Senior members of the United States Congress are preparing legislation which would create new punishments for companies from China and elsewhere that use trade secrets stolen by online hackers. 美国国会的资深议员正在酝酿立法，对使用网络黑客所窃取的商业机密的中国和其他国家的企业出台新的惩罚措施。

Mike Rogers, chairman of the House intelligence committee, said that the bill would be introduced next month and would likely include visa restrictions for entities using hacked intellectual property. 众议院情报委员会(House Intelligence Committee)主席麦克•罗杰斯(Mike Rogers)表示，将在下月提交法案，其内容可能包括对使用被盗知识产权的实体实施签证禁令。

“We need to find ways to make the consequences of this more significant than the gains,” said Mr Rogers, a Michigan Republican. The bill was not specifically aimed at China but he said that the country’s theft of trade secrets through hacking was “breathtaking in its scope”. “我们需要找到方法，使这种行为的后果大于收获，”密歇根州共和党众议员罗杰斯表示。该法案并不特别针对中国，但他表示，中国通过黑客活动窃取商业机密的行为“规模令人震惊”。

The proposed legislation is one of the most direct consequences of the growing anxiety in the US about what government officials describe as an increasing Chinese campaign of commercial cyber-espionage. 对于政府官员所称的中国商业性网络间谍活动日趋活跃，美国国内人士感到越来越焦虑。这一拟议中的立法便是这种焦虑的最直接后果之一。

The Obama administration and Congress are casting around for new measures which can deter hackers but which will not cause broader damage to the economic and political relationship with China. 奥巴马(Obama)政府和美国国会正在酝酿合适的新措施，既要吓阻黑客，又不致对美中经贸和政治关系造成整体损害。

The issue of cybersecurity has shot to political prominence in recent months after several leading newspapers admitted they had been hacked and after a US research company linked commercial cyber-espionage to a specific Chinese military unit based in central Shanghai. 网络安全在近几个月一跃成为美国头号政治问题，原因是数家主要报纸承认自己受到黑客侵入，同时美国一家研究公司把商业性网络间谍活动与中国人民解放军在上海的一支有具体番号的部队联系起来。

Mr Rogers, who is also sponsoring a separate cybersecurity bill aimed at sharing more information about online threats, said that using stolen intellectual property was no different from receiving or using any other stolen goods. 罗杰斯还将发起另一项网络安全法案，旨在分享更多有关网上威胁的信息。他表示，使用被盗的知识产权，与收受或使用其他任何被盗商品并无不同。

“There are a whole series of things that we can do and put on the table to show that there is a consequence for stealing intellectual property,” he said. His planned legislation had the backing of a leading Democrat in the House and a senior Republican senator, he said. “我们有很多行动可以采取，可以放到台面上，以说明窃取知识产权是有后果的，”罗杰斯表示。他还说，拟议中的法案得到众议院一名民主党高层人物以及参议院一名共和党资深成员的支持。

James Mulvenon, vice president of the Defence Group, a Washington consultancy, said that for some Chinese companies or university departments, a visa ban could be a considerable blow. “It would mean people could not travel to industry conferences or conduct research collaborations and for universities. It could mean its students might have difficulties studying in the US,” he said. 华盛顿咨询公司“防务集团”(Defense Group)副总裁毛文杰(James Mulvenon)表示，对某些中国企业或大学院系来说，签证禁令可能是一个沉重打击。他表示：“这可能意味着人们不能出席行业会议或展开合作研究。对大学来说，这或许意味着其学生可能难以到美国留学。”

Derek Scissors, a China expert at the Heritage Foundation in Washington, said that denying visas to certain individuals would be “a symbolic move that would not solve the problem”. One possibility would be the Iran sanctions model which bars US companies and financial institutions from doing business with certain Iranian entities, as well as freezing any US assets they might have. “It is a feasible model that we could follow,” he said. “If they are receiving stolen intellectual property, they are legitimate targets.” 位于华盛顿的传统基金会(Heritage Foundation)的中国问题专家史剑道(Derek Scissors)表示，对某些个人拒发签证将是“一种象征性的举动，解决不了问题”。另一个可能性是借鉴制裁伊朗的模式，即禁止美国企业及金融机构与某些伊朗实体打交道，并冻结这些实体可能拥有的任何美国资产。“这是一个我们可能采用的可行模式，”史剑道表示，“如果他们收受被盗知识产权，他们就是正当的打击目标。”

In another indication of the sensitive politics around Chinese technology issues, the new funding law signed this week by President Barack Obama contained an amendment which limits the purchase of China-made information technology by a small group of government departments and agencies. The amendment says that the agencies must consult with law enforcement before purchasing equipment made by companies “owned, directed or subsidised” by China. 突显围绕中国科技问题的敏感政治的另一个迹象是，巴拉克•奥巴马(Barack Obama)总统本周签署的新的政府支出法律含有一条修正案，其内容是限制一小批政府部门和机构采购中国制造的信息技术设备。修正案规定，这些部门和机构在采购由中国“拥有、掌控或补贴”的企业制造的设备之前，必须先征求执法部门的意见。

Although the impact is expected to be modest, the amendment was immediately denounced by the Chinese government. “This bill uses Internet security as an excuse to take discriminatory steps against Chinese companies. It is not beneficial to mutual trust between China and the United States nor to the development of trade and economic relations,” said Hong Lei, a spokesman for the Chinese foreign ministry. 虽然这条修正案的影响估计不大，但它还是立即受到中国政府的抨击。“有关法案以网络安全为借口，对中国企业采取歧视性措施，这无助于中美双方的互信，也对两国经贸关系造成干扰，”中国外交部发言人洪磊表示。