劉強東在美涉性侵短暫被捕

BEIJING — The billionaire founder of JD.com, one of China’s largest and most successful online retailers, was arrested Friday in Minnesota for alleged sexual misconduct before being released a day later, police records show.

北京——據(jù)警方記錄，中國最大、最成功的在線零售商之一京東的億萬富翁創(chuàng)始人上周五在美國明尼蘇達州因涉嫌不當性行為被捕，第二天被釋放。

In a statement posted Sunday afternoon on the Chinese social media platform Weibo, JD.com said the executive, Liu Qiangdong — who goes by Richard Liu in the English speaking world — had been falsely accused. “During a business trip to the United States, Mr. Liu was questioned by police in Minnesota in relation to an unsubstantiated accusation,” the company said. “The local police quickly determined there was no substance to the claim against Mr. Liu, and he was subsequently able to resume his business activities as originally planned.”

周日下午，京東在中國社交媒體平臺微博上發(fā)表聲明稱，該公司高管劉強東(英文名為Richard Liu)受到不實指控。“劉強東先生在美國商務活動期間，遭遇到了失實指控，”該公司表示，“經(jīng)過當?shù)鼐秸{(diào)查，未發(fā)現(xiàn)有任何不當行為，他將按照原計劃繼續(xù)其行程。”

Police in Minneapolis said they were treating the case as an active investigation.

明尼阿波利斯警方表示對此案的調(diào)查尚在進行中。

The matter is an another unwelcome bit of publicity for a company that symbolizes the business potential of China’s rising middle class. The accusation could also be a test of JD.com’s stability, as well as the ability of a Chinese technology company to rebound from the problems of its leaders. China’s most powerful technology companies are still tightly controlled by their founders, so the fortunes of businesses worth tens or even hundreds of billions of dollars are closely intertwined with the fates of a small number of executives.

對于一個代表著中國不斷崛起的中產(chǎn)階級商業(yè)潛能的公司來說，這是又一樁不利于其公眾形象的事件。這項指控可能還會考驗京東的穩(wěn)定，以及中國科技公司從其領導人問題中恢復元氣的能力。中國最強大的科技公司仍被其創(chuàng)始人牢牢控制，因此將價值數(shù)百億甚至數(shù)千億美元的企業(yè)與一小群高管的命運緊密交織在一起。

JD.com, whose shares trade in the United States, has prospered by catering to the increasing sophistication of Chinese shoppers. Big global brands such as Nike, Prada and Levi’s use JD.com’s sales platform to reach the country’s burgeoning middle class, and the company is closely watched as an indicator of consumer confidence.

通過迎合中國越來越成熟的購物者的需求，目前在美國上市的京東取得了極佳業(yè)績。類似耐克(Nike)、普拉達(Prada)和李維斯(Levi’s)這樣的大型全球品牌都會使用京東銷售平臺，觸及中國不斷壯大的中產(chǎn)階級，該公司被作為一項消費者信心指數(shù)得到密切關注。

According to the jail roster for the Hennepin County Sheriff’s office, Mr. Liu was taken into custody by the Minneapolis police late Friday on suspicion of criminal sexual conduct and then freed Saturday afternoon without bail. In Minnesota, the term “criminal sexual conduct” covers a range of nonconsensual sexual contact.

根據(jù)亨內(nèi)平縣治安官辦公室的收監(jiān)名冊，劉強東上周五晚間因涉嫌刑事性行為被明尼阿波利斯警方逮捕，周六下午在不需繳納保釋金的情況下釋放。在明尼蘇達州，“刑事性行為”這個說法涵蓋了一系列非合意性接觸。

A spokesman for the Minneapolis Police Department said Mr. Liu was released “pending formal complaint.” Spokesman John Elder said the police could have held Mr. Liu in custody through Tuesday, but did not feel that was necessary while they conducted their investigation.

明尼阿波利斯警察局發(fā)言人表示，獲釋的劉強東“尚待正式起訴”。發(fā)言人約翰·埃爾德(John Elder)稱警方原本可以將劉強東關押至周二，但他們認為在展開調(diào)查期間沒有必要這么做。

The police will, after the investigation, recommend to prosecutors whether Mr. Liu should be charged with a misdemeanor or felony or face no charges, at which point the case would be closed.

經(jīng)過調(diào)查后，警方會向檢方建議，應該以輕罪、重罪起訴劉強東，還是不起訴——屆時該案將予以結案。

The company said that Mr. Liu’s trip would continue as planned, but a spokeswoman declined to comment further. When asked when Mr. Liu would return to China, the spokeswoman said she did not have that information. Mr. Liu didn’t respond to a request for comment.

京東表示劉強東的行程將按計劃進行，但一名發(fā)言人拒絕進一步置評。當被問及劉強東是否會回中國時，這名發(fā)言人表示她不清楚。劉強東本人沒有回應置評請求。

The arrest comes shortly after Mr. Liu was in the spotlight for another incident involving sexual misconduct. He tried to distance himself from a sexual assault that was said to have taken place after a 2015 party at his penthouse in Australia. A guest at the party, Longwei Xu, was found guilty this July of seven charges, including having sex with his accuser without her consent.

劉強東最近曾試圖拉開自己與一起性侵犯事件的距離，那起事件據(jù)稱發(fā)生在2015年劉強東在自己的澳大利亞頂層公寓舉行的一次聚會之后。一名參加聚會的客人徐龍偉(音)被判犯有性侵。徐龍偉從事房地產(chǎn)開發(fā)工作，又名“湯米”(Tommy)。法院判他七項罪名成立，包括未經(jīng)原告同意與其發(fā)生性關系。

Mr. Liu has not been charged with a crime or accused of any wrongdoing in that case. But he tried to get an Australian court to prevent the release of his name in connection with the case by citing potential damage to his marriage and business, court documents show. In July, a judge in Australia rejected his request for a suppression order.

在那起案件中，劉強東未受到指控或者被控有任何不當行為。但法庭文件顯示，他曾試圖向一家澳大利亞法院提出申請，以可能損害他的婚姻和生意為由，阻止此案公布他的名字。今年7月，澳大利亞的一名法官拒絕了他提出的禁制令要求。

JD.com is a heavyweight in China’s technology scene, and Mr. Liu, its chairman and chief executive since its 2004 founding, is one of its leading lights. Legal troubles for Mr. Liu could darken perceptions overall of JD.com, whose shares trade on the Nasdaq stock market in New York and have a market value of around $50 billion.

京東是中國科技領域的重量級企業(yè)，自2004年成立以來一直擔任京東董事局主席和首席執(zhí)行官的劉強東是京東的中堅力量之一。他在法律上的麻煩，可能會損害京東的形象。京東在紐約納斯達克上市，市值約500億美元。

The company competes with Alibaba, the country’s largest e-commerce provider, for the attention of China’s increasingly affluent middle class, and says it has more than 300 million customers. It specializes in electronics such as smartphones and appliances.

該公司與中國最大的電子商務供應商阿里巴巴展開競爭，爭奪中國日益富裕的中產(chǎn)階級的關注。京東表示自己擁有超過3億顧客。智能手機和家電等電子產(chǎn)品是它的專長經(jīng)營門類。

Alibaba and JD.com are both trying to lure high-end global brands to open virtual stores on their sales platforms. Alibaba says it has more than 570 million customers across its Chinese marketplaces.

阿里巴巴和京東都在試圖吸引國際高端品牌在自己的銷售平臺上開設網(wǎng)店。阿里巴巴表示，它在中國市場擁有超過5.7億顧客。

Whereas Alibaba operates platforms on which outside merchants sell their wares to consumers, JD.com’s business model is more like Amazon’s. It typically buys products from manufacturers and stores them in its own warehouses. JD.com has also invested in its own logistics network, which the company says helps provide quicker, more reliable delivery than Alibaba can offer. The company’s major shareholders include Google and the Chinese internet conglomerate Tencent.

阿里巴巴運營的是供外部商家銷售產(chǎn)品的平臺，而京東的商業(yè)模式則更像亞馬遜。它通常會從制造商那里購買產(chǎn)品，然后存放在自己的倉庫中。京東還投資建立了自己的物流網(wǎng)絡，它表示，這有助于提供比阿里巴巴更快、更可靠的配送服務。京東的主要股東包括谷歌和中國的互聯(lián)網(wǎng)集團騰訊。

For many companies with shops on the platform, JD.com offers a way into an exciting market. China’s dramatic economic rise has meant that hundreds of millions of Chinese consumers are no longer content with shoddily made goods, and are ready to pay more for quality. 對于許多在這個平臺上設有店鋪的企業(yè)來說，通過京東可以有機會接觸到一個激動人心的市場。中國經(jīng)濟的大幅增長意味著數(shù)以億計的中國消費者不再滿足于粗制濫造的產(chǎn)品，而是愿意花錢買品質(zhì)。

But as the economy has shown signs of a slowdown in recent months, JD.com has suffered too. Last month it reported disappointing financial results, citing increasing competition.

不過，隨著中國經(jīng)濟在最近幾個月出現(xiàn)放緩的跡象，京東也受到了影響。上個月，該公司的業(yè)績令人失望，它給出的理由是競爭的加劇。

China’s technology scene is young — many of its most influential companies were founded only in the past two decades — and company founders like Mr. Liu tend to retain outsize influence on their businesses, even as they grow large and list on public stock exchanges. Founders control voting rights and have ultimate say in matters large and small. Their personalities seep into the corporate culture.

中國的科技領域還很年輕，許多最具影響力的公司都是在過去的20年里成立的;而像劉強東這樣的公司創(chuàng)始人往往對他們的企業(yè)保持著巨大的影響力，即便它們規(guī)模不斷擴大，并且在證交所上市。創(chuàng)始人控制著投票權，在大大小小的事務上都擁有最終決定權。他們的個性滲入在了企業(yè)文化中。

Mr. Liu was born in a poor part of Jiangsu Province in eastern China in the 1970s. When he earned a place at the prestigious Renmin University in Beijing, other people in the village scraped together cash and boiled eggs to sustain him in the capital.

劉強東于上世紀70年代出生在中國東部江蘇省的一個貧困地區(qū)?？忌媳本┲闹袊嗣翊髮W后，村里的鄉(xiāng)親們湊了錢和煮雞蛋供他去首都求學。

In the past, Mr. Liu has spent one day a year wearing JD.com’s red uniform, riding an electric bike and making home deliveries. He likes to say that as the son of a poor family, he wants to treat his employees with fairness and respect.

過去，劉強東每年都會有一天穿上京東的紅色制服，騎著電動自行車去送貨。他喜歡說，作為一個貧困家庭的孩子，他希望以公平和尊重對待員工。