Anton Troianovski，5月20日下午5:32（华盛顿时间）

乌克兰，扎波罗热——乌克兰一家顶级航空企业的总裁表示，新的中国投资者经常找我们的员工“聊上几句”。

他们想了解我们的记录资料和未来计划、建立生产线以及生产车间之间如何衔接等事项。

 “他们会（与我们）一直讨论三个小时，到了第二天，另一组完全不同的人会来问我们和昨天一样的问题，然后就这样一直持续了一周的时间。”说这话的是马达西奇公司总裁博古斯拉耶夫，他掌管的马达西奇公司是世界最先进的军用航空发动机制造企业之一。

由于急于更新军事装备，中国转向了乌克兰。与俄罗斯陷入对立而经济变得一团糟糕的乌克兰也愿意接受中国的“热情拥抱”。

博古斯拉耶夫说：“如果不准我们与中方合作，那么接下来我要做的第一件事就是解雇10000名员工。”

马达西奇在中国媒体上被冠以“动力沙皇”的称号，它有北京所需要的东西：军用飞机发动机，甚至未来有可能会教导中国生产对应机型的中方型号。

而中国则有马达西奇所需要的：可靠的买家。

马达西奇公司曾经为俄罗斯供应军用直升机和其他飞机的发动机产品。2014年俄乌两国在乌克兰东部爆发冲突后，马达西奇失去了俄罗斯这个最大的市场，现在它主要向中国出口发动机。

马达西奇公司生产线

马达西奇公司总裁博古斯拉耶夫

尽管西方国家限制对中国的军用技术出口，但是中国秘密进入乌克兰的行动，显示出北京急于引入技术以及具有接触这些技术的能力。

随着乌克兰将其经济发展方式从依赖俄罗斯调整到其他方向。它使美国陷入了两难的境地。一方面美国在舆论上支持乌克兰与俄罗斯的冲突，另一方面特朗普政府与中国的争端在不断扩大。

中国驻乌克兰大使馆的贸易和经济顾问Liu Tsiun认为：“乌克兰当地人民都很平和，受过良好的教育，当地的消费水平也不高。我总是认为乌克兰有很大的技术和科技发展潜力。”

乌克兰的工厂曾经为苏联红军生产坦克、战列舰和洲际弹道导弹。这些工厂也曾经是俄罗斯国防工业供应链的重要组成部分。

俄罗斯是乌克兰最大的邻国和贸易伙伴。2014年，乌克兰爆发了颜色革命，随后与莫斯科支持的分离武装发生了冲突。这迫使基辅开始寻求俄罗斯以外的市场。

但是，欧洲和美国的投资者对于和一个处在战争状态的国家打交道感到有些紧张，再加上乌克兰国内基础设施破败、腐败横行。另一方面，中国看到了一个机会。像马达西奇这类的乌克兰企业由于对俄出口贸易枯竭而陷入了绝望。

乌克兰工商业协会的会长Gennadiy Chyzhykov谈到：“我们所关心的是美国会不会买我们的货？答案是‘不会’。而中国确实会买。”

天骄航空和马达西奇已经签署了多项发动机发展的协议

到2020年，中国会超过俄罗斯成为乌克兰最大的单一贸易对象国。2018年，乌克兰与中国的贸易额达到98亿美元，而乌克兰与美国之间的贸易额为40亿美元，前者是后者的两倍多。中乌贸易在过去的两年时间里增长了51%。

2018年，中国向乌克兰赠送了50辆救护车、50辆搜救车和价值1.37亿美元的医疗设备，因此在乌克兰的新闻舆论界获得了正面的评价和影响力。今年4月，乌克兰政府宣布，中国向乌克兰提供一笔3.4亿美元的援助款，用于建造一座跨越第摄伯河的新大桥。

一位住在基辅市的政治分析家Andreas Umland说：“如果某人带着钱来到乌克兰，乌克兰人就会收下这笔钱。他们现在可没有闲情逸致去好好考虑多年之后的战略规划。”

早在2014年的颜色革命之前，中国已经与乌克兰建立了经济和国防业务往来。1998年，中国从乌克兰手里买下了一艘苏联时期未建成的航空母舰（辽宁号航母，译者注）。2009年，中国又从乌克兰订购了四艘巨大的气垫船（“野牛”气垫登陆艇，译者注）。与此相反，西方国家几乎用不到乌克兰的苏联军事工业遗产。

一位驻基辅的不愿透露姓名的西方外交官是这样分析乌克兰与中国的关系：“无论如何，乌克兰总得选择一方，他们不能一边接近西方，一边与中国打得火热。”

乌克兰外交部拒绝评论这个话题。基辅官方表示，乌中关系是一个复杂的问题，考虑到乌克兰正在急于同美国加强关系，而同时中国正在扩大与俄罗斯的合作程度。但是乌克兰的新任总统泽连斯基在5月初会见了中国驻乌克兰大使，他展现了对两国关系发展的信心。

 “中国的经验和投资对乌克兰十分重要。”泽连斯基谈到。

中国正在积极扩大在原苏联加盟共和国内的影响力。中国与白俄罗斯共同投资在当地建设一座可以容纳100000名工人的工业园。黑海边上的格鲁吉亚正在成为中欧贸易的一个重要中转站。

马达西奇公司发动机附件装配车间

但是西方外交和分析家认为，随着中国寻求建设一支世界一流的军队，乌克兰能为中国提供的独特资源可以弥补中国在某些方面的知识不足。

博古斯拉耶夫表示，他的公司向中国提供的唯一一款发动机是用在不能携带武器的L-15教练机上。但是美国国防工业分析员Reuben Johnson认为，与马达西奇的紧密关系将使得中国可以大批量生产自己的战斗机发动机。

 “尽管中国在战斗机发动机领域已经投入了全部的资源，他们还是没有研制出可以大批量生产的性能可靠的喷气发动机，中国发动机的实际大修间隔时间也不够长。”Johnson说道，“得到马达西奇的人才和经验将帮助中国突破这一瓶颈。”

2017年，一家名为北京天骄航空产业投资有限公司的中国企业试图收购马达西奇公司的股份。乌克兰当局以国家安全的名义冻结了这项股权交易。但是博古斯拉耶夫表示，天骄航空当初承诺的2.5亿美元交易款中已经有1亿美元到账，因此中方企业现在拥有马达西奇公司至少25%的股份。

马达西奇公司的一位发言人表示，公司去年4.5亿美元的销售额中有35%的份额是对华出口，中国是马达西奇航空发动机最大的买家。马达西奇公司在去年没有向俄罗斯出口一台发动机，但是6年前，该公司向俄罗斯出口的发动机销售额占当年11亿美元销售总额的三分之一。

 “与俄罗斯的合作完了，现在我们必须和中国合作。”博古斯拉耶夫总结到。

博古斯拉耶夫表示，他经常从乌克兰政府官员那里听到，美国对马达西奇与中国的合作十分不满。他的回应是：“那么美国国务院会给我们提供工作吗？”

马达西奇工厂测试中心主任洪察洛夫接受采访

马达西奇公司工厂大门

在被问及对马达西奇公司有何评价时，美国国务院的一位女发言人表示，美国并不反对中国通过合法的方式发展经济和技术。但是美国担心，中国政府正在采取的行动不符合国际惯例。

这位女发言人说：“美国提醒我们的伙伴和盟友，在接受外国投资时要考虑可能带来的国家安全风险。”

在中国的西南城市重庆，马达西奇与天骄航空在2017年协议共同投资在当地建设一座工厂，用于生产和维护航空发动机。中方伙伴提议（在当地）建设一座小镇用来安置乌克兰工程师，让他们体会到在家的感觉。博古斯拉耶夫这样说到。

他回忆道：“他们说，‘给我们1000人’，我们为你们在这里建一座教堂。我们还会建一座幼儿园。”

工厂已经部分建成，但是还没有投产。博古斯拉耶夫透露。

天骄航空的代表持续地到访马达西奇工厂，博古斯拉耶夫说他们会做大量的记录，与工人进行访谈。

西方官员和乌克兰国防工业专家认为，除了马达西奇，中国对乌克兰的技术也感兴趣，雇佣乌克兰工程师并把他们带回中国。

现在定居在伦敦的乌克兰国防出口公司前总裁Sergii Bondarchuk讲到：“中国正在把我们的导弹和飞机制造领域的专家一同带走，这可不仅仅是工作外包。乌克兰正在以这种方式失去整整一代工程师。”

At a Ukrainian aircraft engine factory, China’s military finds a cash-hungry partner

By Anton Troianovski May 20 at 5:32 PM

ZAPORIZHIA, Ukraine — The president of a top Ukrainian aerospace company says its new Chinese investors often ask the staff for “little conversations.” 

They want to know about record-keeping and planning, the setup of production lines and the interplay between workshops. 

“They’ll talk for three hours, and the next day, a totally different group of people will come,” said Vyacheslav Boguslayev, whose sprawling Soviet-era company, Motor Sich, is one of the most advanced military aircraft engine manufacturers in the world.

“They’ll ask all the same questions as yesterday, and this continues for a week,” he said.

Racing to upgrade its military, China has been turning to Ukraine. And Ukraine — with its economy scrambled by hostilities with Russia — has been willing to accept China’s embrace.

“If they ban us from working with China,” Boguslayev said, “then the first thing I’ll do is fire 10,000 people.”

Motor Sich, dubbed the “Czar of Engines” in the Chinese media, has what Beijing wants: It can supply warplane engines and the know-how to one day possibly make a Chinese-built version.

The Chinese, in turn, have what Motor Sich wants: reliable buyers.

The company lost its biggest market — supplying engines for military helicopters and other aircraft in Russia — after war broke out in eastern Ukraine in 2014. Now it sells mainly to China.

China’s under-the-radar push into Ukraine illustrates Beijing’s hunger for technology imports and its ability to access them even though Western countries have limited military-related exports to China.

It comes as Ukraine struggles to reorient its economy away from Russia. And it puts Washington in a quandary as U.S. rhetoric supporting Ukraine in its conflict with Russia collides with the Trump administration’s widening competition with ­Beijing.

“Local people here are calm, well educated and inexpensive,” Liu Tsiun, the trade and economic adviser at the Chinese Embassy in Kiev, said in an interview, speaking fluent Russian at the embassy’s walled villa in the  Ukrainian capital. “I always think of Ukraine as having great potential in technology and science.”

Ukraine’s factories once churned out tanks, battleships and intercontinental ballistic missiles for the Red Army. They became key to the Russian defense industry’s supply chain.

In 2014, Ukraine’s pro-Western revolution and the outbreak of hostilities with Moscow-backed separatists spurred Kiev to seek markets beyond Russia — its biggest neighbor and trading partner. 

But European and American investors were nervous about dealing with a country reeling from war, with crumbling infrastructure and widespread corruption. China, on the other hand, saw an opportunity. Ukrainian companies such as Motor Sich, based in the city of Zaporizhia, about 100 miles from the front line in eastern Ukraine, grew desperate as sales to Russia dried up.

“What we care about right now is the following: Is America ready to buy our goods? No. Period,” said Gennadiy Chyzhykov, president of the Ukrainian Chamber of Commerce and Industry. “China does buy our goods.” 

China is on pace to surpass Russia by next year as Ukraine’s biggest single-country trading partner. In 2018, Ukraine traded $9.8 billion in goods with China — a 51 percent increase over two years and more than double the $4 billion in trade with the United States.

In the past year, China has garnered positive coverage in the Ukrainian news media by making a series of gifts: 50 ambulances, 50 search-and-rescue vehicles, and $137 million for medical equipment for regional hospitals. In April, the Ukrainian government announced $340 million in Chinese financing for a new bridge across the Dnieper River.

“If someone comes with money, they’ll take it,” Andreas Umland, a Kiev-based political analyst, said of Ukraine. “They don’t have the luxury to think very strategically here many years ahead.”

At the time of the 2014 revolution, China already had an economic and defense-industry relationship with Ukraine. It bought an unfinished Soviet-era aircraft carrier from Ukraine in 1998 and ordered four huge military hovercraft in 2009. Western countries, by contrast, had little use for Ukraine’s Soviet-legacy defense production. 

“One way or another, Ukraine will have to choose,” said one Western diplomat in Kiev who is examining Ukraine’s links with China and who wasn’t authorized to comment publicly. “They cannot eternally integrate with China while moving toward the West.”

The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry declined to comment for this article. Ukraine-China relations are a delicate issue, officials in Kiev said, given Ukraine’s desire for close ties with the United States on the one hand and China’s expanding partnership with Russia on the other. But Ukraine’s new president, Volodymyr Zelensky, who took office Monday, met with the Chinese ambassador in Kiev early this month and offered a vote of confidence.

“China’s experience and investments are important to Ukraine,” he said.

China has been aggressive in expanding its influence across the former Soviet Union. In Belarus, China is co-financing a massive new industrial park to house more than 100,000 workers. On the Black Sea, the country of Georgia is emerging as a key hub for Chinese trade with Europe.

But Ukraine offers unique resources for China in helping fill knowledge gaps as Beijing looks to build a world-class military, Western diplomats and analysts say.

Motor Sich’s Boguslayev said the only engines his company is building for China are for aircraft that don’t carry weapons, such as the L-15 training jet. But Reuben Johnson, an American defense industry analyst based in Kiev, said a tighter relationship with Motor Sich could allow China to mass-produce its own fighter jets. 

“The Chinese — for all of the resources they have poured into the endeavor — have not been able to develop reliable fighter-jet engines that are producible in large numbers and run for enough hours between overhauls to be practical,” Johnson said. “Acquiring the brainpower and the expertise of Motor Sich could allow them to jump over that very big hurdle.”

A Chinese firm, Beijing Skyrizon Aviation Industry Investment Co., tried to buy a controlling stake in Motor Sich in 2017. Ukrainian authorities froze the deal on national security grounds.  But Boguslayev said that $100 million of Beijing Skyrizon’s promised $250 million did come through and that the Chinese company now owns a stake of at least 25 percent in Motor Sich.

A spokesman for Motor Sich said 35 percent of the company’s $450 million in sales last year went to China, making the country the company’s biggest destination for its aircraft engines. No sales went to Russia, the spokesman said. Six years ago, by contrast, one-third of the company’s $1.1 billion in total sales went to Russia.

“Russia is gone. So I have to be in China now,” Boguslayev said. 

He said he hears frequently from Ukrainian government officials that the United States is unhappy with his dealings with China. His response: “Then how about the State Department gives us work?”

Asked for comment about Motor Sich, a State Department spokeswoman said the United States doesn’t “oppose China’s economic and technological development through legitimate means. However, we are concerned by actions China’s government has taken that are out of step with international norms.

“The United States encourages our partners to consider national security risks that may arise from foreign investment transactions,” the spokeswoman said.

In the southwestern Chinese city of Chongqing, Motor Sich and Beijing Skyrizon in 2017 agreed to jointly build a plant to service and manufacture aircraft engines. The Chinese partners offered to build a small town in which Ukrainian engineers would feel at home, Boguslayev said. 

“They said, ‘Give us 1,000 people,’ ” Boguslayev recalled. “ ‘We’ll build a church for you here. We’ll build a kindergarten.’ ”

The plant has been partially built, Boguslayev said, but is not yet operational. 

Beijing Skyrizon representatives continue to tour Motor Sich plants regularly, Boguslayev said, taking copious notes and interviewing workers. 

China is interested in Ukrainian technology beyond Motor Sich, hiring Ukrainian engineers and bringing them to China, Western officials and Ukrainian defense industry specialists say.

“It’s not just outsourcing, but taking our specialists in both the missile sector and in aircraft-building,” said Sergii Bondarchuk, a former head of Ukrainian defense export company Ukrspecexport who now lives in London. “Ukraine is losing a generation of engineers in this way.”

原文来源：华盛顿邮报

声明：该文观点仅代表作者本人，加国头条 属于信息发布平台，加国头条 仅提供信息存储空间服务。