澳大利亚对中资收购澳资产保持警惕
澳大利亚为近期阻止中国在澳能源和农业领域的两笔巨额投资进行了辩护，并警告称，未来由国有企业发出的竞购将面临严格审查。
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”.
澳大利亚副总理巴纳比•乔伊斯(Barnaby Joyce)称，虽然澳大利亚政府不会自动排除国有企业对澳资产的竞购，但会“谨慎得多”。
“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.”
“如果我们的政府要走出国门开始收购农场，人们会说‘老兄，那是社会主义’，”他说，“那我们为什么会认为一个政府要收购农场是符合这个政府的利益呢?我们相信私人企业，那意味着个人拥有资产，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.
澳大利亚政府发布一份报告称，去年一股外国势力——澳大利亚广播公司(ABC)声称是中国——非法侵入了澳大利亚气象局并窃取数据。报告发布的同一天，乔伊斯在接受英国《金融时报》采访时表示，此类行为必然会被考虑进投资决策中。
“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.
他补充说：“显然，如果一个政府正在实施危害另一个国家的利益的行为，那这个政府涉及的所有方面都必然会成为人们观察的问题。”乔伊斯并未提及某个具体国家。
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.
在澳大利亚怀着这种担忧情绪之际，中国正在许多发达经济体对地产、农业和公共基础设施资产掀起一波投资热潮。过去两年，堪培拉方面已逐步收紧外国投资规定，而且正在拟定一份基础设施投资新规。
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，澳大利亚阻止了中国国有的国家电网公司(State Grid Corporation)以及总部位于香港的长江基建(Cheung Kong Infrastructure)对澳大利亚电力公司Ausgrid提出的超过100亿澳元的收购要约。
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.
澳大利亚政府还阻止了一家中国财团收购基德曼公司(S Kidman & Co)——一家拥有澳大利亚全境逾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”.
堪培拉方面在解释为何要阻止这些收购时提到了“国家利益”和“安全考虑”作为理由。这些决定引发了一些外国投资者的困惑，并导致北京方面呼吁澳方保持“开放、透明”，“避免歧视”。
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.
乔伊斯驳斥了关于澳大利亚屈从于保护主义的论断，并称，澳在允许外国人投资国内资产方面是“世界上最自由的国家”。但他表示，堪培拉方面有权利说不。
“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.”
“如果他们到英格兰买这么多土地，可能会引发骚乱。我不喜欢的是，当我们偶然几次说不的时候，人们就说我们仇外或偏执。”
Australia has relied on foreign investment to drive its economy and in the past rarely rejected bids outright.
澳大利亚依赖外国投资推动经济发展，过去很少直接否决收购。
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.
但自从2013年自由党(Liberal)与国家党(National)联合执政以来，澳大利亚政府制定了更严格的投资规定，并阻止了三起重要交易，包括美国阿彻丹尼尔斯米德兰(Archer Daniels Midland，ADM)收购澳大利亚农业公司GrainCorp的计划。
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.
国家党在农村拥有强大的支持基础，作为该党领导人的乔伊斯力推在农业部门实施严格的外国投资新规。
He publicly voiced his concerns about the Chinese bid for Kidman, led by private company Shanghai Pengxin, before the government blocked the transaction.
他曾公开表示对中国人竞购基德曼公司感到担忧，该交易由中国民企上海鹏欣集团(Shanghai Pengxin)牵头，随后澳大利亚政府阻止了这笔交易。
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.
本周，乔伊斯的朋友、矿业巨头吉娜•莱因哈特(Gina Rinehart)与上海中房置业有限公司(Shanghai CRED Real Estate)合伙出资3.65亿澳元竞购基德曼公司的大部分资产。乔伊斯说：“吉娜是我的好朋友，所以我从未就此事与她有过任何联系。”不过他也表示很高兴能有一家澳大利亚企业领衔的财团有兴趣投资国内农业。
“Of course it is my preference, like I have a preference for nice wines, nice music and pretty girls.”
“这当然是我的偏好，就像我偏好美酒、动听的音乐和漂亮姑娘一样。”
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.
澳大利亚政府发布的农用地外资所有权登记报告——乔伊斯的心血结晶——显示，中国投资者拥有澳大利亚农业土地不足0.5%。乔伊斯表示，有些人担忧中国投资者会因为审查变得更严格而开始避开澳大利亚，这种想法是错误的。
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.”
这位澳大利亚副总理今年曾登上头条，他威胁要处死约翰尼•德普(Johnny Depp)养的两条狗——皮斯托尔(Pistol)和布(Boo)——这位美国电影明星将它们偷运入澳大利亚，违反了当地检疫法。乔伊斯以惯有的生动措辞表示：“如果我们开始任由电影明星、哪怕是世界上最最性感的电影明星进入我们的国家，那我们为什么不干脆为每个人破坏法律?是时候让皮斯托尔和布滚回美国了。”
Mr Depp later mocked Mr Joyce, saying on a US chat show how he believed the politician looked “inbred with a tomato”.
德普随后嘲笑了乔伊斯，在一档美国访谈节目上说他认为这位政客看起来像“番茄的近亲”。
