國家安全成攔路虎 聯想收購IBM低端服務器業務遇阻

As IBM seeks to complete a $2.3 billion sale of its server business to China’s Lenovo, the U.S. is worried.

IBM希望以23億美元的價格將旗下的服務器業務出售給中國的聯想集團（Lenovo），引起了美國政府的擔憂。

Although the deal was made in January, little has happened in the months since as the two tech companies try to resolve security concerns raised by the U.S. government, which is currently investigations the matter.

雖然這兩家公司的交易早在今年一月份就已經開始，但之後幾個月卻一直沒有進展，因爲它們不得不盡量解除美國政府對安全問題的擔憂。目前，美國政府正在就此事展開調查。

But what has the U.S. worried? IBM’s x86 servers are used in some of the country’s most sensitive networks including by the Defense Department and the U.S. Air Force, according to anonymous sources cited by theWall Street Journal. These servers may be open to attack by Chinese spies or hackers if the deal goes through, according to U.S. security officials and members of the federal Committee on Foreign Investment, an interagency group that reviews transactions involving foreign companies.

美國人到底在擔心什麼？《華爾街日報》（Wall Street Journal）援引匿名人士的話稱，IBM的x86服務器被用於多個美國最敏感的網絡，其中包括美國國防部（the Defense Department）和美國空軍（the U.S. Air Force）。美國國防官員和聯邦外國投資委員會（Committee on Foreign Investment）成員認爲，如果這筆交易獲得通過，這些服務器將門戶大開，容易受到中國間諜或黑客的攻擊。美國外國投資委員會是一家跨部門組織，負責審查涉及外國公司的交易。

But in their defense, IBM and Lenovo say that the technology used in the x86 servers is made by many other companies in the U.S. and that they contain Chinese components. Meanwhile, Lenovo says that it will only use the servers for commercial goals.

但IBM和聯想卻認爲，x86服務器所用的技術由美國多家公司聯合開發，其中也包括中國的組件。此外，聯想表示只會將服務器用於商業目的。

The deal should still be approved despite the pushback, according to the Wall Street Journal’s sources, and a decision is expected by the year’s end.

《華爾街日報》的消息人士透露，儘管遭遇阻力，但這筆交易最終仍然會獲得通過，預計美國政府將在年底前做出決定。

In order to meet the concerns raised by the U.S., the companies say that IBM will actively have a stake in maintaining the servers, although that has also drawn worry from the U.S. government. Similar concerns were also raised in 2005 when Lenovo purchased IBM’s personal-computer business.

爲了打消美國政府的憂慮，這兩家公司表示，IBM仍將積極參與服務器的維護，儘管美國政府對這一點同樣表示擔憂。早在2005年，聯想收購IBM的個人電腦業務時，美國政府也曾有過類似擔憂。