爲投資滴滴造勢 蘋果CEO高調訪華
US technology executives seeking to ingratiate themselves with China’s leadership are known for making big entrances, and Tim Cook set the bar high yesterday after he arrived in Beijing to fanfare over Apple’s $1bn investment in the Didi Chuxing ridehailing app.
很多人知道，尋求討好中國領導層的美國科技業高管會高規格地訪問中國。蒂姆•庫克(Tim Cook)昨日在這方面進一步擡高了標杆，他到達北京，大張旗鼓地爲蘋果10億美元投資打車軟件滴滴出行(Didi Chuxing)造勢。
He took a Didi car to his first destination, an Apple store in Beijing’s Wang-fujing shopping district, accompanied by Jean Liu, the Chinese company’s president.
在滴滴總裁柳青(Jean Liu)的陪同下，他乘坐一輛滴滴汽車前往第一個目的地，位於北京王府井購物區的一家蘋果商店。
“We are very proud of that investment,” Mr Cook told journalists as he posed with a host of local internet entrepreneurs.
“我們很自豪做出了這筆投資，”庫克一邊與許多中國互聯網企業家合影，一邊告訴記者。
“Didi has 14m drivers, 300m users — actually 300m and one now, because Jean and I took a Didi ride here this morning,” he said.
“滴滴擁有1400萬司機和3億用戶——現在實際上有3億加1個用戶，因爲柳青和我今早是乘坐滴滴車輛來到這裏的，”他說。
Beijing is a favoured destination for US tech chiefs whose companies are in dispute with China’s leadership. And high-profile shows of goodwill tend to be made in as public a way as possible.
對於那些與中國領導層存在糾紛的美國科技公司，北京是它們的掌舵人喜歡訪問之處。他們往往會盡可能公開地高調示好。
In March Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of Facebook — which remains blocked to China’s 700m internet users — was derided online as a “Zuck-up” when he jogged through Tiananmen Square in a haze of choking pollution.
今年3月，Facebook的創始人馬克•扎克伯格(Mark Zuckerberg)——中國的7億互聯網用戶仍無法訪問Facebook網站——在霧霾污染中跑步經過天安門廣場，由此在網上被嘲笑爲“Zuck-up”。
He also had a meeting with Liu Yunshan, the country’s propaganda chief.
他還會晤了中國最高宣傳官員劉雲山。
After Microsoft’s offices were raided by Chinese government investigators as part of a tax probe, a visit by Satya Nadella followed, after little more than the standard visa waiting period, in September 2014.
2014年9月，作爲稅務調查的一部分，微軟(Microsoft)辦公室遭到中國調查人員的突擊檢查。在標準的簽證等待期過後，微軟首席執行官薩蒂亞•納德拉(Satya Nadella)便訪問了北京。
Senior executives of Qualcomm have made Beijing a regular destination since the US semiconductor company was targeted in a 2014 antitrust investigation that resulted in a $1bn fine the following year.
自從高通(Qualcomm)在2014年的反壟斷調查中成爲目標以來，這家美國半導體公司的高管頻頻訪問北京。次年高通被罰款10億美元。
In Mr Cook’s case, the question is how much of Apple’s investment in Didi is motivated by business sense, and how much of it is an effort to smooth things over with the leadership in China, where the iPhone maker has faced a series of setbacks this year. In April the group’s iTunes video services became unavailable in China and in May Apple lost an intellectual property court case against a little-known leather accessories manufacturer that uses “IPHONE” as a trademark on its purses and wallets.
就庫克而言，問題在於蘋果投資滴滴在多大程度上是出於商業考量，在多大程度上是一種旨在緩和與中國領導層關係的努力。今年，iPhone已遭到了一系列挫折。4月，蘋果的iTunes視頻服務在中國無法使用，5月，蘋果在一起知識產權糾紛案中輸給了一家不知名的皮具配飾製造商，該公司把“IPHONE”商標用在皮夾和錢包類商品上。
In contrast Facebook won a trademark case days later against a Chinese company using the brand name “face book”, in a sign that official attitudes could be softening towards the world’s largest social network.
與此形成對照的是，Facebook在幾天後的商標案中告贏了一家使用“face book”品牌的中國企業，表明中國官方對這家世界最大社交網絡公司的態度可能在軟化。
Apple is also grappling with declining iPhone sales, which fell by a sharp 26 per cent in China last quarter, compared with a 16 per cent overall fall.
蘋果也在努力應對iPhone銷量下降的局面。上一季度，蘋果在華銷量大減26%，總體銷量則減少16%。
Jia Jinghua, who covers the domestic technology industry for the Sina Tech news agency, said: “Cook is clearly keen to curry favour with Chinese authorities and with Chinese markets.
爲新浪科技(Sina Tech)報道中國國內科技行業的賈敬華說：“庫克非常急切地討好中國當局和中國市場。”
“He will take advantage of the latest investments into Didi to pay visits to key ministries.”
“他將利用最近投資滴滴的機會，拜訪中國的關鍵部委。”
Apple declined to comment on Mr Cook’s China itinerary.
蘋果拒絕就庫克的中國之行置評。
The visit is his eighth to China since taking over as Apple chief, and is unlikely to be his last.
這是庫克接任蘋果首席執行官以來第8次訪問中國，也不太可能是他最後一次來中國。
As one user of Weibo, China’s version of Twitter, commented: “Cook, how many Didi rides does it take to make back $1bn?”
正如中國版Twitter新浪微博的一名用戶所評論：“庫克，滴滴汽車載客多少次才能賺回10億美元？”
