離開
進入《TAIPEI TIMES》 China’s ZTE halts share trading after US ban on purchase of sensitive tech
Visitors are seen at a booth of Chinese telecom equipment maker ZTE Corp at an expo in Beijing, China, September 27, 2017. Picture taken September 27, 2017 Reuters/Stringer
/ AFP, BEIJING
Chinese telecom giant ZTE Corp （中興通訊） yesterday halted trading of its shares in Hong Kong and Shenzhen following a US ban on its purchase of sensitive technology, which drew a pledge by China to “safeguard” its companies if necessary.
Washington slapped ZTE with a seven-year ban on buying US-made chips and components as punishment for failing to follow through on pledges to punish staff responsible for illegal exports to Iran and North Korea.
However, the Chinese Minisry of Commerce said ZTE had created tens of thousands of US jobs.
ZTE chairman Yin Yimin （殷一民） said the company had established a crisis team and was ready to “go to all lengths to face the crisis head-on.”
“We are in a complicated international situation,” Yin said in an open letter circulated online, adding that the company faces “twists and turns” abroad.
Following an investigation into the illegal sale of goods to Iran and North Korea, ZTE pleaded guilty in March last year to unlawful exports and was hit with US$1.2 billion in fines, the largest criminal penalty in US history in an export control case.
However, US Department of Commerce investigators said it made additional false statements multiple times about having taken action against the employees responsible when it had not.
In a statement on its Web site, the Chinese ministry said: “China has always asked Chinese enterprises to abide by the host country’s laws and policies and operate legally and properly in the process of overseas operation.”
“ZTE has launched extensive trade and investment cooperation with hundreds of American businesses, and contributes tens of thousands of jobs to the United States,” the ministry said, adding that it was “ready to take necessary measures to safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese enterprises.”
The five-year US government investigation into ZTE’s actions was first revealed in March 2016.
From January 2010 to March 2016, ZTE shipped US$32 million of US cellular network equipment to Iran and made 283 shipments of cellphones to North Korea, with the full knowledge of the highest levels of management, US officials said.
ZTE used third-party companies to hide the export of US components to the sanctioned countries, and then hid the information by “sanitizing databases” with information on the sales, they said.
The firm deleted e-mails of employees involved in the scrubbing of records and required employees with information about the illegal exports to sign non-disclosure agreements, they said.
It also covered up the fact that ZTE paid full bonuses to employees who had engaged in illegal conduct and failed to issue letters of reprimand, they said.
新聞來源：TAIPEI TIMES
