国家安全成拦路虎，联想收购IBM低端服务器业务遇阻

    IBM希望以23亿美元的价格将旗下的服务器业务出售给中国的联想集团（Lenovo），引起了美国政府的担忧。

    虽然这两家公司的交易早在今年一月份就已经开始，但之后几个月却一直没有进展，因为它们不得不尽量解除美国政府对安全问题的担忧。目前，美国政府正在就此事展开调查。

    美国人到底在担心什么？《华尔街日报》（Wall Street Journal）援引匿名人士的话称，IBM的x86服务器被用于多个美国最敏感的网络，其中包括美国国防部（the Defense Department）和美国空军（the U.S. Air Force）。美国国防官员和联邦外国投资委员会（Committee on Foreign Investment）成员认为，如果这笔交易获得通过，这些服务器将门户大开，容易受到中国间谍或黑客的攻击。美国外国投资委员会是一家跨部门组织，负责审查涉及外国公司的交易。

    但IBM和联想却认为，x86服务器所用的技术由美国多家公司联合开发，其中也包括中国的组件。此外，联想表示只会将服务器用于商业目的。

    《华尔街日报》的消息人士透露，尽管遭遇阻力，但这笔交易最终仍然会获得通过，预计美国政府将在年底前做出决定。

    为了打消美国政府的忧虑，这两家公司表示，IBM仍将积极参与服务器的维护，尽管美国政府对这一点同样表示担忧。早在2005年，联想收购IBM的个人电脑业务时，美国政府也曾有过类似担忧。（财富中文网）

    译者：刘进龙/汪皓

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

    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.

    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.

    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.

    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.

    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.