Concern Grows in U.S. Over China’s Drive to Make Chips

Concern Grows in U.S. Over China’s Drive to Make Chips
By PAUL MOZUR and JANE PERLEZ February 5, 2016
中國開發微芯片技術，美國疑慮重重
PAUL MOZUR, JANE PERLEZ 2016年2月5日


HONG KONG — China is spending billions of dollars on a major push to make its own microchips, an effort that could bolster its military capabilities as well as its homegrown technology industry.


香港——中國正投入數十億美元，大力推動研發自己的微芯片。這項行動可能會增強該國的軍事實力及其本土科技產業。


Those ambitions are starting to get noticed in Washington.


在華盛頓，這些野心已經開始引起注意。


Worries over China’s chip ambitions were the main reason that United States officials blocked the proposed purchase for as much as $2.9 billion of a controlling stake in a unit of the Dutch electronics company Philips by Chinese investors, according to one expert and a second person involved with the deal discussions.


對中國在芯片領域的野心存在擔憂，這是美國官員拒絕批准一宗併購交易的主要原因，一名專家和另一名參與了交易討論的人士透露。在這筆併購交易中，中國投資者擬出資29億美元，收購荷蘭電子企業飛利浦(Philips)旗下一家公司的控股權。


The Yomiuri Shimbun, via Associated Press Images

「愛國者先進能力-3」導彈攔截裝置等先進武器，用的半導體都是用一種叫氮化鎵的材料。這種材料少有人知，但卻越來越重要。中國據說想掌握生產氮化鎵芯片的技術。


The rare blockage underscores growing concern in Washington about Chinese efforts to acquire the know-how to make the semiconductors that work as the brains of all kinds of sophisticated electronics, including military applications such as missile systems.


此次交易受阻頗為罕見，突顯出華盛頓日益擔憂中國為取得半導體專業技術而採取的行動。半導體芯片是各種精密電子設備的大腦，這些設備包括導彈系統等軍事用途。


In the case of the Philips deal, the company said late last month that it would terminate a March 2015 agreement to sell a majority stake in its auto and light-emitting diode components business known as Lumileds to a group that included the Chinese investors GO Scale Capital and GSR Ventures. It cited concerns raised by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, which reviews whether foreign investments in the country present a national security risk.


關於飛利浦這筆交易，該公司上月底稱，將終止2015年3月的一份協議。按照協議，飛利浦旗下從事汽車和發光二極管原件業務的公司Lumileds的多數股權，會出售給由中國投資者GO Scale Capital和金沙江創業投資基金(GSR Ventures)組成的一個財團。該公司稱終止協議的原因是美國海外投資委員會（Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States，簡稱Cfius）提出了擔憂。這個委員會負責審查外國在美國的投資是否會給國家安全帶來風險。


Philips said that despite efforts to alleviate concerns, the committee — known as Cfius — did not approve the transaction.


飛利浦稱儘管採取了多項舉措以期緩和這些擔憂，但該委員會還是不批准這宗併購。


“There is a belief in the Cfius community that China has become innately hostile and that these aren’t just business deals anymore,” said James Lewis, a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a research firm, who speaks to people connected with the committee’s process.


「Cfius的圈內人認為，中國天生就是敵對的，這些都不再僅僅是商業交易了，」國際戰略研究中心(Center for Strategic and International Studies)高級研究員詹姆斯·劉易斯(James Lewis)說。他與參與了該委員會決策程序的人員有過交流。


Philips did not respond to requests for comment. GSR Ventures, which sponsors GO Scale Capital, declined to comment.


飛利浦沒有答覆記者的置評請求。為GO Scale Capital提供支持的金沙江創投拒絕發表評論。


Cfius, an interagency body that includes representatives from the Treasury and Justice Departments, declined to comment and does not make its findings public.


Cfius是一個跨部門機構，包括財政部和司法部的代表。Cfius拒絕發表評論，也沒有公布其裁定結果。


Cfius reviews have been a growing problem for outbound Chinese deals. According to the most recent data available, in 2012 and 2013 Chinese investment accounted for more committee reviews than money coming from any other country. A 2008 Chinese effort to invest in the network equipment company 3Com was withdrawn while the committee was reviewing it.


Cfius的審查在中國對外投資的交易中，成為了一個日益加劇的問題。從可以取得的距今最近的數據來看，該委員會審查的中國投資比其他任何國家的都多。2008年，中國企業試圖投資網絡設備公司3Com。但在該委員會審查期間，交易就撤銷了。


Recently, the committee found acceptable a number of major Chinese deals, including a takeover of Smithfield Foods by Shuanghui International and Lenovo’s takeover of IBM’s low-end server unit. In 2012, President Obama ordered a Chinese company to stop building wind farms near an American military installation in Oregon after a negative Cfius review.


最近，Cfius認為很多涉及中國的大筆交易都是可以接受的，包括雙匯國際收購史密斯菲爾德食品公司(Smithfield Foods)和聯想收購IBM的低端服務器部門。2012年，在Cfius進行審查並作出負面裁定後，奧巴馬總統責令一家中國公司，停止在美國位於俄勒岡州的一處軍事設施附近修建風力發電廠。


At the center of the committee’s concerns on the Philips deal, according to Mr. Lewis, was a little known but increasingly important advanced semiconductor material called gallium nitride. Though not a household name like silicon, gallium nitride, often referred to by its abbreviation GaN, could be used to construct a new generation of powerful and versatile microchips.


據劉易斯介紹，該委員會擔心飛利浦這筆交易，主要是因為一種叫氮化鎵的半導體材料。儘管這種先進材料知道的人不多，但卻越來越重要。儘管不是像硅這樣的常見材料，氮化鎵（化學式GaN）可以用於製造用途廣泛、性能強大的新一代微芯片。


It has been used for decades in the low-energy light sources known as light-emitting diodes, and it features in technology as mundane as Blu-ray disc players. But its resistance to heat and radiation give it a number of military and space applications. Gallium nitride chips are being used in radar for anti-ballistic missiles and in an Air Force radar system, called Space Fence, that is used to track space debris.


在被稱作發光二極管的節能光源中，氮化鎵已經使用了數十年。在一些平凡的科技產品，如藍光碟片播放器里，氮化鎵也有應用。但耐熱和耐輻射的特性，讓它在軍事和太空領域應用廣泛。如今，反彈道導彈雷達和美國空軍用來追蹤空間碎片的雷達系統「太空籬笆」(Space Fence)也使用了氮化鎵芯片。


“Gallium nitride makes better-performing semiconductors that were key in upgrading Patriot radar systems,” said Mr. Lewis. “It’s classic dual use, sensitive in that it could be used in other advanced weapons sensors and jamming systems.”


「氮化鎵製成的半導體性能更好，是升級『愛國者』雷達系統的關鍵，」劉易斯說。「它是典型的軍民兩用材料，之所以敏感是因為可以用在其他先進武器的傳感器和干擾系統上。」


Advancing its chip industry has been a major political initiative for Beijing. In recent years, analysts said, Chinese corporate espionage and hacking efforts have been aimed at stealing chip technology, while Chinese firms have used government funds to buy foreign companies and technology and attract engineers.


推動芯片產業是北京的重大政治行動。分析人士稱，近年來，中國的商業間諜和黑客活動目標是竊取芯片技術，而中國公司則用政府的資金購買外國的公司和技術，吸引工程師。


Last year, different subsidiaries of the state-controlled Tsinghua Holdings made a number of bids for American companies, including an unsuccessful $23 billion offer for the American memory chip maker Micron Technology and a successful $3.78 billion purchase of a 15 percent stake in the hard-drive maker Western Digital.


去年，國有公司清華控股的不同子公司多次發出收購美國公司的要約，包括出價230億美元收購美國存儲芯片生產商美光科技(Micron Technology)未果，以及成功地用37.8億美元收購硬盤生產商西部數據(Western Digital) 15%的股份。


Last year’s spree of deal activity, and lack of American regulatory response, spurred a Sanford Bernstein analyst, Mark Newman, to say in a November report that the United States “runs the risk of being asleep at the wheel.” He cited efforts by South Korea and Taiwan to prevent China from acquiring some technology assets.


去年併購交易活躍，美國監管機構也少有反應。這促使桑福德·伯恩斯坦公司(Sanford Bernstein)分析師馬克·紐曼(Mark Newman)在11月的一份報告中稱，美國「面臨著開車時睡着的風險」。他提到了韓國和台灣阻止中國收購某些科技資產的行動。


The Lumileds block is being interpreted by the chip industry as the United States “waking up a bit to the threat,” Mr. Newman said in an email.


紐曼在一封電子郵件中稱，芯片業對Lumileds交易受阻的解讀是，美國「對威脅清醒了一點」。


Gallium nitride is particularly sensitive. One military industry magazine called the material the biggest thing since silicon, which is now commonly used to make the transistors in microchips. Itcited Raytheon’s use of the material to make smaller, low-powered radar for American missile systems.


氮化鎵尤為敏感。一家軍事行業雜誌稱它是繼硅之後最重要的材料。目前，硅通常用來製造微芯片中的晶體管。該雜誌提到，雷神公司(Raytheon)用這種材料為美國的導彈系統生產更小的低功率雷達。


“Many say it’s the most important semiconductor material since silicon,” said Colin Humphreys, a British physicist at Cambridge University.


「很多人說它是繼硅之後最重要的半導體材料，」劍橋大學的英國物理學家科林·漢弗萊斯(Colin Humphreys)說。


He said that while it was not clear what the United States government was worried about, research by LED companies into technology linking gallium nitride and silicon could have broader implications for creating advanced microchips that could be used in a wide array of electronics.


他表示，儘管不清楚美國政府擔心的是什麼，但發光二極管領域涉及氮化鎵和硅的技術研究，可能對於研發先進微芯片有更廣泛的影響，後者可用於多種電子產品。


The would-be investor in Lumileds, GSR Ventures, also holds a stake in Lattice Power, a Chinese company that has been vocal about its efforts to develop technology related to gallium nitride and silicon.


希望投資Lumileds的金沙江創業投資基金，也是晶能光電(Lattice Power)的股東。後者是一家中國公司，對於研發涉及氮化鎵和硅的技術一直直言不諱。


In a November 2015 statement about a recent investigation into Chinese industrial espionage, Taiwan’s Ministry of Justice also expressed worries about China aiming at the material. Calling the mass production of gallium nitride a “key development project” for China, the ministry said it was concerned about the theft of trade secrets from Taiwanese companies working on the material and Chinese-led recruitment of engineers knowledgeable about it.


2015年11月，台灣法務部發表了一份聲明，是關於最近對大陸工業間諜活動的調查的。該機構也表示，擔心中國的目標是這種材料。聲明稱，大批量生產氮化鎵是中國的「經濟重點發展項目」，並稱擔心大陸從與該材料有關的台灣企業竊取商業秘密，也擔心中國主導的面向了解這種技術的工程師的招聘行為。



本文内容版权归纽约时报公司所有，任何单位及个人未经许可，不得擅自转载或翻译。




Paul Mozur自香港、Jane Perlez自北京報道。

翻譯：紐約時報中文網


本文内容版权归纽约时报公司所有，任何单位及个人未经许可，不得擅自转载或翻译。







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