澳大利亞對中資收購澳資產保持警惕
Australia has defended the recent blocking of two big Chinese investments in the country’s energy and agriculture sectors, warning that future bids by state-owned enterprises will face tough scrutiny.
澳大利亞爲近期阻止中國在澳能源和農業領域的兩筆鉅額投資進行了辯護，並警告稱，未來由國有企業發出的競購將面臨嚴格審查。
Barnaby Joyce, deputy prime minister, said while the government would not automatically exclude bids for Australian assets by state-owned companies, it would be “a lot more cautious”.
澳大利亞副總理巴納比.喬伊斯(Barnaby Joyce)稱，雖然澳大利亞政府不會自動排除國有企業對澳資產的競購，但會“謹慎得多”。
“If our government was going to go out and start buying farmland, people would say ‘that is socialism, mate’,” he said. “So why do we think it is in another government’s interest to buy farmland? We believe in private enterprise, which means private individuals owning assets, not governments.”
“如果我們的政府要走出國門開始收購農場，人們會說‘老兄，那是社會主義’，”他說，“那我們爲什麼會認爲一個政府要收購農場是符合這個政府的利益呢？我們相信私人企業，那意味着個人擁有資產，而非政府。”
In an interview with the Financial Times conducted on the same day that a government report said a foreign power — alleged by state broadcaster ABC to be China — had hacked into Australia’s Bureau of Meteorology and stolen data last year, Mr Joyce said these types of actions would inevitably be factored into investment decisions.
澳大利亞政府發佈一份報告稱，去年一股外國勢力——澳大利亞廣播公司(ABC)聲稱是中國——非法侵入了澳大利亞氣象局並竊取數據。報告發布的同一天，喬伊斯在接受英國《金融時報》採訪時表示，此類行爲必然會被考慮進投資決策中。
“Obviously if a government is conducting any actions that are against a nation’s interest, then of course all aspects of the government’s involvement becomes an issue that people observe,” he added, without mentioning a specific country.
他補充說：“顯然，如果一個政府正在實施危害另一個國家的利益的行爲，那這個政府涉及的所有方面都必然會成爲人們觀察的問題。”喬伊斯並未提及某個具體國家。
Australia’s concerns come amid a wave of Chinese investment in housing, agriculture and public infrastructure assets in many developed economies. Canberra has progressively tightened foreign investment rules over the past two years and is working on a new framework on infrastructure.
在澳大利亞懷着這種擔憂情緒之際，中國正在許多發達經濟體對地產、農業和公共基礎設施資產掀起一波投資熱潮。過去兩年，堪培拉方面已逐步收緊外國投資規定，而且正在擬定一份基礎設施投資新規。
This year Australia blocked State Grid Corporation, a Chinese state-owned enterprise, and Hong Kong-based Cheung Kong Infrastructure from submitting A$10bn-plus bids for electricity company Ausgrid.
今年，澳大利亞阻止了中國國有的國家電網公司(State Grid Corporation)以及總部位於香港的長江基建(Cheung Kong Infrastructure)對澳大利亞電力公司Ausgrid提出的超過100億澳元的收購要約。
It also blocked a Chinese consortium from buying S Kidman & Co, a cattle farm stretching across more than 1 per cent of Australia’s land mass.
澳大利亞政府還阻止了一家中國財團收購基德曼公司(S Kidman & Co)——一家擁有澳大利亞全境逾1%土地的畜牧公司。
Canberra cites “national interest” and “security concerns” when explaining why it derailed the bids — decisions that caused confusion among some foreign investors and prompted calls from Beijing for Australia to be “open and transparent” and “avoid discrimination”.
堪培拉方面在解釋爲何要阻止這些收購時提到了“國家利益”和“安全考慮”作爲理由。這些決定引發了一些外國投資者的困惑，並導致北京方面呼籲澳方保持“開放、透明”，“避免歧視”。
Mr Joyce rejected claims Australia was succumbing to protectionism, saying it is the “most liberal country in the world” in allowing foreigners to invest in domestic assets. However, he said that Canberra had the right to say no.
喬伊斯駁斥了關於澳大利亞屈從於保護主義的論斷，並稱，澳在允許外國人投資國內資產方面是“世界上最自由的國家”。但他表示，堪培拉方面有權利說不。
“If they went to buy that much land in England, there would be a riot. What I dislike is that when on the odd occasion where we say no, people say we are xenophobes or bigots.”
“如果他們到英格蘭買這麼多土地，可能會引發騷亂。我不喜歡的是，當我們偶然幾次說不的時候，人們就說我們仇外或偏執。”
Australia has relied on foreign investment to drive its economy and in the past rarely rejected bids outright.
澳大利亞依賴外國投資推動經濟發展，過去很少直接否決收購。
But since coming to power in 2013 the Liberal-National coalition has tightened investment rules and blocked three significant transactions, including the proposed takeover of Australian agribusiness GrainCorp by Archer Daniels Midland of the US.
但自從2013年自由黨(Liberal)與國家黨(National)聯合執政以來，澳大利亞政府制定了更嚴格的投資規定，並阻止了三起重要交易，包括美國阿徹丹尼爾斯米德蘭(Archer Daniels Midland，ADM)收購澳大利亞農業公司GrainCorp的計劃。
Mr Joyce, leader of the National party, which has a strong rural support base, has been a driver of tough new foreign investment rules in the agricultural sector.
國家黨在農村擁有強大的支持基礎，作爲該黨領導人的喬伊斯力推在農業部門實施嚴格的外國投資新規。
He publicly voiced his concerns about the Chinese bid for Kidman, led by private company Shanghai Pengxin, before the government blocked the transaction.
他曾公開表示對中國人競購基德曼公司感到擔憂，該交易由中國民企上海鵬欣集團(Shanghai Pengxin)牽頭，隨後澳大利亞政府阻止了這筆交易。
This week one of his friends, billionaire mining magnate Gina Rinehart, made a A$365m bid in partnership with Shanghai Cred Real Estate to buy most of Kidman. “Gina is a good mate of mine, that is why I have had no contact with her over this issue,” said Mr Joyce, who nevertheless added he was pleased that an Australian-led consortium was interested in investing in domestic farming.
本週，喬伊斯的朋友、礦業巨頭吉娜.萊因哈特(Gina Rinehart)與上海中房置業有限公司(Shanghai CRED Real Estate)合夥出資3.65億澳元競購基德曼公司的大部分資產。喬伊斯說：“吉娜是我的好朋友，所以我從未就此事與她有過任何聯繫。”不過他也表示很高興能有一家澳大利亞企業領銜的財團有興趣投資國內農業。
“Of course it is my preference, like I have a preference for nice wines, nice music and pretty girls.”
“這當然是我的偏好，就像我偏好美酒、動聽的音樂和漂亮姑娘一樣。”
A register of foreign agricultural landholding established by the government that was the brainchild of Mr Joyce shows Chinese investors own less than 0.5 per cent of Australia’s agricultural land. Mr Joyce said concerns that Chinese investors would start to avoid Australia because of tougher scrutiny were misguided.
澳大利亞政府發佈的農用地外資所有權登記報告——喬伊斯的心血結晶——顯示，中國投資者擁有澳大利亞農業土地不足0.5%。喬伊斯表示，有些人擔憂中國投資者會因爲審查變得更嚴格而開始避開澳大利亞，這種想法是錯誤的。
The deputy premier made headlines this year when he threatened to put to death Johnny Depp’s dogs, Pistol and Boo, when the US film star smuggled them into Australia in breach of quarantine laws. “If we start letting movie stars, even though they’ve been the sexiest man alive twice, to come into our nation, then why don’t we just break the laws for everybody?” he said in typically colourful language. “It’s time that Pistol and Boo buggered off back to the United States.”
這位澳大利亞副總理今年曾登上頭條，他威脅要處死約翰尼.德普(Johnny Depp)養的兩條狗——皮斯托爾(Pistol)和布(Boo)——這位美國電影明星將它們偷運入澳大利亞，違反了當地檢疫法。喬伊斯以慣有的生動措辭表示：“如果我們開始任由電影明星、哪怕是世界上最最性感的電影明星進入我們的國家，那我們爲什麼不乾脆爲每個人破壞法律？是時候讓皮斯托爾和布滾回美國了。”
Mr Depp later mocked Mr Joyce, saying on a US chat show how he believed the politician looked “inbred with a tomato”.
德普隨後嘲笑了喬伊斯，在一檔美國訪談節目上說他認爲這位政客看起來像“番茄的近親”。
