应商，应在中国境内提供数据存储，并对产品或服务进行变更和调整，以协助当局的“反恐”工作。根据这项法律，电信和互联网运营商将被要求在各自的系统中设置监听支持和解密功能，才能在中国市场上使用或销售。

China also adopted new banking guidelines in December that outline security criteria for technology products to be considered “secure and controllable” for use in the financial sector. To attain such certification, source codes in operating systems and database software produced abroad or domestically must be registered with the government. The submission of source codes and other information creates significant intellectual property risks for information-tech companies. The China Banking Regulatory Commission provided notice to banks to submit compliance plans by March 15.

中国还在去年12月通过了新的银行业指导意见，提出了用于金融行业的技术产品应被认为“安全可控”的安全标准。为了取得认证，国内外生产的操作系统和数据库软件的源代码，都必须在政府注册。提交源代码和其他信息，给信息技术企业造成了重大的知识产权风险。中国银行业监督管理委员会向各银行发出了通知，要求在3月15日之前提交合规计划。

Similarly, in recent months, as the government tries to get control over the dissemination of information, there has been an uptick in the blocking of foreign websites, a noticeable slowdown in Internet speed and a denial of virtual private network services. A recent business climate survey conducted by the American Chamber of Commerce China found that 83 percent of its member companies were negatively affected by Internet censorship by the Chinese government.

同样，最近几个月，随着政府试图控制信息传播，封锁外国网站的行动力度加大，网速明显变慢，虚拟专用网络(virtual private network)服务受到了屏蔽。中国美国商会(American Chamber of Commerce China)前不久开展的一项商务环境调查发现，83%的成员企业受到了中国政府审查互联网的不利影响。

At a minimum, the proposed antiterrorism law and the banking rules will create additional intrusive regulatory challenges for information-tech providers and their customers. The unfortunate result of excessive control over email and Internet traffic is the slowing down of commerce.

反恐法草案和银行业新规，至少会给信息技术供应商及其消费者，带来更多侵扰性的监管挑战。过度控制电子邮件和网络流量的不幸后果就是，商业活动放缓。

Rather than creating restrictive security policies, the Chinese government should take a more rational approach to security issues and give equal attention to the healthy development and global integration of China’s information-tech sector. This is especially important as Beijing struggles to maintain economic growth levels and rebalance the economy.

中国政府不应该颁布限制性的安全政策，而是应该采取更理性的方式应对安全问题，并对中国信息技术产业的健康发展，以及与全球的融合，给予同等的关注。随着北京竭力维持经济增长水平、实现经济再平衡，这一点显得尤为重要。

Yet 30 years after the release of “The Black Cannon Incident” we are still living in a time in which trust appears to be in question, foreign technology is deemed to be suspect, and paranoia over security interests prevails.

然而，《黑炮事件》上映30年后，在我们生活的这个时代，信任仍然受到猜忌、外国技术仍然受到怀疑，对安全利益的偏执还是占了上风。