Sprint竞购大战华为无辜中枪

    日本对美国第三大移动运营商斯普林特（Sprint）的投标遭到了美国许多爱国人士的抨击，他们认为这次并购会给美国带来安全风险。有鉴于此，日本人完全有理由认为里珀将军又复活了。

    里珀将军是斯坦利•库布里克在20世纪60年代拍摄的冷战影片《奇爱博士》（Doctor Strangelove）中的美国战略空军基地司令。里珀将军向他统领的34架B-52轰炸机下令，轰炸苏联，引发第三次世界大战。他为什么对苏联不满呢？因为他“再也不能袖手旁观，再也不能容忍共产主义者的渗透、灌输、颠覆，以及他们侵蚀、污染我们珍贵体液的阴谋。”

    与此类似，对日本软银（Softbank）公司的反对集中于软银所谓的与中国的密切关系，以及中国因涉嫌窥探美国机密而遭到的控诉。（目前为止还没有人提到污染体液的事。）

    软银去年开价201亿美元收购斯普林特70%的股份，而美国的Dish公司上月愿出价255亿美元彻底收购这家公司。这场竞争非常激烈。美国竞标商将这些网络攻击言论当作紧要关头的作战重点，以损害日本竞争者的信用。许多分析人士认为，后者实力更强。

    那些一直保持警惕的人是怎么想的呢？比如说美国参议员查尔斯•舒默。有趣的是，他曾雇佣的一名筹款人如今就是Dish的员工。这些人担心的是，通过中国制造的网络或日本软银使用的硬件可以挖掘到美国的情报。舒默发表声明说：“我真的担心，这笔交易一旦达成，美国工业和政府部门将更容易遭到中国人民解放军的网络攻击。据说软银的日本无线网络严重依赖中国的设备（和制造商），这些制造商与中国政府关系密切。”

    位于东京的IT咨询公司Eurotechnology的格哈德•法索尔认为这简直是无稽之谈。他说：“我不相信软银对此有丝毫兴趣。他们是一家日本公司，最高管理层几乎都是日本人，其中一名董事会成员还是美国高盛集团（Goldman-Sachs）的银行家。软银主要使用爱立信（Ericsson）的设备，也用一些其他公司的产品。”

    讽刺的是，正是斯普林特自己的子公司科维（Clearware）在网络中安装了中国制造商华为（Huawei）的设备，首先引发了对于共产党阴谋的警惕。软银已经同意花费10亿美元，淘汰这些设备。

    With Japan's bid for Sprint, the U.S.'s third-place mobile carrier, coming under attack from patriots who consider the merger a security risk, the Japanese could be forgiven for thinking General Jack D. Ripper was on the loose again.

    Readers might recall the commanding general of the fictional Burpelson Air Force Base, from Stanley Kubrick's coldwar masterpiece Doctor Strangelove. Ripper issued an order to the 34 B-52's of his Wing to bomb Russia and start WWIII. The cause of his disaffection? He could "no longer sit back and allow Communist infiltration, Communist indoctrination, Communist subversion, and the international Communist conspiracy to sap and impurify all of our precious bodily fluids."

    Similarly, the objections raised against the Japanese-owned Softbank center on its alleged close relationship with China and all the potential snooping against America China has been accused of. (Nobody has mentioned impurifying bodily fluids -- yet.)

    Softbank offered $20.1 billion for 70% of Sprint (S) last year, while the U.S.-based Dish (DISH) last month proffered $25.5 billion for all of the company. The rivalry has been fierce. The competing American bidder has made these cyberattack allegations the center of a last-minute campaign to discredit the Japanese pitch, which many analysts consider the stronger.

    What is on the minds of the ever-vigilant -- such as U.S. Senator Charles Schumer who, interestingly, employed a campaign fundraiser who is now working for Dish? The sapping of intelligence via Chinese-made networks or hardware Softbank might use. "I have real concerns that this deal, if approved, could make American industry and government agencies far more susceptible to cyberattacks from China and the People's Liberation Army," Schumer said a statement. "Softbank's Japanese wireless network reportedly relies heavily on Chinese equipment [manufacturers] with ties to the Chinese government."

    All poppycock, says tech analyst in Tokyo, Gerhard Fasol of Eurotechnology. "I can't believe that Softbank has that interest at all; they are a Japanese business. Their top management is almost all Japanese; one board member is a U.S. Goldman-Sachs banker. Softbank uses mainly Ericsson equipment but some others also," he says.

    Ironically it was a U.S. firm, Clearwire, a Sprint subsidiary, that installed Chinese Huawei equipment in its network that raised the alarm on a commie plot first. Softbank has agreed to rip it all out at a cost to itself of $1 billion.