The US department of commerce is preparing to temporarily lift some sanctions on ZTE, the Chinese telecommunications equipment maker accused of illicitly supplying US technology to Iran.
美国商务部准备暂时解除对中国电信设备制造商中兴通讯(ZTE)的部分制裁,后者被指控非法向伊朗提供美国的技术。
The sanctions, announced on March 8, in effect ban US companies from supplying one of China’s highest-profile technology companies. After Huawei, ZTE is China’s second-largest global exporter of telecoms infrastructure, and the third-largest seller of Android smartphones in the US.
美国3月8日宣布的制裁措施,从实质上禁止美国企业向中兴供货。中兴是中国知名科技公司之一,是仅次于华为(Huawei)的中国第二大电信基础设施全球出口商,也是美国市场上的第三大Android智能手机销售商。
The ban was imposed after an investigation by the commerce department found earlier this month that ZTE “planned and organised a scheme to establish, control and use a series of ‘detached’ [or shell] companies to illicitly re-export controlled items to Iran in violation of US export control laws” according to a March 8 announcement.
3月8日的公告称,实施这一禁令是因为美国商务部展开的一项调查在本月早些时候发现,中兴“策划和组织了一套方案,建立、控制和使用一系列的‘分离’(即空壳)公司非法向伊朗转口受管制物品,违反美国的出口管制法律”。
But following weeks of discussions, the commerce department appears poised to relax the measures.
但在经历了为期数周的磋商后,美国商务部似乎打算放松制裁。
According to the text of a document seen by the Financial Times that could be posted to the Federal Register as early as Thursday, the ban could be waived until June 30 as a result of binding commitments made by ZTE.
英国《金融时报》看到的一份文件的文本显示,由于中兴作出了具有约束性的承诺,这项禁令可能直至6月30日都会被免于执行。这份文件可能最早将于本周四发布在《联邦公报》(Federal Register)上。
According to the document the US Commerce Department would “restore temporarily the status quo ante licensing policy pertaining to exports, re-exports, and transfers (in-country) to ZTE Corporation and ZTE Kangxun”.
根据这份文件,美国商务部将“暂时恢复原有的与向中兴通讯和中兴康讯(ZTE Kangxun)出口、转口和(国内)转交有关的许可证政策”。
ZTE Kangxun, a subsidiary, according to the department of commerce, facilitated the supply of US technology to Iran by buying US technology and providing them to a Chinese intermediary trading company for re-export.
美国商务部称,通过买入美国技术并将它们提供给中国的一家中间贸易公司用于转口,中兴子公司中兴康讯帮助向伊朗供应了美国的技术。
Beijing 8-Star and ZTE Parsian, two other entities connected to ZTE that according to the department of commerce were implicated in the re-exporting of US technology to Iran, are not to be taken off the sanctions list, the document said.
这份文件显示,与中兴有关的另两家实体——北京八星(Beijing 8-Star)和中兴伊朗(ZTE Parsian)——并未被撤下制裁名单。根据美国商务部的说法,这两家实体也涉及把美国技术转口给伊朗。
ZTE’s Hong Kong and Shenzhen shares have been suspended since March 7.
中兴在香港和深圳上市的股票自3月7日起都已停牌。