China celebrated its bullet trains as the home-grown pride of a nation: a rail system faster and more advanced than any other, showcasing superior Chinese technology.

　　中国将其高速铁路赞誉为出自本土的民族骄傲：和其它任何一个国家的高铁相比，中国的高速铁路系统都速度更快、更为先进，它展示了卓越的中国技术。

　　However, China's high-speed rail network was in fact built with imported components -- including signaling-system parts designed to prevent train collisions -- that local engineers couldn't fully understand, according to a review of corporate documents and interviews with more than a dozen rail executives inside and outside China.

　　然而，据记者看到的公司文件以及国内外十几位接受采访的铁路行业高管透露，事实上，中国的高速铁路网是利用进口零部件搭建而成的（这其中就包括防止列车碰撞的信号系统部件），国内工程师无法完全理解这些进口零部件的技术奥妙。

　　During a late July lightning storm, two of China's bullet trains collided in the eastern city of Wenzhou, killing 40 people and injuring nearly 200 in one of the world's worst high-speed passenger-rail accidents. China's government initially blamed flawed signaling and human error. It recently postponed public release of its crash findings.

　　今年七月下旬一个电闪雷鸣的雨夜，两列动车在东部城市温州发生追尾，40人遇难，近200人受伤，这是全球最严重的高速客运列车事故之一。中国政府最初认为存在缺陷的信号系统和人为错误是造成事故的原因，最近又推迟了事故原因调查报告的公开发布日期。

　　The precise cause of the disaster remains uncertain, so there is no way to know what role, if any, the signaling assembly may have played.

　　此次事故的确切原因仍不确定，所以无法知道信号系统对事故的发生可能起到了何种作用（如果确实起了作用的话）。

　　An examination of China's use of foreign technology in its bullet-train signal systems highlights deep international distrust over China's industrial model, including weak intellectual-property protections, which can complicate efforts to acquire state-of-the-art technology.

　　对中国在其高铁信号系统中使用外国技术的情况进行考察后可以明显发现，国际上对中国的产业模式存在深深的不信任（这些产业模式包括对知识产权的保护非常薄弱），这种状况会使中国获取先进技术的努力复杂化。

　　Key signaling systems were assembled by Beijing-based Hollysys Automation Technologies Ltd., one of the few companies China's Ministry of Railways tapped to handle such work. In some cases of the signal systems it supplied, technology branded as proprietary to Hollysys contained circuitry tailor-made by Hitachi Ltd. of Japan to Hollysys specifications, according to people familiar with the situation.

　　中国高速铁路重要的信号系统由北京和利时集团（Hollysys Automation Technologies Ltd.）组装。和利时集团是中国铁道部指定的少数几家负责组装这一系统的企业之一。据知情人士透露，在和利时集团提供的某些信号系统中，那些被打上了和利时专有标签的技术其实包含了日本日立公司（Hitachi Ltd.）按和利时的规格要求为其定制的电路系统。

　　The problem, these people say, is that Hitachi -- fearful that Chinese technicians might reverse-engineer and steal the technology -- sold components with the inner workings concealed from Hollysys. Hitachi executives say this 'black box' design makes gear harder to copy, and also harder to understand, for instance during testing.

　　上述知情人士说，问题在于日立公司向和利时出售零部件时没有透露其内部工作原理，日立公司这么做是因为他们担心中国技术人员可能会通过反向开发窃取日立的技术。日立公司高管说，这种“黑盒子”（black box）设计令其设备难以被复制，也难以被外人理解（比如在测试过程中）。

　　“It's still generally a mystery how a company like Hollysys could integrate our equipment into a broader safety-signaling system without intimate knowledge of our know-how,” a senior Hitachi executive said.

　　日立公司的一位高管说，像和利时这样一家公司是如何在没有深入了解我们专业技术知识的前提下将我们的设备融入一个更庞大安全信号系统中的，这仍然是一个谜。

　　A rail signaling system is a complex assemblage of dozens of devices, circuits and software that helps train drivers and dispatchers keep everything running safely. As trains pass beacons along a route, known as 'balise modules,' information about location and speed are fed into the train-control network. According to Hollysys statements, it supplied key parts of the system including the onboard brain, the Automatic Train Protection, or ATP. Hitachi supplied Hollysys with a primary part of the ATP, according to Hitachi executives.

　　相关报道铁路信号系统是将数十种设备、电路和软件集成在一起的复杂系统，它能帮助火车驾驶员和调度员保持列车的安全运行。当火车经过沿线各个“应答器传输模块”（balise modules）时，有关这列火车位置和速度的信息就会被反馈给火车控制系统。北京和利时集团的声明说，它向中国高速铁路的信号控制系统提供了关键零部件，其中包括被称作火车大脑的列车自动保护系统（Automatic Train Protection，ATP）。据日立公司高管说，日立向和利时提供了ATP系统的一种主要零部件。

　　Hollysys didn't respond to requests for comment. Two days after the crash in July, Hollysys issued a statement confirming its ATP components were installed on both trains. Hollysys said its components “functioned normally and well.”

　　和利时未应记者的要求发表评论。今年七月温州动车追尾事故发生两天后，和利时发表声明证实，这两辆相撞列车上都安装了该公司色ATP系统。和利时说，该公司的零部件“运转正常而良好”。

　　A separate state-owned Chinese signaling company, which also works with foreign firms and supplies most of the gear to bullet-train projects, issued a statement around the same time expressing “sorrow” and pledging to accept its responsibility.

　　与此同时，中国另一家国有信号设备企业则发表声明表示“歉意”，并保证会承担自己应负的责任。这家企业也与外国公司进行合作，其大部分产品都提供给中国的高速铁路项目。

　　China's high-speed railway, budgeted at close to $300 billion, already challenges the travel time of jetliners between cities like Beijing and Shanghai, which are roughly as far apart as Philadelphia and Atlanta. The trains, with advertised cruising speeds on the fastest lines topping 215 miles per hour, are said to “fly on land,” demonstrating a future where China is a recognized peer of the U.S., EU and Japan in big-ticket ingenuity. China is designing airliners to compete with Boeing Co. and nuclear reactors to challenge Toshiba Corp.'s Westinghouse Electric Co. It already exports high-speed rail equipment: This month it reached a deal to supply locomotives to the nation of Georgia.

　　中国预算资金接近3,000亿美元的高速铁路在京沪等大城市之间的运行时间已经可以对空中航班构成挑战，北京到上海的距离大约相当于费城到亚特兰大的旅程。中国高速列车的巡航速度据称超过每小时350公里，堪称“陆地飞行”，它预示中国未来有望被视为美国、欧盟和日本那样能生产独创性高价产品的国家。中国正在设计能与波音公司（Boeing Co.）相竞争的民用客机，以及能对东芝公司（Toshiba Corp.）旗下西屋电气（Westinghouse Electric Co. ）构成挑战的核反应堆。中国已经在出口高速铁路设备：本月它与格鲁吉亚共和国达成了向后者出口火车机车的协议。

　　In less than seven years, China has built a bullet-train network larger than the ones Japan and Germany took decades to construct. China is only about halfway through a 15-year plan to build a total of nearly 10,000 miles of high-speed track connecting 24 major cities.

　　在不足七年的时间里，中国建成了规模比日本和德国用几十年时间所建高速铁路网还要大的高铁网络。中国计划用15年时间建成总长近16,000公里、连接24个主要城市的高速铁路网，这一计划目前只完成了近一半。

　　“We aim at the world's top-notch technologies,” then-Railways Minister Liu Zhijun declared four years ago. A few months before the July crash, Mr. Liu was fired after China's Communist Party accused him and other top officials of unspecified corruption. Mr. Liu couldn't be located for comment.

　　铁道部前部长刘志军四年前宣称：我们瞄准了世界的技术。在七月份动车追尾事故前几个月，刘志军被解职，此前中国共产党指控他和其他几名高级官员有腐败行为。目前无法知晓刘志军的下落。

　　July's rail tragedy -- in which two bullet trains collided during a storm, sending some cars plunging 65 feet from elevated tracks -- is tarnishing China's effort to portray the project as technologically advanced and safety-minded. Among other things, the Ministry of Railways chose not to install lightning rods and surge protectors on some high-speed rail lines even as an industry association recommended doing so on major infrastructure projects, He Jinliang, director of China's National Lightning Protection Technology Standard Committee, said in July.

　　在七月份的那场列车悲剧中，两列动车在一场暴风雨中相撞在一起，一些车厢从高20米左右的高架桥上跌落到地面。这一事故使中国的高铁项目蒙羞，中国一直宣传自己的高铁项目有先进的技术和注重安全的设计理念。中国国家雷电防护标准化技术委员会主任何金良七月份时说，中国铁道部决定：在一些高速铁路线上不安装避雷针和避雷器，尽管中国的一个行业协会建议在大型基础设施建筑上安装防雷击装置。

　　The Ministry of Railways didn't respond to requests for comment. Through state media and on its website, the ministry has stressed its attention to safety. A Sept. 5 statement said, “Our cadres should be leading the work, changing their style, going to the grass-roots level and trying to solve problems.” Last week, Chinese authorities reiterated their safety pledge after two subway trains in collided in Shanghai, injuring more than 280 people, in an accident blamed on errors after a power snafu knocked out signals, according to the subway operator.

　　铁道部未应记者的要求发表评论。铁道部已通过国有媒体和自己的网站强调了它对铁路安全的关注。该部九月五日的一份声明说，我们的干部们应该率先垂范，转变工作方式，深入基层并努力解决问题。上周，在上海的两列地铁列车相撞后，中国政府重申了对交通安全的承诺。这次事故导致280多人受伤。据上海的地铁运营机构说，造成此次撞车事故的原因是断电导致行车信号中断后出现了调度错误。

　　From the initial days of the high-speed railway program, Beijing turned to local firms, including Hollysys, rather than foreign expertise. Hollysys says it is one of just two companies eligible to supply certain signaling technology for China's fastest trains. Ministry of Railways rules effectively forbid foreign companies from bidding.

　　Getty Images“7•23”温州动车追尾事故现场。从高速铁路项目启动伊始，北京就把设备供应重任放在了包括和利时在内的本土企业而非外国企业肩上。和利时说，只有它和另外一家公司有资格向中国速度最快的列车提供某些信号技术。铁道部的相关规定实际上禁止外国公司竞标信号合同。

　　Though new to high-speed rail, Hollysys became a central supplier of the signaling systems, circuits and software that are supposed to prevent the kind of accident that happened near Wenzhou by automatically stopping trains if trouble is detected.

　　虽然和利时只是高铁建设的新军，但它已成为中国高铁信号系统、电路和软件的主要供应商。这些设备原本应该防止类似在温州附近发生的那类撞车事故，因为信号系统在发现问题后应能让列车自动停下来。

　　Integrating signaling components is a challenge, particularly at the pace that China was expanding its rail network, train executives say. “The problem is to put all these pieces of the puzzle into a coherent system,” says Marc Antoni, technological innovation director at SNCF, the French national railway operator, which runs the high-speed TGV.

　　铁路行业的管理人士说，将铁路信号系统的各种零部件集成在一起是件很难的事，特别是以中国扩展其高速铁路网那样的高速度来完成这项工作更是难上加难。法国国家铁路运营机构SNCF的技术创新主管安东尼（Marc Antoni）说，难题在于要把那些仍不能完全明白其奥妙的零部件组合成一个可以顺畅运行的系统。SNCF是法国高铁网络TGV的运营商。

　　Originally part of China's Ministry of Electronics, Hollysys in the 1990s became a privately owned business focused on “controls” -- the technology that keeps factory assembly lines humming smoothly. In a Hollysys timeline of its railway achievements, the company says it won its first noteworthy high-speed-rail signaling contracts in 2005, about when China began construction.

　　和利时曾经隶属于中国电子工业部，它在上世纪90年代成为一家专注于“控制”技术的私营企业，这种技术可保持工厂流水线的顺利运转。和利时在列举其在铁路领域所取得成就的大事记中说，该公司在2005年赢得了其首个值得一提的高速铁路信号系统供货合同，中国正是从那一年前后开始了高速铁路建设。

　　A year later, in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Hollysys played down the importance of high-speed-rail signaling by describing it as “adjacent” to core operations in industrial controls. The sector was mentioned just once in a 300-plus page SEC filing in 2006, part of a successful effort by Hollysys to list its shares on Nasdaq through a special-purpose acquisition company, or SPAC, a practice that involves adoption of a current listing by another company. By late 2008 Beijing was speeding construction of its bullet trains in part to help power the Chinese economy through the global economic slump. Hollysys described itself in regulatory filings as one of just two companies that possessed “the capability” to supply the Ministry of Railways with signals on its fastest lines.

　　和利时一年后在一份提交给美国证券交易委员会（SEC）的文件中对高速铁路信号设备业务对该公司的重要性做了淡化处理，它称这项业务为其在工业控制领域的“亚核心”业务。在和利时2006年提交给SEC的那份300多页文件中，只提及了高铁信号业务一次，这份文件是和利时为通过成立特殊目的收购公司（SPAC）在纳斯达克上市而提交给SEC的，成立SPAC就是为了让一家公司得以收购一家现有上市企业。和利时通过这种方式成功在纳斯达克上市。2008年末，北京为了帮助中国经济成功渡过全球经济萧条，加快了高速铁路的建设进度。和利时在提供给美国监管机构的文件中，将自己描绘为“有能力”向铁道部最高速线路提供信号系统的仅有两家公司之一。

　　Hollysys became a tech darling and in September 2009 its chief financial officer, Peter Li, speaking to analysts, credited the Ministry of Railways' “very clear mandate of localizing the product.” When an analyst asked whether he feared competition, Mr. Li said, “Basically, foreign players are not allowed to bid independently for high-speed-rail projects.”

　　和利时此后成为中国的高科技宠儿，其首席财务长李沂宸（Peter Li）在2009年9月对分析师发表讲话时说，铁道部给和利时下达了将高铁设备国产化的“非常明确任务”。当一名分析师问他是否害怕其他企业的竞争时，李沂宸说，一般而言，外国企业不被允许独自竞标中国的高速铁路项目。

　　The Ministry of Railways awarded Hollysys more than $100 million of high-speed-signaling contracts in 2010 alone, according to company statements. For the fiscal year ended this past June, Hollysys reported total revenue of $262.84 million.

　　和利时的一份声明说，仅在2010年，铁道部就给了该公司价值超过1亿美元的高速铁路信号设备合同。和利时的收益报告显示，在截至今年六月底的财政年度内，该公司的总收入为2.6284亿美元。

　　The ministry also played matchmaker for Hollysys. When a leading Italian signaling company, Ansaldo STS, sought a business foothold in China, the Ministry of Railways indicated that it should be in the form of a partnership with Hollysys, according to Ansaldo spokesman Roberto Alatri.

　　铁道部还撮合了和利时与其他公司的合作。据意大利主要的信号设备公司Ansaldo STS的发言人阿拉特里（Roberto Alatri）说，当该公司在华寻找业务立足点时，铁道部暗示它应该与和利时结成合作伙伴。

　　A $97 million contract followed in July 2008 for a Hollysys-Ansaldo consortium to design, build and maintain signal-control systems on China's then-fastest train line, a 459-kilometer section linking the central China cities of Zhengzhou and Xian. The Hollysys portion was $22 million.

　　和利时与Ansaldo组建的财团在2008年7月获得了一份为“郑西高铁”设计、建造和维护信号控制系统的合同，价值9,700万美元。全长459公里的郑州至西安高速铁路是中国当时速度最快的高铁线路。这其中和利时拿到的业务价值2,200万美元。

　　Hollysys had a longer relationship with Hitachi, which supplied the Chinese company components for high-speed rail signaling starting in 2005, the year Hollysys says it got its start in the business. The main cooperation was on the onboard ATP system, which Hollysys documents describe as components in the nose and tail of trains that act as its “last line of defense in safety.”

　　和利时与日立公司的合作关系要更长些。从2005年起，日立就向和利时提供高速铁路信号系统的零部件。和利时说它也是从那年起开始从事高铁信号系统业务的。双方主要的合作领域是车载ATP系统，和利时的文件称这一系统安装在高铁列车的车头和车尾，为列车起到“最后一道安全防线”的作用。

　　The Hitachi-made ATP components came with a catch. Two Hitachi executives familiar with the matter said the company adopts what the industry refers to as “black box” security to conceal design secrets by withholding technical blueprints known in Japanese as zumen.

　　日立在向和利时提供ATP系统零部件时“留了一手”。日立的两位知情管理人士说，该公司采用了被业内称作“黑盒子”的安全措施，没有将所提供零部件的技术设计图交给中方，从而隐藏了设计秘密。

　　Black boxes make it tough to reverse-engineer the equipment. They can also make it more difficult to troubleshoot the gear, according to executives of several companies familiar with the practice in China.

　　“黑盒子”手法使得中方难以对设备进行反向开发。另据几位熟悉外国公司在华这种做法的其他公司管理人士说，这种做法也使中国方面更加难以确定设备的具体故障。

　　“Providing zumen means. . .we completely trust the buyer of our technology,” a senior Hitachi executive said, with the understanding that the buyer “would not become a competitive threat in other markets.”

　　日立一名高管说，向买家提供技术设计图意味着，我们完全信赖拿到我们技术的买家，知道买家不会在其他市场上对我们构成竞争威胁。

　　Hitachi doesn't always withhold its design secrets. When working with companies elsewhere on a common project, the senior executive said, it will provide the zumen, or blueprints, in some cases.

　　日立公司也并不总是隐瞒其设计机密。这位高管说，当和其它地区的企业在同一个项目上展开合作时，日立公司在某些情况下会提供设计蓝图。

　　Hitachi executives say the arrangement with Hollysys wasn't a technology-transfer deal -- in which it would be expected to share technical details -- but rather a contractual arrangement to manufacture parts to specifications provided by Hollysys. Hitachi says it did provide 'limited' technical support that is typical of contracts of this type.

　　日立公司的高管说，它们与和利时集团签订的并非技术转让协议，日立公司只是按照和利时集团提供的规格要求为其制造零部件。如果双方签订的是技术转让协议，那么日立公司将与和利时集团分享技术细节。日立公司说它提供了此类合同中常见的“有限”技术支持。

　　A spokesman at Hitachi's headquarters in Tokyo, Atsushi Konno, said the company “has no comment about Hollysys's products, as we do not have any information as to what kind of end product Hollysys developed using our devices.” The official confirmed that Hitachi supplied Hollysys some equipment for the signaling systems used aboard trains and “also provided technical explanation regarding those components, and we believe Hollysys, as a result, fully understands them.”

　　日立公司在东京总部的发言人绀野笃志（Atsushi Konno）说，该公司“对和利时集团的产品不予置评”，也无法就和利时利用日立的设备开发出何种最终产品提供任何信息。这位发言人证实日立向和利时提供了一些用于列载信号系统的设备，“也为这些零部件提供了技术解释，因此我们相信和利时完全了解这些零部件。”

　　At least one installation of Hollysys components didn't go smoothly, according to one Europe-based engineer who worked on the job. An onboard Hollysys computer, part of the ATP called a driver machine interface, kept freezing, displaying old information.

　　据常驻欧洲的一位曾参与此项工作的工程师透露，至少有一个包含和利时零部件的装置安装起来并不顺利。和利时制造的一种在列车上使用的电脑（称作“人机界面”，是ATP系统的组成部分）总是会失灵，显示的是过时信息。

　　Technical bugs aren't unusual when fine-tuning a train system, but the temporary fix was, according to the engineer. To avoid the embarrassment of canceling an opening ceremony, operators decided to begin passenger service on the high-speed line and assign one person in the train's cab the exclusive task of watching that the seconds continued to scroll on the computer's clock -- thereby ensuring the device was functioning.

　　据这位工程师介绍，在对列车系统进行微调时发现技术故障并不罕见，但像中国这样临时凑合的却不多见。为了避免取消通车仪式的尴尬，铁路运营商决定在高铁线路上开始客运服务，并指定一个人专门待在列车驾驶室内以确保计算机上时钟的秒针继续走动，从而确保整台设备运转正常。

　　“It was a random failure that was not managed very well,” the engineer said. The problem was later fixed, he said.

　　这名工程师说，这是一个没有得到很好解决的随机故障。他说这个问题后来被解决了。

　　Dominique Pouliquen, head of Alstom SA's China operations, said China and its rail-equipment suppliers remain in the learning stages. “You acquire the technology. Then you need to absorb it; you need to master it,” Mr. Pouliquen told a small group of reporters last week. For China, “I think it's all about absorption and fully mastering the whole technology that has been acquired over the last 10 years.”

　　阿尔斯通公司（Alstom SA）中国业务负责人普利康（Dominique Pouliquen）说，中国及其铁路设备供应商仍然处于学习阶段。普利康上周对一小批记者说，获得技术之后你必须进行吸收──你需要掌握这项技术。对于中国来说，我认为所有问题在于能否吸收和完全掌握过去十年内获得的全部技术。

　　Alstom supplied, through a local joint venture, hardware for train dispatchers on the line where July's collision occurred. Mr. Pouliquen said the JV didn't provide any of the signaling technology that the Chinese government has said was possibly flawed.

　　阿尔斯通通过一家在华合资企业为今年七月发生动车追尾事故的那条铁路线上的列车调度室提供硬件设备。普利康说，这家合资企业没有提供任何中国政府声称可能存在缺陷的信号技术。

　　In an August letter to shareholders, Hollysys Chief Executive Wang Changli cited the “tragic” Wenzhou accident and reiterated that Hollysys equipment wasn't to blame. China's biggest signaling company, Beijing-based China Railway Signal & Communication Corp., originated within China's railways bureaucracy. Shortly after the crash, a CRSC unit, Beijing National Railway Research & Design Institute of Signal and Communication, issued a statement of “sorrow” and pledged to “shoulder our responsibility.”

　　和利时集团首席执行长王常力今年八月在致股东的一封信中提到了在温州发生的“悲剧性”事故，并重申了和利时的设备不是导致事故发生原因的观点。中国最大的信号公司、总部位于北京的中国铁路通信信号股份有限公司（简称：中国通号）脱胎于中国铁路系统内部。温州动车事故发生后不久，中国通号的下属单位北京全路通信信号研究设计院发布声明对事故表示“悲伤”，并承诺会“肩负起我们的责任”。

　　CRSC hasn't commented about the accident directly, aside from a statement Aug. 23 stating that its top executive, 55-year-old Ma Cheng, collapsed and died during questioning by crash investigators.

　　中国通号没有直接对事故发表评论，只是在8月23日发布一份声明说，其55岁的集团总经理马骋在接受事故调查人员约谈期间突发心脏病死亡。