香港商界巨头遭遇各方责难

The corporate titans who dominate this city's real-estate market and control businesses ranging from cellphone providers to bus companies to supermarkets are facing unprecedented challenges to their power.

控制着香港的房地产市场以及从手机经销商、巴士公司到超市等诸多行业的商界巨头们，正受到针对其庞大势力的前所未有的挑战。

Parts of their empires are under pressure from Hong Kong's new leader, a reinvigorated anticorruption agency and local residents angered by rising rents and stagnant earnings. Their own advanced ages may also be working against them.

他们执掌的商业帝国中的一部分目前正在承受着压力，这些压力来自香港的新任领导人和一家被重新注入活力的反腐败机构，以及因房租日益上涨和收入停滞不前而愤怒不已的香港市民。这些大亨们老迈的年龄可能也正成为对他们不利的因素。

Last month, two billionaire property developers were charged with bribery by the anticorruption agency, sending shock waves through Hong Kong's business community. Though the city's government has a reputation for coddling powerful local conglomerates, its newly inaugurated chief executive, Leung Chun-ying, says his administration will be different.

上个月，两个身为亿万富翁的房地产开发商被反腐败机构指控行贿，在香港商界引起轩然大波。尽管香港政府一向有对当地财大气粗的大公司关照有加的名声，但香港新上任的行政长官梁振英说，他领导的这届政府将与以往不同。

'I don't need extensive or personal relations with any [business] sector,' he said in an interview. 'I'm here to serve the seven million,' a reference to all the city's inhabitants.

梁振英在接受采访时说，我不需要与任何商业领域建立大范围的或是私人的关系。我在这里是为700万香港人服务的。

Hong Kong's tycoons have survived tough times before. The question is whether they are still up for a fight. Those like Li Ka-shing, who came of age in the boom years after World War II, are in their 80s or older. Some are beset by squabbling heirs and succession battles.

香港的大亨们以往也曾经历过几段艰难时期。问题是他们现在是否仍然还有斗志。李嘉诚这批在二战后经济繁荣时期步入成年的香港大亨们，现在已经年过八旬甚至更老。一些人正受到子女不和以及继承权纠纷的困扰。

Hong Kong's six biggest conglomerates dominate the city and are in turn closely tied to their founders' families. They take in at least 23 cents of every dollar that residents spend, controlling Hong Kong's biggest mobile-phone network, its electrical system, its bus system, the vast majority of the buildings making up its iconic skyline, plus two-thirds of its private housing market and 90% of its supermarket sales. By comparison in the U.S., Wal-Mart Stores Inc.岸the world's largest retailer岸accounts for 2.5 cents of every dollar of private consumption.

香港六家最大的企业集团控制着这个城市，它们与这些企业的创始人家族也有着密切关系。香港居民的消费支出中，至少有23%流入了这些企业囊中，这些企业集团控制着香港最大的手机网络、电力系统、巴士系统、勾勒出香港标志性天际线的绝大多数建筑，以及三分之二的香港私人住房市场。香港90%的超市销售收入也由这些企业实现。相比之下，世界最大零售商沃尔玛(Wal-Mart Stores Inc.)的在美销售额只占美国私人消费总额的2.5%。

Hong Kong's residents once idolized the tycoons. 'When I was younger, people called Li Ka-shing 'Superman,' ' recalls social-worker Kan Chi-wai. Mr. Li, now Asia's richest man, 'was a legend岸a Hong Kong legend,' he says.

香港市民曾经视这些大亨为偶像。社工Kan Chi-wai回忆说，我年轻一些的时候，人们都把李嘉诚称作超人。李嘉诚现在是亚洲最富有的人。他说，李嘉诚是一个传奇，一个香港传奇。

Increasingly, however, these former heroes are blamed for the city's economic woes. Hong Kong has the developed world's highest housing costs and its widest wealth gap. 'People think, 'Wow, Hong Kong岸it's so free,'' says Sin Yat-Ming, of the Chinese University of Hong Kong's business school. 'But the developers control the whole supply chain in Hong Kong, so it's not easy for a newcomer to break in.'

然而，这些曾经的英雄现在因为香港经济上的问题而受到越来越多的责备。香港的房价和贫富差距都堪称世界之最。香港中文大学商学院的Sin Yat-Ming说，人们都会觉得，哇，香港，多自由啊，但是开发商们控制着香港的整个供应链，所以后来者想进入一个新领域并不容易。

The combined wealth of the city's billionaires is equivalent to more than 70% of Hong Kong's GDP. Nos. 2 and 3 by that measure are Lebanon and Russia, with ratios of 33% and 25% respectively, according to Welch Consulting's Stephen Bronars, whose analysis excluded nations with less than a million people.

香港亿万富豪的全部财富相当于香港本地生产总值(GDP)的70%还多。咨询公司Welch Consulting的布罗纳尔斯(Stephen Bronars)说，这方面排名世界第二和第三位的是黎巴嫩和俄罗斯，其本国亿万富豪财富总额分别相当于本国GDP的33%和25%。统计中没有包括人口低于100万的国家和地区。

Yuna Lam, who works in accounting, is one of many white-collar professionals who spend nearly every waking hour in a building or vehicle owned by local conglomerates. In the morning, she wakes up in South Horizons, a seaside apartment complex developed and run by Mr. Li. She travels to work on a bus that's partially owned by Chow Tai Fook Enterprises Ltd. Her office building is partially owned by Sun Hung Kai Properties Ltd., which also gets paid when she uses her cellphone. And she shops at Mr. Li's grocery and drug stores.

许多香港白领几乎所有醒着的时间都是在当地大企业所拥有的建筑和车辆中度过，在会计行业工作的Yuna Lam就是其中之一。每天早上，她在李嘉诚开发和运营的海怡半岛(South Horizons)公寓大楼中醒来，乘坐一辆由周大福企业有限公司(Chow Tai Fook Enterprises Ltd.)部分拥有的巴士去上班。她所在写字楼的部分股权归新鸿基地产发展有限公司(Sun Hung Kai Properties Ltd.)所有，当她使用手机时，有一部分话费也会流入新鸿基会囊中。她还在李嘉诚开的杂货店和药店购物。

Ms. Lam's case may seem extreme, but she says she's not unusual: 'There are many Hong Kong people like me,' she says.

Yuna Lam的例子可能显得有点极端，但她说自己并不是特例。Yuna Lam说，在香港有许多像我这样的人。

Among the city's six dominant conglomerates, three were started by boot-strapping mainland emigrants: Mr. Li's Cheung Kong Holdings Ltd., HK -1.43% Sun Hung Kai Properties and Chow Tai Fook Enterprises. Three others date back to colonial-era concessions, including Swire Pacific Ltd., HK -1.43% Wheelock HK -1.43% & Co. and Jardine Matheson Holdings Ltd.

在香港六家占主导地位的大企业中，有三家是由白手起家的大陆移民创办的，分别是：李嘉诚的长江实业(Cheung Kong Holdings Ltd.)，新鸿基地产和周大福。另外三家则是在香港的殖民地时期享有特许权的企业，这三家公司是太古股份有限公司(Swire Pacific Ltd.)、会德丰有限公司(Wheelock & Co.)和怡和控股(Jardine Matheson Holdings Ltd.)。

Jardine Matheson says its businesses constantly have to invest and improve to meet Hong Kong's competitive challenges. All the other companies declined to comment or didn't respond to requests for comment.

怡和控股说，为应对香港市场上的竞争，公司旗下的企业不得不持续进行投资和提高。其它公司要么拒绝评论，要么未回应置评要求。

Hong Kong's conglomerates have long depended on government concessions, and their leaders have been known for their close ties with top officials. That perception was reinforced last month, when Hong Kong's independent anticorruption agency charged Thomas and Raymond Kwok─billionaire brothers who are among Hong Kong's most powerful developers─in a case that involves $4.5 million in bribes to the government's former No. 2 official.

香港大型企业集团长期以来一直依赖政府的优惠政策，这些企业的领导人与香港高官的密切关系也是众所周知的。外界的这一看法上个月进一步得到了加强：香港独立的反腐败机构指控郭炳江(Thomas Kwok)和郭炳联(Raymond Kwok)涉嫌贿赂港府前“二把手”，涉案金额450万美元。亿万富豪郭氏兄弟都属于香港最有权势的房地产开发商。

The Kwok brothers control Sun Hung Kai Properties, the world's second-largest property developer by stock-market value. They have also built some of Hong Kong's most famous buildings, including its tallest tower. Now, if convicted of the bribery charges, they could face several years in prison. Raymond Kwok said at a news conference that he is innocent. Thomas Kwok has declined to comment.

郭氏兄弟掌控着新鸿基地产发展有限公司，这是按市值计全球第二大房地产开发企业。此外，他们还修建了香港一些最有名的建筑，包括香港最高的写字楼。如果因贿赂指控被定罪，他们可能会被判几年监禁。郭炳联曾在一个新闻发布会上说，自己是无辜的。郭炳江一直拒绝发表评论。

The city's anticorruption agency has suffered a series of embarrassments, including the conviction of several of its investigators for coaching a witness to provide false evidence.

香港反腐机构经历了一系列尴尬事件，包括几名调查员因教唆证人提供伪证而被定罪等。

But now it is investigating the city's former chief executive, Donald Tsang, for allegedly traveling on yachts and private jets owned by top business executives and for what appears to have been a sweetheart deal with a local mogul for a penthouse apartment.

不过，该机构目前正在调查香港前特首曾荫权(Donald Tsang)。调查的起因是有人指称他曾乘坐企业高管的游艇和私人飞机，以及他似乎就一套顶层大宅与当地一位大亨达成了一笔对自己有利的交易。

Mr. Tsang admitted to accepting the jet travel and has given up the apartment. He delivered two tearful apologies for disappointing the public. He hasn't admitted wrongdoing. The agency says nothing has changed in its approach to corruption.

曾荫权承认，自己确曾接受过乘坐私人飞机的邀请，并且已放弃了那套公寓。他为自己让民众失望而两度致歉落泪，但他们没有承认自己存在过失。香港反腐机构说，它对于腐败行为的态度没有任何改变。

Mr. Leung and the anticorruption agency have been backed in their recent efforts by Beijing, which is apprehensive about the rising discontent in Hong Kong. The Chinese government supported the selection of Mr. Leung, and Chinese President Hu Jintao instructed him to make resolving social tensions his first priority. At Mr. Leung's inauguration earlier this summer, Mr. Hu said social conflicts 'could affect Hong Kong's long-term development.'

梁振英和香港反腐机构近来的行动得到了北京的支持，后者对于香港民众日益高涨的不满情绪感到担忧。中国政府支持梁振英成为香港特首，国家主席胡锦涛指示梁振英，要把解决社会矛盾作为首要任务。胡锦涛今年初夏在梁振英的就职典礼上说，社会矛盾可能会影响香港的长远发展。

Beijing, which is also grappling with corruption and inequality at home, wants a stable Hong Kong. In five years, residents there will directly elect their leader for the first time, and angry voters could choose someone unappealing to China.

正在奋力解决内地腐败和贫富不均问题的北京希望看到一个稳定的香港。五年后，香港市民将首次直接选举领导人，那些愤怒的选民或许会选出一个并不让中国政府称心如意的特首。

Much of the current public anger can be traced back to land. At the moment, just 7% of Hong Kong's 430 square miles is used for residential purposes. Housing prices have risen 82% since late 2008, but incomes have stagnated for a decade. Besides limiting the new supply, analysts say, the government has been selling huge plots and requiring land premiums to be paid up front in massive lump sums, an approach that favors large developers. Currently, just three companies control 65% of the private residential market, according to brokerage CLSA.

眼下香港民众的愤怒情绪很大程度上可以追根溯源到土地问题。香港陆地面积为430平方英里(合1,103平方公里)，其中仅有7%用作居民住宅用地。2008年底以来，香港房价大涨82%，但居民收入10年来却止步不前。分析人士说，香港政府采取了一系列对大型房地产开发商有利的措施，如限制新的土地供应，一直在出售大面积的地块，并要求开发商预先支付巨额补地价。据经纪公司里昂证券(CLSA)统计，香港目前65%的私人住宅市场控制在三家房地产公司手中。

Keith Kerr, who heads the Real Estate Developer's Association of Hong Kong, says the government, which sets land-supply levels, bears the responsibility for helping to fuel the prices, not the developers. 'It's easy to shoot the messenger,' he says.

香港地产建设商会(Real Estate Developer's Association of Hong Kong)会长简基富(Keith Kerr)说，香港政府决定着土地供应量的多寡，为助推房价担责的应是香港政府，而不应是开发商。简基富说，人们很容易向信使开枪射击。

In February, the government said it would begin selling more land and offering smaller plots, allowing more medium-size developers to compete. Mr. Leung also says he will open up land supply, potentially pushing down prices. Chinese developers are moving in too, making the market more competitive.

香港政府今年2月说，将开始出售更多土地，并且会推出面积较小的地块，让更多中等规模的开发商参与竞争。梁振英也说，他将开放土地供应，这样做可能会打压房价。中国内地开发商也在进入香港房地产市场，给香港楼市带来更多竞争。

Pong Yat-Ming is a one-man protest movement against the tycoons. The 38-year-old teacher bicycles to work because the tycoons own the city buses. He avoids ParknShop and Wellcome, the two dominant supermarket chains. His one concession is electricity. 'People are angry,' says Mr. Pong. 'They feel the super-companies have gotten too powerful, they control too much of our lives.'

庞一鸣(Pong Yat-Ming)发起了他个人对香港大亨的抗议运动。这位38岁的教师骑自行车去上班，因为香港巴士归大亨们所有。他不去百佳(ParknShop)和惠康(ParknShop)这两家香港主要的连锁超市。用电是他的一个让步。庞一鸣说，人们有怨气，他们觉得那些超级企业太强大了，控制了我们生活的太多方面。