总部位于洛杉矶的互联网公司TikTok8月22日宣布,将就美国政府涉及该公司及其母公司字节跳动的行政令提起诉讼,以维护自身合法权益。
8月21日在美国加利福尼亚州洛杉矶县卡尔弗城拍摄的TikTok公司标志。(图片来源:新华社)
"Over the past year we have earnestly sought to communicate with the US government and provided solutions regarding its concerns," the company said in a statement on Sunday. "But the US administration disregarded facts, disobeyed necessary legal procedures and tried to insert itself into negotiations between private businesses. "To ensure that the rule of law is not discarded, and that our company and users are treated fairly, we announce that we will officially file a lawsuit to safeguard our interests."
TikTok当天发布声明说:“近一年来,我们怀着真诚的态度,寻求跟美国政府沟通,针对他们所提出的顾虑提供解决方案。但美国政府罔顾事实,不遵循正当法律程序,甚至试图强行介入商业公司谈判。为确保法治不被摒弃,确保公司和用户获得公正的对待,我们将通过诉讼维护权益。”
【单词讲解】
这里的disregard facts(罔顾事实)和disobey necessary legal procedures(不遵循正当法律程序)中用到的disregard和disobey都是在动词前面加了表示否定的前缀“dis”后(dis+regard以及dis+obey)表示与原动词相反的意思,其他类似的词还有disappear,dishonest,disagree,disapprove等。
再补充几个类似的表达:不尊重历史,不符合事实(disrespect history and conflict with the fact)、中美脱钩(decouple China and the US)、玩弄双重标准(apply double standards)、颠倒黑白(distort facts)。
字节跳动证实,诉状将于当地时间8月24日提交,针对的是美国总统特朗普8月6日签署的行政令(executive order)。
Trump signed the directive on Aug 6 blocking all transactions with ByteDance in an effort to "address the national emergency". The order was to take effect within 45 days.
8月6日,特朗普签署行政令,称TikTok对美国国家安全构成威胁,将在45天后禁止任何美国个人或实体与TikTok及其中国母公司进行任何交易。
On Aug 14, the president signed another executive order, this time giving ByteDance 90 days to sell or spin off TikTok in the United States.
8月14日,特朗普再签行政令,要求字节跳动在90天内剥离TikTok在美国运营的所有权益。
Besides the company's lawsuit, its US employees plan to take the US government to court over the directive.
除计划24日提起的诉讼外,TikTok美国员工也计划发起针对美国政府的诉讼。
公司正在制订预案
The company is preparing for the worst -- a shutdown plan to keep its employees in the United States on the payroll, even if the app is shut down in the country.
公司正在制订预案,寻找在行政令生效、TikTok应用被关闭情况下能够为美国员工支付工资。
TikTok has more than 100 million users, over 1,500 employees and thousands of business partners in the United States, according to ByteDance.
字节跳动表示,TikTok在美国有超1亿用户,1500多名员工以及数千个商业伙伴。
A shutdown, if it occurs, would cause ByteDance a loss of at least 200 billion yuan (28.94 billion US dollars) at a rumored sale of 20 billion US dollars to 50 billion US dollars, the company said.
如果关停TikTok美国业务,按照此前市场传闻200至500亿美元的出售价格,字节跳动将至少损失超过两千亿元。
ByteDance worries that, due to the extremely wide scope and highly uncertain content of the US executive order against ByteDance, the company is unable to ensure that a solution acceptable to all parties can be reached within the time limit set by the US government.
由于美国针对字节跳动的行政令范围极广,内容高度不确定,字节跳动方面担心,无法确保在美国政府限制的时间内,达成各方均能接受的处理方案。
中国商务部新闻发言人高峰8月20日表示,
For some time, the United States has been frequently using so-called "national security" and "national state of emergency" as excuses to restrict or prohibit Chinese companies from carrying out normal investment and business activities in the country, imposing trade ban on Chinese companies on trumped-up charges with no factual or legal basis, Gao said. These actions seriously damaged the legitimate rights and interests of the enterprises and severely violated the basic principles of market economy, according to the spokesperson.
一段时期以来,美方动辄以所谓“国家安全”“国家紧急状态”为由,限制甚至禁止中国企业在美国开展正常的投资经营活动,以莫须有的罪名对中国企业施加交易禁令,毫无事实和法律依据,严重损害企业的正当权益,严重违背市场经济基本原则。
US sanctions and suppression will surely undermine investors' confidence in the country, he said.
美方的制裁打压,无疑会动摇投资者在美投资的信心。
China firmly opposes using national security reviews targeting investment as a political tool, and generalizing and abuse of security reviews, Gao said.
中方坚决反对将投资国家安全审查作为政治工具、泛化和滥用安全审查的做法。
The Chinese government is determined to safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese enterprises, Gao added.
中国政府维护本国企业正当合法权益的决心坚定不移。
China urges the United States to stop its wrongdoing and groundless suppression of Chinese enterprises, and do more to benefit the economic and trade cooperation between the two countries and the well-being of the two peoples, Gao added.
我们再次敦促美方摒弃错误做法,停止对中国企业的无端打压,多做有利于中美两国经贸合作和人民福祉的事情。
【相关词汇】
行政令 executive order
维护合法权益 safeguard legitimate rights and interests
经贸合作 economic and trade cooperation
市场经济基本原则 the basic principles of market economy
参考来源:新华网