澳大利亚前任矿业主管胡士泰被释放 [美国媒体]

ChinaFrees Australian Executive at Center of Diplomatic Dispute

澳大利亚前任矿业主管胡士泰被释放



By Paul Mozur

SHANGHAI — When Stern Hu was convicted in 2010 of corruptioncharges and sent to prison in China, the Australian mining executive’s fate strained ties between Canberra and animportant trading partner.

上海——2010年，胡士泰因腐败指控定罪并被关进中国监狱，这位澳大利亚矿业高管的命运令堪培拉与其重要贸易伙伴中国之间的关系变得紧张。

Eight years later, the world has changed. But as Mr. Hu, aformer Rio Tinto executive, left jail on Wednesday, having served most of a10-year sentence, many of the concerns about a deep but fraught economic and politicalrelationship between the two countries have not.

八年来，世界已经变了。胡士泰曾任力拓公司(Rio Tinto)高管，在狱中度过10年刑期的大部分时间后，他于周三得到释放。然而，在中澳两国之间深厚但充满危机的经济和政治关系当中，很多令人担忧的事情却没有改变。

In fact, the tensions that framed Mr. Hu’s trial — includingconcerns about a Chinese industrial policy that blurs the line between politicsand business — have been very much on display in recent months.

事实上，作为胡士泰审判背景的紧张局势——包括中国模糊政治与商业界限的产业政策所引发的担忧——近几个月来得到了充分显示。

Australia passed sweeping national security legislation justlast week that bans foreign interference in politics and makes it a crime todamage Australia’s economic relations with another country. Australianpoliticians and news outlets have been debating whether to purchase equipment from Huawei, theChinese telecom-equipment maker, to build out its next-generation cellularnetwork, following American concerns about Huawei’s ties to Beijing.

澳大利亚上周通过了全面的国家安全立法，禁止外国干涉其政治，把损害澳大利亚与他国经济关系的行为定为犯罪。随着美国担心中国电信设备制造商华为与北京之间的关系，澳大利亚政界和新闻媒体也一直在争论，是否要从华为购买设备，建设本国的下一代蜂窝网络。

Mr. Hu was given a reprieve of roughly two years from hissentence because of good behavior, according to the Chinese Foreign Ministry.It was not clear when Mr. Hu, a naturalized Australian citizen who was born inChina and later returned to work there, would go back to Australia.

根据中国外交部的说法，由于表现良好，胡士泰获得约两年的减刑。胡士泰是一位出生于中国，后来回到中国工作的澳大利亚藉公民，目前尚不清楚他何时会回到澳大利亚。

His arrest in 2009, along with three Chinese colleagues at RioTinto, came soon after the company decided to back out of a $19.5 billion dealwith a Chinese state-owned company. The timing contributed to concerns that Mr.Hu had been targeted in retaliation for that decision.

在力拓公司决定退出与一家中国国有企业达成的195亿美元交易后不久，2009年，他和力拓的三名中国同事一起被捕。这个时机令人们担心，因为退出交易的决定，胡士泰成了报复的对象。

As the leader of the Anglo-Australian mining giant’s iron oreoperations in China, Mr. Hu was on the front lines of cutthroat negotiationsover pricing of a major ingredient in steel production.

作为力拓这家英澳矿业巨头在华铁矿业务的领导者，胡士泰处于一个激烈谈判前线，要为钢铁生产的这一主要原料定价。

Mr. Hu’s fall from the heights of the business world to thedepths of a Chinese prison captivated — and scared — the international businesscommunity in China just as the country was becoming one of the world’s mostimportant markets for all manner of companies.

当时中国正在成为世界上所有公司最重要的市场之一，而胡士泰却从商业世界的巅峰跌落到中国监狱的深渊，这令中国的国际商业人士极为关注——并且感到恐惧。

In Chinese courts, which are often criticized as lacking dueprocess and transparency, Mr. Hu ultimately pleaded guilty to accepting bribes asa part of deals to provide iron ore to Chinese steel mills. He was sentenced in2010, but the trial raised questions about China’s judicial system and whetherit was being used as a tool of industrial policy, a charge China’s governmenthas denied.

中国法院经常被批评为缺乏正当程序和透明度，在法庭上，胡士泰最终承认曾经接受贿赂，作为向中国钢铁厂提供铁矿石交易的一部分。他在2010年被判刑，但该审判令人们质疑中国司法制度，以及它是否被用作产业政策的工具，中国政府对这种指控予以否认。

Mr. Hu’s release comes as the new national security legislationhas strained Australian-Chinese ties. He could prove a potent historical symbolof the risks of doing business in China just as Australia is again examininghow to manage its relationship with the world’s second-largest economy.

胡士泰获释之际，正值新的国家安全立法令澳中关系更加紧张之时。当澳大利亚重新审视如何处理同世界第二大经济体的关系时，他可以充当一个有力的历史符号，证明在中国开展业务的风险。