President Trump’s decision this week to restrict the export of American aerospace technology to China follows years of rising anxiety in Washington about the role of American companies in helping China build a competitor to Boeing.

上周，特朗普总统决定限制向中国出口美国航空技术，这源于华盛顿多年来日益增长的担忧，即美国企业在帮助中国打造波音的竞争对手。

In 2008, China established the state-owned Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China, or COMAC, with the goal of putting a single-aisle commercial jet into service by 2016.

2008年，中国成立了国有的中国商用飞机有限责任公司，计划到2016年之前实现单通道商用飞机的商业运营。

Development of the plane has been slow. The company, which occupies a large expanse of newly built hangars and design studios in Shanghai, suffered delays despite extensive assistance from American and European companies. Its plane, the C919, did not go into commercial service until 2023.

但项目进展缓慢。该公司在上海新建了一大片机库和设计中心，尽管得到美国和欧洲企业的大量技术支持，但还是遭遇了多次延期。这款名为C919的飞机直到2023年才投入商用。

Still, Beijing takes great pride in the C919. State media describes it as one of the country’s “pillars of a great power” with “technology to help civil aviation development and achieve military-civilian integration.”

尽管如此，北京仍以C919为傲。官方媒体将其描述为“大国重器”之一，“是航天技术助力民航发展、实现军民融合的一次突破”。

The C919 is also a symbol of an earlier era in Sino-American relations, when many in the United States hoped that closer economic cooperation would lead to more democracy in China and a lessening of geopolitical tensions. When Beijing set up COMAC, American and European companies rushed into partnerships to help it build the C919.

C919也是当年中美关系的一个象征，当时许多美国人希望更紧密的经济合作能促进中国的民主化进程，并缓解地缘政治紧张局势。当中国政府成立中国商飞时，美国和欧洲的公司纷纷与之建立合作伙伴关系，帮助建造C919。

But the political backdrop has changed drastically in the years since Xi Jinping became China’s top leader in 2012. Mr. Xi has overseen a rapid military buildup and a more assertive policy on Taiwan, the South China Sea and other potential flash points.

但自2012年习近平成为中国最高领导人以来，政治背景发生了巨大变化。在习近平的主导下，中国迅速扩张军力，并在台湾、南海和其他潜在热点问题方面采取了更为强硬的政策。

C919飞机至少有40%的零部件是由美国和其他西方国家的公司制造的。

Some in Washington now contend that COMAC’s joint ventures facilitate the theft of industrial secrets and undermine American national security. “Almost the entire makeup of the C919 is stolen technology from numerous aviation and technology industries from around the world,” said William R. Evanina, a former director of the United States National Counterintelligence and Security Center, in congressional testimony in 2023.

华盛顿的一些人现在认为，中国商飞旗下的合资企业为窃取工业机密提供了便利，损害了美国的国家安全。“C919的几乎全部构成都是从全球多个航空和科技行业窃取的技术，”美国国家反情报与安全中心前主任威廉·埃瓦尼纳在2023年的国会证词中说。

COMAC did not reply to calls and faxes seeking comment.

中国商飞没有回复寻求置评的电话和传真。

At least 40 percent of the C919 is made by companies in the United States and other countries in the West. The Trump administration has not yet released the details of the new limits on exports of American aerospace technologies.

C919至少有40%的部件是由美国等西方国家的公司制造的。特朗普政府尚未公布美国航空技术出口新限制的细节。

Lin Jian, a spokesman for China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, criticized on Friday the Trump administration’s action. “The relevant practices of the United States are overstretching the concept of national security, turning trade and tech into political issues and tools, and are a malicious blockade and suppression of China — we firmly oppose it and will firmly safeguard our legitimate rights and interests,” he said at a news briefing.

周五，中国外交部发言人林剑批评了特朗普政府的相关举措。他在新闻发布会上说：“美方有关做法是在泛化国家安全概念，将经贸科技问题政治化、工具化，对中国进行恶意封锁和打压。我们对此坚决反对，并将坚决维护自身正当权益。”

The C919 is similar to an Airbus A320, a popular single-aisle jet made by the European aviation manufacturer. It also competes with the Boeing 737.

C919类似于空客A320，后者是欧洲航空制造商制造的畅销单通道机型。C919还与波音737处于竞争关系。

In recent years, China has bought more planes from Airbus after becoming wary of buying Boeing aircraft. China saw how the United States stopped providing spare Boeing parts to Russia after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and feared becoming too tied to the American manufacturer. But the C919 also depends on engines and other key components controlled by the United States, a point underlined by Mr. Trump’s action this week.

近年来，中国对购买波音飞机日益谨慎，它更多选择了空客。在俄罗斯入侵乌克兰后，中国看到美国向俄断供波音零部件，担心过度依赖这家美国飞机制造商可能带来的风险。但C919同样依赖美国控制的发动机和其他关键部件，特朗普本周的行动突出了这一点。

C919也是当年中美关系的一个象征，当时许多美国人希望更紧密的经济合作能促进中国的民主化进程，并缓解地缘政治紧张局势。

COMAC had put only 16 C919s into service by the start of this year, but is now ramping up production and has amassed close to 1,000 orders. The orders have come mainly from state-controlled Chinese airlines. Some have been placed by developing countries that are closely tied to Beijing through Chinese loans for economic development.

截至今年年初，中国商飞公司仅交付了16架C919，但目前正在加速生产，已获得近1000架订单。这些订单主要来自中国国有航司。也有一些订单来自因中国经济发展贷款而与中国政府关系密切的发展中国家。

China has shared limited information about the plane, which only mainland China and Hong Kong have approved for use.

该飞机目前只在中国大陆和香港获批投入运营，而中国披露的该飞机的相关信息也很有限。

Florian Guillermet, the executive director of the European Union Aviation Safety Agency, told a French business magazine in April that it might take another three to six years before his agency would be ready to certify the plane for use. The Federal Aviation Administration in the United States also has not certified it.

欧盟航空安全局执行主任弗洛里安·吉勒梅今年4月对一家法国商业杂志表示，该机构可能还需要三到六年的时间才能对该飞机完成适航认证。美国联邦航空管理局也没有对其进行认证。

China is now the world’s leading producer of technologies ranging from electric cars to solar panels. But commercial aircraft, with their complex systems and requirements for utmost safety, have proved a formidable challenge for China.

中国目前是世界领先的电动汽车和太阳能电池板等技术的生产国。但商用飞机因其系统的复杂性以及极高的安全要求对中国来说是一个巨大的挑战。

The many delays for the C919 make it “a testimony to how hard it is to develop and certify civil aircraft,” said Martin Craigs, the president emeritus of the Aerospace Forum Asia, an aircraft industry group.

飞机工业组织亚洲航空航天论坛名誉主席马丁·克雷格斯说，C919的多次延期“证明了民用飞机的研发和认证是多么困难”。

General Electric in particular has played a central role on the C919. It has worked with a Chinese military contractor to supply avionics computers for navigation, communication and controls. And a GE joint venture with Safran Aircraft Engines of France supplies the plane’s jet engines.

通用电气公司在C919项目中尤其发挥了核心作用。它与一家中国军事承包商合作，为导航、通信和控制提供航空电子系统。通用电气与法国赛峰飞机发动机公司的合资企业，为这款飞机提供喷气发动机。

截至今年年初，中国商飞公司仅交付了16架C919，但目前正在加速生产。

GE did not respond to requests for comment.

通用电气没有回应置评请求。

Less than two years after COMAC was founded, when the C919 was still a distant dream, General Electric agreed to a partnership with the Aviation Industry Corporation of China, or AVIC, a leading Chinese defense contractor. General Electric shared its most advanced commercial avionics with AVIC for the C919, the same state-of-the-art system it had just developed for Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner jet.

在中国商飞成立不到两年，C919还是一个遥远的梦想时，通用电气同意与中国领先的国防承包商中国航空工业集团公司建立合作关系。在C919项目中，通用电气与中航工业分享了自己最先进的商用航空电子技术，这套系统正是它刚为波音787“梦想客机”开发的尖端技术。

General Electric and AVIC worked together on equipping the C919 with an advanced computer core processing system. AVIC has also developed China’s most advanced bombers and its latest stealth fighter jets. It does much of its production in Xi’an, the hub of China’s military aircraft manufacturing industry.

通用电气和中航工业共同为C919配备了先进的计算机核心处理系统。中航工业也是中国最先进的轰炸机和最新的隐形战斗机的研发单位。中航工业的大部分生产都在西安完成，那里是中国军用飞机制造业的中心。

General Electric said in 2011 that its partnership with AVIC to work on the C919 would create $300 million in exports from Michigan, Ohio and Florida and would support 300 American jobs. The company said it had briefed the Commerce, Defense and State Departments on the deal’s details, but wanted to share in whatever commercial success the C919 might enjoy.

通用电气在2011年表示，与中航工业合作开发C919将为密歇根州、俄亥俄州和佛罗里达州创造3亿美元的出口，并为美国提供300个就业岗位。该公司表示，已向商务部、国防部和国务院通报了该交易的细节，但也希望分享C919可能取得的任何商业成功。

“We can participate in that or sit on the sidelines — we’re not about sitting on the sidelines,” said John Rice, who was the company’s vice chairman but has since retired. “This venture is a strategic move that we made after some thought and consideration, with a company we know.”

“我们可以参与其中，也可以袖手旁观——我们不会袖手旁观，”通用公司现已退休的副董事长约翰·赖斯说。“这次合资是我们经过深思熟虑和考虑后的战略举措，对方是一家我们熟悉的公司。”

但事实证明，C919的研制难度超出中国商飞的预期。这款飞机的首次公开试飞是在2017年5月。

But building the C919 proved much harder than COMAC had anticipated. The plane’s first public flight test was in May 2017, a year after it was supposed to go into service.

但事实证明，C919的研制难度超出中国商飞的预期。这款飞机的首次公开试飞是在2017年5月，距离它本应投入使用的时间已经过去了一年。

Most of the initial C919s are operated by China Eastern Airlines. In 2020, China Eastern set up a separate brand, OTT Airlines, to operate the C919 and a smaller plane COMAC was also building. China Eastern merged OTT Airlines, which stood for One Two Three Airlines, into its regular operations last September after the COMAC planes had proved themselves.

大多数最初的C919飞机是由中国东方航空公司运营的。2020年，东方航空成立了独立品牌一二三航空，运营C919和中国商飞另外一款较小的飞机。去年9月，在中国商飞的飞机证明了自己的实力之后，东航将一二三航空并入了自己的常规运营业务。

China Eastern began flying the plane regularly to Hong Kong in January. Those flights have given the airline a chance to test the aircraft’s communications and other systems on an international route. Hong Kong is largely outside mainland China’s air traffic control system, a legacy of its history as a British possession until its return to mainland China’s control in 1997.

1月，东航开始将这款机型投入了香港航线的运营。这些航班为航空公司提供了一个在国际航线上测试飞机通信系统及其他系统的机会。香港在很大程度上不在中国大陆的空管体系之内，这是香港在1997年回归中国大陆之前作为英国属地的历史遗留下来的。