纽约时报中文网 - 英文原版-英Lawmakers Question Microsofts President About Its Presence in China
June 14, 2024 2 min 302 words
《纽约时报》的这篇报道主要内容是：美国国会议员对微软公司在中国的存在和商业行为提出质疑和批评。他们指控微软在中国的业务行为不道德，认为微软在中国的投资行为助长了中国政府不公平的贸易行为，并指责微软配合中国政府的审查制度，对中国互联网用户进行监控和信息封锁。 对于这篇报道，我有如下评论： 首先，报道本身存在一定的偏见，没有全面客观地呈现微软在中国的实际运营情况和面临的复杂性。微软作为一家国际大型科技企业，其业务必然要遵守所在国的法律法规，包括中国。在遵守当地法律的前提下，微软也一直致力于推动技术的开放和自由，促进信息的交流和传播。 其次，对于美国国会议员的指控，报道也缺乏足够的证据和事实支撑。例如，微软到底如何“配合”中国政府审查，如何对中国用户进行监控，这些都没有被具体地指出和证明。 最后，报道也忽视了中美两国在政治制度文化价值等方面的差异，以及由此带来的在科技企业运营上的必然差异。简单地以美国标准评判中国业务，本身就存在一定的偏见和不合理性。
Republican lawmakers questioned a senior Microsoft executive on Thursday about the company’s presence in China, about a year after Chinese hackers used the tech giant’s systems to launch a devastating hack of federal government networks.
Several members of the House Committee on Homeland Security asked Brad Smith, Microsoft’s president, in an hourslong hearing how a critical contractor for the U.S. government like Microsoft could maintain a commercial business in China, which Mr. Smith said accounted for about 1.4 or 1.5 percent of the company’s sales.
“Is it really worth it?” asked Representative Carlos Gimenez, a Republican from Florida.
Mr. Smith argued that Microsoft’s business in China served American interests by protecting the trade secrets of Microsoft’s American customers operating there and learning from what’s going on in the rest of the world.
He added that Microsoft had denied Chinese government requests to turn over sensitive information. “I will tell you that there are days when questions are put to Microsoft, and they come across my desk, and I say, ‘No,’” he said.
The hearing was a response to a scathing March report by the Department of Homeland Security’s Cyber Safety Review Board. The report detailed how “a cascade of security failures at Microsoft” allowed a hacking team called Storm-0558, which the report said was an espionage group affiliated with the Chinese government, to infiltrate Microsoft’s email systems in May and June last year.
The report criticized Microsoft for having “a corporate culture that deprioritized both enterprise security investments and rigorous risk management” and said the company’s cybersecurity practices were critical national security because “Microsoft’s products and services are ubiquitous.”