As China's Internet companies increasingly go abroad, their famously competitive, in-your-face attitude is following.
中国互联网公司在日益走出国门的同时，也带出了他们求胜心切、咄咄逼人这一众所周知的作风。
An advertisement posted this month on a YouTube account that promotes WeChat in South Africa makes fun of Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, suggesting that if he wants to make real friends, he'd be better off using WeChat, a rival mobile messaging program owned by Chinese Internet conglomerate Tencent Holdings. The 35-second ad was also posted on a Facebook page that has been continuously posting ads for WeChat since it was launched at the end of 2012.
本月，YouTube的一个账户发布了一则在南非推广微信(WeChat)的广告。这则广告拿Facebook创始人马克•扎克伯格(Mark Zuckerberg)开起了玩笑，广告的大意是，如果想交到真正的朋友，最好使用Facebook的竞争对手微信，也就是中国互联网集团腾讯控股有限公司(Tencent Holdings Ltd., 0700.HK, 简称：腾讯控股)所拥有的移动即时通信软件。这则长达35秒钟的广告还被发布在一个Facebook主页上，这个主页自2012年底创建以来，就一直在不断发布微信的广告。
In the commercial, a character named Mark, sporting tousled curly hair that looks an awful lot like Zuckerberg's, whines to a therapist, saying 'I mean, I invented the social network, and now my friends, they're unfriending me.'
在这则商业广告中，一个名叫马克的人长着一头蓬乱的卷发，看起来酷似扎克伯格。广告中的马克对一位治疗师抱怨说：他发明了这个社交网络，但现在他的朋友们都与他解除了好友关系。

In a German-accented response, the therapist tells Mark to use WeChat's location-based friend radar function, which he says will help him find 'real friends.' Unconsoled, Mark responds to this advice by breaking into tears, prompting the therapist to respond, 'Ah, come on, Mark, don't make me unfriend you too.'
广告中，这位操着德国口音的治疗师让马克使用微信的雷达加朋友功能，他说，这将帮助马克找到“真正的朋友”。并未因此而感到安慰的马克对这一建议的反应是放声大哭，使得治疗师回应道：再这样就也与他解除好友关系。
Launched in early 2011, WeChat currently has 355 million monthly active users, mostly in China. In South Africa, it's locked in a battle for market domination with WhatsApp, the messaging app Facebook bought in February for $19 billion.
在2011年初上线的微信目前有3.55亿月度活跃用户，其中大部分用户都在中国。在南非，微信陷入了与WhatsApp对市场主导权的争夺战，后者是Facebook在今年2月份斥资190亿美元收购的即时通信软件。
In a second video also posted to the site, the same German therapist is confronted by lawyers sent by 'Mark,' who've apparently been dispatched to stop him from prescribing WeChat to help his patients. 'Oh Mark, your anger is merely a cry for help,' the therapist replies. 'Don't worry,' he says. 'With WeChat animated stickers, you can find a way to express your emotions.
同样是发布在YouTube上的第二段视频中，上述这位德国治疗师遇到了“马克”派来的律师，这些律师显然是要阻止他为患者开的微信“处方”。这位治疗师回答说：噢，马克，你的愤怒只是求助的呼喊。他表示，别担心，用微信的动画表情，你就可以找到表达情感的方式。
Last year Tencent said it would spend as much as $200 million to promote WeChat outside China, and this year, the company signaled that it will continue to spend to market WeChat. Tencent once tried to acquire WhatsApp, according to people familiar with the matter, but the venture failed.
去年腾讯表示将投入至多2亿美元用于在海外市场推广微信。今年腾讯还暗示，将继续斥资推广微信。据知情人士透露，腾讯还曾试图收购WhatsApp，但没有成功。
In South Africa, WeChat continues to trail WhatsApp, ranking as the sixth and eighth most popular apps on iPhone and Android phones, respectively, compared to WeChat, which tops both lists, according to research firm App Annie's mobile app tracker
调研公司App Annie的移动应用追踪数据显示，微信在南非的受欢迎程度仍落后于WhatsApp，WhatsApp位居iPhone和安卓手机应用排行榜的榜首，微信则位列第六和第八。
An ad targeting Mr. Zuckerberg could help users distinguish between the two apps, which in the past have been confused by users. According to Arthur Goldstuck, managing director of South African technology research company World Wide Worx, when WeChat launched in South Africa in February 2013, many potential users got confused and accidentally downloaded rival WhatsApp instead.
这支以扎克伯格为靶心的广告可以帮助用户区分这两款应用，过去许多用户把微信和WhatsApp搞混了。南非技术研究公司World Wide Worx董事总经理戈尔德斯塔克(Arthur Goldstuck)称，2013年2月份微信进军南非市场的时候，许多潜在用户搞混了，阴差阳错地下载了WhatsApp。
'Our understanding is that WhatsApp downloads grew by 50% in the two months after WeChat was launched here...indicating that there is confusion between the two,' Mr. Goldstuck said.
戈尔德斯塔克说，微信在南非市场上推出后的两个月，WhatsApp的下载量增加了50%，说明用户搞混了这两款应用。
In an interview last year, Brett Loubser, who heads WeChat's marketing in South Africa, said that he'd heard about users being confused about the difference between WhatsApp and WeChat. 'It's an extremely competitive environment,' he said. 'Obviously the dream is to be number one.'
微信南非营销部主管洛布塞尔(Brett Loubser)去年接受媒体采访时曾表示，他听说用户们感到困惑，搞不清楚WhatsApp和微信之间的区别。他说，这是一个竞争相当激烈的环境，显然大家都梦想成为最热门的应用。
Asked to comment, Tencent said Thursday it was investigating whether the ad was in fact theirs.
记者周四寻求腾讯置评，腾讯称，正在调查这支广告是不是腾讯所为。
Take-no-prisoner efforts to build market share are normal in China's Internet sector. Chief executives bicker publicly on social media, and companies run smear campaigns against each other, reaching levels of public antagonism less common outside of China.
为了争夺市场份额采取毫不留情的营销手段，这种做法在中国的互联网行业很常见。首席执行长们在社交媒体上公开唇枪舌战，企业相互进行恶意营销，而这种公开对抗的状况在中国以外地区实属罕见。
Thus far, Chinese companies like Tencent have been taking a quiet, under-the-radar approach to investing outside China. But if the tone of these ads are any indication, their marketing, at least, might be starting to get more rancorous.
到目前为止，腾讯等中国互联网公司在进行海外扩张时一直比较低调。但这两支广告表明，至少从营销上来看，互联网公司可能已开始恶意相对。
Paul Mozur / Devon Maylie
Paul Mozur / Devon Maylie