Paul Manafort, Donald Trump’s former campaign chairman who has deep ties to Russia, is offering advice to a Chinese billionaire on how to win construction contracts for the US president’s promised $1tn infrastructure buildout.
唐纳德?特朗普(Donald Trump)的前竞选经理、在俄罗斯有深厚人脉的保罗?马纳福特(Paul Manafort)，正在为一名中国亿万富翁提供建议，介绍如何赢得美国总统承诺的1万亿美元基础设施建设的建筑合同。
Mr Manafort met Yan Jiehe, the billionaire founder of Pacific Construction, in Shanghai last Tuesday. Before the meeting Mr Yan told the Financial Times that Mr Manafort — who has represented leaders in the Philippines, Angola and Ukraine — would help him to navigate the expected US infrastructure boom.
马纳福特上周二在上海会晤了太平洋建设集团(Pacific Construction)的亿万富翁创始人严介和。严介和在这次会晤之前告诉英国《金融时报》，曾经代表菲律宾、安哥拉和乌克兰领导人的马纳福特，将帮助他驾驭美国预计会出现的基建热潮。
Speaking in a conference room decorated with Chinese classical paintings and overlooking Shanghai’s financial district, Mr Yan pointed to a US map and outlined his ambition to win infrastructure deals in the world’s largest economy. “The map that we’ve hung up here is for Trump’s special envoy, Paul,” Mr Yan said.
严介和在一间装饰着经典中国画、俯瞰上海金融区的会议室接受记者采访，他指着一幅美国地图，介绍了他在世界最大经济体赢得基建合同的雄心。“我们挂在这里的地图是为特朗普的特使保罗准备的，”严介和表示。
Mr Manafort referred an email seeking comment to his spokesman, Jason Maloni, who initially denied that the trip had been for business. He later said Mr Manafort had been in China on business, but rejected any suggestions that his client was talking about infrastructure deals.
马纳福特把请求置评的邮件转给他的发言人杰森?马洛尼(Jason Maloni)，后者起初否认此行是为了生意。他后来承认，马纳福特确实是为了生意而去中国，但否认了有关他的客户讨论了基建合同的任何说法。
“The Pacific Construction Group was an impromptu meeting added to Mr Manafort’s schedule at their request because the Chinese are interested in US infrastructure,” said Mr Maloni. “However, his work does not involve any current or future infrastructure projects or contracts in the US. As he has said before, he is not engaged in government affairs or lobbying for corporations, governments or individuals.”
“太平洋建设集团是临时安排到马纳福特先生日程上的会议，那是应他们的请求安排的，因为中方对美国的基础设施感兴趣，”马洛尼表示。“但是，他的工作并不涉及美国当前或未来的基础设施项目或合同。就像他之前已经说过的，他现在没有参与政府事务，也没有代表公司、政府或个人游说。”
Mr Yan could not be reached for comment after the meeting. But another person familiar with the discussions said they had gone “smoothly” and that after the meeting Mr Manafort was taken on a boat tour of the Huangpu River, which runs through the Chinese commercial capital.
会后，记者联系不上严介和请其置评。但熟悉相关讨论的另一名人士表示，讨论进行得“顺利”，会后，东道主安排马纳福特乘船游览穿越中国商业之都的黄浦江。
“Paul came seeking co-operation for concrete projects,” the person said, adding that Mr Manafort would return to China within a month for more talks.
“保罗寻求在具体的项目上合作，”他说，并补充说，马纳福特将在一个月内回到中国举行更多谈判。
Mr Maloni said in response: “Paul was surprised that you seemed to have a more precise idea than he does about his own travel plans.”
对此，马洛尼的回应是：“保罗感到惊讶，你对他的旅行计划似乎比他自己有更精确的掌握。”
Pacific is China’s largest privately owned conglomerate by revenue and ranked 156 on the global Fortune 500 last year. Mr Yan and his family were sixth on the Hurun China rich list in 2016 with $14.9bn. He serves as chief adviser, after handing control of the company to his son in 2011.
太平洋建设是中国按营收衡量的最大私有企业集团，去年在《财富》世界500强(Fortune Global 500)榜单上排在第156位。严介和及家人2016年在胡润中国百富榜(Hurun China rich list)上排名第六，身家149亿美元。他在2011年将公司的控制权交给儿子后，自己担任首席顾问。
“I will not seek out Trump; he will seek me out,” said Mr Yan. “In the entire world, I am definitely the most ideal privately owned unit to invest in construction. In the whole world, there’s not another company equal to Pacific Construction.”
“我不会找特朗普；他会来找我的，”严介和表示。“要投资于建筑，我绝对是全世界最理想的私有单位。全世界没有另一家公司比得上太平洋建设。”
Chinese construction workers were “the highest quality in the world”, he added, but only his company had a chance of winning projects in the US because it was privately held. “America won’t welcome a state-owned [contractor]. It needs to be a private enterprise,” said Mr Yan.
他补充说，中国建筑工人是“世界上素质最高的”，但只有他的公司有机会赢得美国的项目，因为它是私有的。“美国不会欢迎国有的承包商。需要一家民营企业，”严介和表示。
Pacific is noteworthy for having succeeded in a business that is otherwise dominated by state-owned enterprises.
太平洋建设值得注意的一点是在国有企业主宰的一个行业取得了成功。
Mr Manafort ran Mr Trump’s campaign for several months until he was replaced by Steve Bannon and Kellyanne Conway. He has come under scrutiny because of his Russia-related work, which included helping Viktor Yanukovich, the former pro-Kremlin president of Ukraine.
马纳福特曾执掌特朗普竞选阵营几个月，直到他被史蒂夫?班农(Steve Bannon)和凯莉安妮?康韦(Kellyanne Conway)接替。近来他受到密切关注，因为他曾经承接与俄罗斯相关的业务，包括曾经帮助亲克里姆林宫的乌克兰总统维克托?亚努科维奇(Viktor Yanukovich)。
US media have reported that the FBI is investigating Mr Manafort as part of a probe into alleged Russian interference in the US presidential race and potential connections between Trump campaign aides and Russian officials.
据美国媒体报道，联邦调查局(FBI)正在调查马纳福特，作为一项全面调查的一部分，其焦点是俄罗斯被指干预美国大选，以及特朗普竞选助手与俄罗斯官员之间的潜在联系。
In February Mr Manafort told the FT he had “never” been questioned by the FBI. Asked whether that remained the case, he declined to comment.
今年2月，马纳福特曾对英国《金融时报》表示，他“从未”被FBI约谈。在被问及此言是否仍然属实时，他拒绝置评。
Mr Manafort’s meetings in China were apparently not limited to Mr Yan. Rupert Hoogewerf, chairman of the Hurun Report, said he had received an invitation to an event at a private club in Shanghai with Chinese entrepreneurs and “some guy named Paul”, in an apparent reference to Mr Manafort. Through his spokesman, Mr Manafort declined to comment.
马纳福特在中国的会面对象显然不仅限于严介和。胡润百富(Hurun Report)董事长胡润(Rupert Hoogewerf)表示，他曾接到一份邀请，是在上海某个私人会所举行的一个活动，参加者是一些中国企业家和“某个名叫保罗的家伙”，显然是指马纳福特。通过他的发言人，马纳福特拒绝置评。
“Chinese entrepreneurs are obsessed with everything to do with America at the moment. Everywhere else is second fiddle,” said Mr Hoogewerf. “To be able to hook up with one of Trump’s right-hand men is one of the things these entrepreneurs want.”
“中国企业家眼下痴迷于与美国有关的一切。其他地方都是次要的，”胡润表示。“能够结识特朗普的得力干将之一，正是这些企业家的一个心愿。”
Mr Hoogewerf added that entrepreneurs were looking for investment opportunities in the US amid concerns about renminbi depreciation, rather than demonstrating a personal interest in Mr Trump.
胡润补充说，企业家寻找美国投资机会的背景是担心人民币贬值，而不是对特朗普有个人兴趣。