TikTok拒绝微软收购要约
据最新消息，微软官方发布了一则声明，表示字节跳动拒绝将TikTok美国业务出售给微软。另有媒体称，字节跳动也不会将TikTok美国业务出售给剩下的另一个公开竞购者——甲骨文（Oracle）公司，而是和甲骨文公司达成了“技术合作伙伴”协议。
无注释原文：
Microsoft Says Its Bid for TikTok Was Rejected in U.S.-China Standoff
The New York Times
The Chinese owner of TikTok has chosen Oracle to be the app’s technology partner for its U.S. operations and has rejected an acquisition offer from Microsoft, according to Microsoft officials and other people involved in the negotiations, as time runs out on an executive order from President Trump threatening to ban the popular app unless its American operations are sold.
It was unclear whether TikTok’s choice of Oracle as a technology partner would mean that Oracle would also take a majority ownership stake of the social media app, the people involved in the negotiations said. Microsoft had been seen as the American technology company with the deepest pockets to buy TikTok’s U.S. operations from its parent company, ByteDance, and with the greatest ability to address national security concerns that led to Mr. Trump’s order.
“ByteDance let us know today they would not be selling TikTok’s U.S. operations to Microsoft,” Microsoft said in a statement. “We are confident our proposal would have been good for TikTok’s users, while protecting national security interests.”
ByteDance declined to comment. A spokeswoman for Oracle did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The fast-moving series of events on Sunday came as the clock ticks down on the executive order from Mr. Trump, which said that TikTok essentially needed to strike a deal to sell its U.S. operations by Sept. 20 or risk being blocked in the United States. But sale talks had been in a holding pattern because China issued new regulations last month that would bar TikTok from transferring its technology to a foreign buyer without explicit permission from the Chinese government.
The software giant had said in August that it would insist on a series of protections that would essentially give it control of the computer code that TikTok uses for the American and many other English-speaking versions of the app.
Microsoft said the only way it could both protect the privacy of TikTok users in the United States and prevent Beijing from using the app as a venue for disinformation was to take over that computer code, and the algorithms that determine what videos are seen by the 100 million Americans who use it each month.
“We would have made significant changes to ensure the service met the highest standards for security, privacy, online safety and combating disinformation,” Microsoft said in its statement.
Oracle has said nothing publicly about what it would do with TikTok’s underlying technology, which is written by a Chinese engineering team in Beijing — and which Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has charged is answerable to Chinese intelligence agencies. That is a major concern of American intelligence agencies, led by the National Security Agency and United States Cyber Command, which warned internally that whoever controls the computer code could channel — or censor — a range of sensitive information to specific users.
ByteDance and TikTok have denied that they help the Chinese government.
TikTok has become the latest flash point between Washington and Beijing over the control of technology that affects American lives. The Trump administration had already banned the Chinese telecom giant Huawei from selling next-generation, or 5G, networks and equipment in the United States, citing the risk of a foreign power controlling the infrastructure on which all internet communications flow.
But TikTok took the battle in new directions. For the first time, the United States was trying to stop a Chinese cultural phenomenon, with an intense following among American teenagers and millennials, which carries with it the possibility of future influence.
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注：中文文本为纽约时报官方译文，仅供参考
含注释全文：
Microsoft Says Its Bid for TikTok Was Rejected in U.S.-China Standoff
TikTok交易微软出局，字节跳动选择甲骨文为技术伙伴
The New York Times
纽约时报
The Chinese owner of TikTok has chosen Oracle to be the app's technology partner for its U.S. operations and has rejected an acquisition offer from Microsoft, according to Microsoft officials and other people involved in the negotiations, as time runs out on an executive order from President Trump threatening to ban the popular app unless its American operations are sold.
据微软(Microsoft)管理者和其他参与谈判人士透露，TikTok的中国所有者已拒绝微软的收购要约，选择甲骨文(Oracle)为这款应用美国业务的技术伙伴，特朗普总统下达了威胁封禁这款流行应用，除非出售其美国业务的行政令，目前其时限已所剩无几。
收购要约
首先声明，标题“要约”不是错别字。据百度百科，收购要约是指收购人向被收购公司股东公开发出的，愿意按照要约条件购买其所持有的被收购公司股份的行为。
此处英文用an acquisition offer指代。acquisition offer means an offer made by an acquiring person to acquire shares, or any class of shares, of a company.
acquisition表示“购置物；收购的公司；购置的产业；购置；收购”，英文解释为“a company, piece of land, etc. bought by sb, especially another company; the act of buying it”。
It was unclear whether TikTok's choice of Oracle as a technology partner would mean that Oracle would also take a majority ownership stake of the social media app, the people involved in the negotiations said. Microsoft had been seen as the American technology company with the deepest pockets to buy TikTok's U.S. operations from its parent company, ByteDance, and with the greatest ability to address national security concerns that led to Mr. Trump's order.
参与谈判的人士表示，尚不清楚TikTok选择甲骨文作为技术伙伴，是否意味着甲骨文也将拥有这款社交媒体应用的多数股权。在向母公司字节跳动求购TikTok美国业务的美国科技公司中，微软被视为资金最雄厚、最有能力打消国家安全顾虑的一家。正是相关顾虑导致特朗普颁布了行政令。
熟词僻义，原意表示“衣袋，口袋，兜”大家都比较熟悉，此处意思是“钱，财力”，英文解释为“the amount of money that someone has for spending”举个🌰：
You need deep pockets (= a lot of money) if you're involved in a long law suit.
卷入这样旷日持久的诉讼中，得有钱才行。
🎬电影《茉莉牌局》（Molly's Game）中的台词提到：The Russians have deep pockets, 那些俄罗斯人 财力雄厚。
“ByteDance let us know today they would not be selling TikTok's U.S. operations to Microsoft,” Microsoft said in a statement. “We are confident our proposal would have been good for TikTok's users, while protecting national security interests.”
“字节跳动今日告知我们，他们不会将TikTok美国业务卖给微软，”微软在声明中表示。“我们的收购要约会对TikTok用户十分有益，又能保护国家安全利益，对于这一点我们很有信心。”
proposal
表示“建议；计划；提案”，英文解释为“a suggestion, sometimes a written one”举个🌰：
Have you read his proposals for the new project?
你看了他对新项目的建议了吗？
ByteDance declined to comment. A spokeswoman for Oracle did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
字节跳动拒绝置评。甲骨文的发言人没有立即回应置评的请求。
The fast-moving series of events on Sunday came as the clock ticks down on the executive order from Mr. Trump, which said that TikTok essentially needed to strike a deal to sell its U.S. operations by Sept. 20 or risk being blocked in the United States. But sale talks had been in a holding pattern because China issued new regulations last month that would bar TikTok from transferring its technology to a foreign buyer without explicit permission from the Chinese government.
就在周日的一系列事态迅速发展的同时，特朗普行政令的时限也即将到来，该行政令规定，TikTok须在9月20日之前就出售其美国业务达成协议，否则将面临在美国遭到封禁的风险。然而，由于中国上个月出台新规，禁止TikTok在没有获得中国政府明确许可的情况下将技术转移给外国买家，出售谈判陷入停滞。
tick
表示“（钟表）发出嘀嗒声；滴答地走”，英文解释为“When a clock or watch ticks, it makes a sound every second.”举个🌰：
In the silence we could hear the clock ticking.
寂静中，我们能听到钟表滴答作响。
此处As the clock ticks down, 可以理解为随着时间滴滴答答地走，随着时间地流逝。
strike a bargain/deal
表示“达成协议/交易，制定协议”，英文解释为“to agree to do something for someone if they do something for you”举个🌰：
There are rumors that the president struck a private deal with the corporation's chairman.
有传言称总裁和公司董事长已经私下里达成协议。
🎬电影《大创业家》（The Founder）中的台词提到：thank you for your letter sharing your idea to strike a deal with Coca-Cola 感谢你分享你与可口可乐打交道的想法。
in a holding pattern
表示“等待；待命”，英文解释为“temporarily unable to act because you are waiting for something to happen or be decided”举个🌰：
We're in a holding pattern while we wait for City Council approval.
在市政局批准之前我们只有等待。
bar
1）表示“挡（路）”，英文解释为“If you bar someone's way, you prevent them from going somewhere or entering a place, by blocking their path.”举个🌰：
She moved to bar his way.
她过去挡住了他的路。
2）表示“禁止，阻止”，英文解释为“If someone is barred from a place or from doing something, they are officially forbidden to go there or to do it.”举个🌰：
The players are barred from drinking alcohol the night before a match.
运动员在参赛前夜不得喝酒。
🎬电影《逆转王牌》（Runner Runner）中的台词提到：He said I'd be barred from re-entering the country.他说我下次回国时会被禁止入境。
The software giant had said in August that it would insist on a series of protections that would essentially give it control of the computer code that TikTok uses for the American and many other English-speaking versions of the app.
这家软件巨头已在8月表示，将坚持推行一系列保护措施，这些措施将实质上令其控制TikTok用于美国及其他许多英语版本应用中的代码。
Microsoft said the only way it could both protect the privacy of TikTok users in the United States and prevent Beijing from using the app as a venue for disinformation was to take over that computer code, and the algorithms that determine what videos are seen by the 100 million Americans who use it each month.
微软表示，既保护TikTok在美用户的隐私，又防止北京利用这款应用散播不实信息的唯一方式，就是掌握其代码及算法。该算法决定了每个月使用该应用的1亿美国人会看到怎样的视频。
disinformation
在谷歌撤下2500多个中国相关YouTube频道文中就出现过的disinformation，表示“虚假信息，假消息”，英文解释为“false information that is given deliberately, especially by government organizations”。
补充：
📍Misinformation is wrong information which is given to someone, often in a deliberate attempt to make them believe something that is not true.（常指故意提供的）虚假消息
disinformation & misinformation, 大家能弄清楚两者的区别吗？
algorithm
algorithm /ˈælɡəˌrɪðəm/ 表示“算法；计算程序”，英文解释为“a set of rules that must be followed when solving a particular problem”。
“We would have made significant changes to ensure the service met the highest standards for security, privacy, online safety and combating disinformation,” Microsoft said in its statement.
“为确保服务能符合安全、隐私、在线安全及打击不实信息的最高标准，我们会做出重大改变，”微软在其声明中表示。
Oracle has said nothing publicly about what it would do with TikTok's underlying technology, which is written by a Chinese engineering team in Beijing — and which Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has charged is answerable to Chinese intelligence agencies. That is a major concern of American intelligence agencies, led by the National Security Agency and United States Cyber Command, which warned internally that whoever controls the computer code could channel — or censor — a range of sensitive information to specific users.
对于如何处理TikTok的基础技术，甲骨文尚未公开做出表示。该技术代码由北京的一个中国工程师团队撰写，国务卿迈克·蓬佩奥（Mike Pompeo）也指该代码会为中国情报机构所用。这一点是由国家安全局（National Security Agency）及美国网络司令部（U.S. Cyber Command）为首的美国情报机构的重点考虑，它们在内部提出警告，称无论是谁控制了该计算机代码，都将可能向特定用户输送——或审查——一系列敏感信息。
ByteDance and TikTok have denied that they help the Chinese government.
字节跳动和TikTok已否认自己会帮助中国政府。
TikTok has become the latest flash point between Washington and Beijing over the control of technology that affects American lives. The Trump administration had already banned the Chinese telecom giant Huawei from selling next-generation, or 5G, networks and equipment in the United States, citing the risk of a foreign power controlling the infrastructure on which all internet communications flow.
围绕着影响美国人生活的技术控制权，TikTok已成为华盛顿和北京之间最新的爆发点。特朗普政府禁止了中国电信巨头华为在美国销售下一代网络（又称5G）及设备，理由是外国势力有控制所有互联网通讯流通基础设施的风险。
flashpoint
表示“（暴力）即将爆发的地点（或阶段）；导火索”，英文解释为“a place or stage at which violence might be expected to begin”举个🌰：
The immediate flashpoint was the issue.
这问题成了直接的导火索。
But TikTok took the battle in new directions. For the first time, the United States was trying to stop a Chinese cultural phenomenon, with an intense following among American teenagers and millennials, which carries with it the possibility of future influence.
但TikTok将这场争斗带向了一个新方向。美国首次试图阻止一个在美国青少年和千禧一代中拥有众多追随者的中国文化现象，它有可能在未来拥有影响力。
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