Passage Six Digital protectionism 数字保护主义 【1】TikTok navigates its way around Indonesia's digital shakedown(adjustment),The more the world’s youngsters love TikTok’s viral videos, the more their elected(voted) elders hate the app. They decry(denounce) it for supposedly corroding young minds. TikTok在印尼数字调整中开辟道路,世界上热爱TikTok爆火小视频的年轻人越多,选举上台的年老领导人就越发厌恶这款应用。他们谴责抖音,称其会毒害青少年的头脑。
【2】Many in America want to ban it. India already has. In October Indonesia, another big and promising market, shut down TikTok’s fledgling but lucrative sideline of selling goods via its videos, by requiring social-media firms to obtain(acquire) an e-commerce licence—with no guarantee(ensure) of success. 美国的很多领导人希望禁止这款应用。印度已经颁布了禁令。10月,另一个庞大且富有潜力的市场国,印度尼西亚,要求社交媒体公司获得电商执照,但却不保证批准,从而关闭了TikTok直播带货业务。该业务在印尼刚刚兴起,但利润颇丰,属于该公司的副业。
【3】Such obstacles(barriers) have forced TikTok to act strategically, for instance by moving its global headquarters to Singapore and hiring a Singaporean chief executive(manager), which has put distance between it and its Chinese parent. 此类障碍迫使TikTok采取了一系列战略举措,例如将全球总部搬至新加坡,并招募一位新加坡籍的经理,让公司与其中国母公司保持距离。
【4】In another canny(calculative) move, on December 11th it announced that it was paying $840m for a 75% stake in Tokopedia, the e-commerce arm of GoTo, an Indonesian tech conglomerate(company). It has also pledged to invest $1.5bn in the tie-up. 在12月11日另一次精明的行动中,TikTok宣布以8.4 亿美元的价格收购Tokopedia75%的股权,Tokopedia是印尼科技联合公司GoTo旗下的电商交易平台。TikTok同时也承诺将投资15亿美元用于这项合作。
【5】The deal is something of a shotgun marriage, but it benefits(advantages) both sides. GoTo, which has struggled(strive) to turn a profit in recent years, will no longer need to subsidise(allowances) its loss-making retail arm. 该交易有点“奉子成婚”的味道,但确实能带来双赢。近年来,GoTo公司在收益方面举步维艰,协议达成后将不再需要补贴损失巨大的零售部门。
【6】TikTok, for its part, will be allowed to restart its e-commerce operations. Sales on TikTok’s app will be fulfilled by Tokopedia’s logistics network (though, like all e-merchants(businessman) in Indonesia, it must now charge minimum prices for products made abroad). 就TikTok而言,公司能获准重新运营电商平台。应用上的销售将由Tokopedia公司的物流网完成(虽然就像印尼所有的电商一样,它必须向产自国外的货品加收最低价格)。
【7】TikTok and Tokopedia separately(apart) account for 10% and 28%, respectively, of Indonesia’s fast-growing e-commerce market, according to Momentum Works, a data firm. Together, they are a powerhouse, matching the market share of Shopee, hitherto(now) the country’s biggest online emporium (owned by Sea Group, a Singaporean technology conglomerate). 据数据公司莫腾创投的数据,印尼电商市场急剧增长,TikTok与Tokopedia公司分别占其10% 和28%。二者联合后将形成一支强大的力量, 能与Shopee公司的市场分量匹敌。Shopee 公司目前是该国最大的网络售货商,由新加坡科技联合公司海洋集团持有。
【8】Most important, an intimate link with a domestic(inland) champion makes TikTok look less like a foreign interloper. 最为重要的是,与印尼国内行业领军企业间的密切联系能让TikTok看起来不太像是外国闯入者。
【9】If the firm can make its new partnership work in the world’s fourth-most-populous country, it could use this as a model for expansion and consolidation in other countries where it is greeted with wariness, such as Malaysia and the Philippines. 如果TikTok与世界第四大人口国的新合作可以成功,便能将之打造为在他国扩大和巩固业务的范例,例如在马来西亚和菲律宾等对其持怀疑谨慎态度的国家。
【10】It will be an uphill(hard) struggle, and not just because of challenges particular to TikTok. All over the world, the advocates(supports) of international openness in digital commerce are losing the battle for hearts and minds. 这将会是一段艰辛的旅程,且不仅仅是因为TikTok面临的独特挑战。全世界范围来看,要求数字商务对国际开放的支持者们正在输掉舆论和民心的战役。
【11】Last year Sea halted its expansion to India in the face of regulatory pressure(stress), after its popular mobile game, “Free Fire”, was banned. Stringent new European rules on cloud computing, including requirements to store local users’ data locally, are aimed squarely at the American tech giants. 去年面临的监管压力使其流行手机游戏“自由火焰”遭禁后,海洋集团中止了其在印度的扩张。欧洲针对云计算的严苛新规,包括要求在本地存储用户数据,全然旨在针对美国的科技巨头。
【12】Last month America, itself in an increasingly isolationist mood, dropped earlier demands to liberalise trade in digital goods and services as part of the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework, the already flimsy(weak) pact(agreement) which President Joe Biden’s administration has been negotiating with 13 Asian allies. 美国自身逐渐开始持孤立主义态度,于上月放弃了早些时候提出的作为印太经济框架一部分的数字商品和服务贸易自由化的要求。拜登政府一直在与13个亚洲盟国就该本已脆弱的框架协议进行谈判。
【13】To thrive amid rising protectionism—digital and otherwise—TikTok and its rivals will need to show plenty of delicate(flexible) diplomatic footwork(method). 为了在数字保护主义与其他类型保护主义抬头的情况下蓬勃发展,TikTok及其竞争对手需要运用大量更为灵活的处事手段。 |
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