TikTok’s Behind-the-Scenes Help in Washington: Former Obama, Disney Advisers


据知情人士，曾参与奥巴马总统竞选的David Plouffe和Jim Messina，以及华特迪士尼公司的前长期公关负责人Zenia Mucha正在为TikTok提供咨询，助其对抗美国禁止该应用的行动。


Zenia Mucha、Jim Messina和David Plouffe在美国众议院听证会之前都曾为TikTok首席执行官周受资提供了一个多月的指导。

TikTok已聘请三位来自美国政商界的重量级人物提供幕后建议，目前该社交媒体应用程序正试图让美国政府相信它可以不受中国政府影响。 6park.com
TikTok has enlisted three heavyweights from American politics and business to advise it behind the scenes as the social-media app tries to convince U.S. authorities that it isn’t beholden to the Chinese government. 6park.com
   
据知情人士，曾参与奥巴马总统竞选的David Plouffe和Jim Messina，以及华特迪士尼公司(Walt Disney Company, DIS)的前长期公关负责人Zenia Mucha正在为TikTok提供咨询，助其对抗美国禁止该应用的行动。 6park.com
David Plouffe and Jim Messina, veterans of Barack Obama’s presidential campaigns, and Zenia Mucha, the former longtime communications chief of Walt Disney Co., are advising TikTok in its fight against efforts to ban it in the U.S, according to people familiar with their roles. 6park.com
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知情人士说，在上周美国众议院举行有争议的听证会之前，这三人都曾为TikTok CEO周受资(Shou Zi Chew)提供了一个多月的指导。 6park.com
All three helped coach TikTok Chief Executive Shou Zi Chew for more than a month ahead of what turned out to be a contentious U.S. House hearing last week, the people said.  6park.com
  
在聘用这三位美国顾问时，总部位于北京的字节跳动(Bytedance Ltd.)所拥有的TikTok正向那些因向世界兜售一些最着名的美国品牌——巴拉克·奥巴马(Barack Obama)和迪士尼——而出名的人求助。这些顾问也有纵横政商两界的经验。Plouffe在离开白宫后曾在优步(Uber Technologies Inc., UBER)工作；Mucha曾在迪士尼工作20年，之前曾为纽约州的共和党政界人士提供多年咨询。 6park.com
In hiring the trio of U.S. advisers, TikTok, which is owned by Beijing-based ByteDance Ltd., is turning to people who made their name selling the world some of the most prominent American brands: Barack Obama and Disney. They also have experience straddling business and politics. Mr. Plouffe worked at Uber Technologies Inc. after the White House, and Ms. Mucha advised Republican politicians in New York for years before her two-decade career at the entertainment giant. 6park.com
   
TikTok发言人称，该公司在处理国会听证会这样重要的事情时，会寻求多元化的意见。她说，这就是为什么该公司引入更多人士的原因。 6park.com
A spokeswoman for TikTok said the company sought a diversity of views when it approached something of the magnitude of the congressional hearing. “That’s why we brought in additional folks,” she said. 6park.com
   
聘请这些资深顾问的行为显示出TikTok为了抵挡美国议员和官员不断高涨的反对声浪正在竭尽全力，美国的议员和官员要求在美封禁TikTok，理由是TikTok与中国有关联。 6park.com
The hires show the extent to which TikTok is muscling up to fight growing cries from U.S. lawmakers and officials that the app should be banned because of its ties to China.  6park.com
  
据《华尔街日报》(The Wall Street Journal)本月报道，拜登政府要求字节跳动(Bytedance Ltd.)出售在TikTok的所有权，否则就可能封禁TikTok。中国政府最近表示，将反对任何强制出售TikTok的行为。 6park.com
The Biden administration has demanded that ByteDance sell its ownership in the company or face a possible ban, The Wall Street Journal reported this month. The Chinese government recently said it would oppose any forced sale of TikTok. 6park.com
   
国会上周举行的听证会反映出TikTok遭到两党批评的严苛程度。 6park.com
The congressional hearing last week showed the extent of bipartisan criticism the company is facing.  6park.com
   
周受资在长达五个多小时的听证会上直面了来自民主党和共和党议员的尖锐攻击。议员们表示，他们担心TikTok会与中国政府分享美国用户的数据，或者根据中国政府的意愿来影响TikTok用户看到的内容。 6park.com
Mr. Chew faced pointed attacks from both Democrats and Republicans during more than five hours of testimony. Lawmakers say they fear TikTok would share data on U.S. users with the Chinese government, or influence the content users see, based on the whims of the Chinese government.  6park.com
   
TikTok已表示，从未收到过这种要求，如果被要求的话也不会照做，并称TikTok平台允许自由表达意见。TikTok还表示，已经花费了约15亿美元来实施一项计划，将把美国用户的数据分离出来，交给TikTok的美国合作伙伴甲骨文公司(Oracle Corp., ORCL)来储存。 6park.com
TikTok has said it has never received such a request, and wouldn’t participate if asked, and that its platform allows free expression. It also has said it has spent about $1.5 billion to put a plan in place to separate U.S. users’ data, housing it with its American partner Oracle Corp. 6park.com
   
TikTok已经争取了该平台上一些网红的支持，试图以此抵御TikTok可能受到的政治抵制。在华盛顿听证会召开之前，TikTok用户在国会大厦附近与纽约州民主党众议员Jamaal Bowman举行了一场新闻发布会。 6park.com
TikTok has enlisted influencers who use its platform as part of its effort to counteract political blowback. Ahead of the hearing in Washington, TikTok users held a news conference near the Capitol building with Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D., N.Y.). 6park.com
   
据知情人士称，萨伊格(Tony Sayegh)也就周受资出席国会听证会一事为TikTok提供了咨询。萨伊格曾在特朗普(Donald Trump)任总统期间担任高级顾问，曾为福斯新闻(Fox News)撰稿人，他目前任职的公司投资了字节跳动。 6park.com
The app also received advice for the congressional visit from Tony Sayegh, a senior adviser during Donald Trump’s presidential administration and former Fox News contributor who now works with one of ByteDance’s investors, according to people familiar with his role. 6park.com
   
Plouffe是奥巴马2008年第一次竞选总统时的竞选经理，之后出任奥巴马的高级顾问。Plouffe后来成为优步负责政策和战略的高级副总裁，帮助这家网约车公司应对其他国家的监管挑战，并软化优步的形象。 6park.com
Mr. Plouffe was President Obama’s campaign manager for his first election in 2008 and later served as a senior adviser to the president. He went on to become a senior vice president of policy and strategy at Uber, helping the ride-sharing company navigate regulatory battles in other countries and soften its image. 6park.com
   
根据芝加哥道德委员会(Chicago Board of Ethics)的文件，2017年，该委员会对Plouffe罚款9万美元，原因是该委员会认定他违反了城市道德规定，在没有登记为游说者的情况下游说时任市长伊曼纽尔(Rahm Emanuel)。Plouffe当时没有就此事发表评论。 6park.com
In 2017, he was fined $90,000 by the Chicago Board of Ethics for what it said was a violation of city ethics rules involving lobbying then-Mayor Rahm Emanuel without registering as a lobbyist, according to Board of Ethics documents. Mr. Plouffe didn’t comment on the episode at the time. 6park.com
   
根据Plouffe在领英(Linkedin, LNKD)上的个人资料以及陈和扎克伯格基金会(Chan-Zuckerberg initiative)的资料，Plouffe曾在该基金会担任了大约三年的政策倡导者。该基金会是Meta Platforms Inc. (META)首席执行官扎克伯格(Mark Zuckerberg)和他妻子的慈善机构。 6park.com
Mr. Plouffe worked as a policy advocate at the Chan-Zuckerberg initiative—the philanthropic arm of Meta Platforms Inc. CEO Mark Zuckerberg and his wife, Priscilla Chan—for about three years, according to his LinkedIn profile and the organization. 6park.com
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经常发表政治评论的Messina还曾在奥巴马政府担任副幕僚长，并在奥巴马的2012年连任竞选活动中任职。他曾经领导美国优先行动(Priorities USA Action)，这是民主党最大的外部筹款组织。 6park.com
Mr. Messina, a frequent political commentator, also served in the Obama administration, as deputy chief of staff, and in Mr. Obama’s 2012 re-election campaign. He at one point led Priorities USA Action, the Democratic Party’s largest outside fundraising group.  6park.com
  
他还曾为时任英国首相卡梅伦(David Cameron)提供咨询，帮助他获得第二个任期，并曾在卡梅伦的反脱欧行动中担任高级战略顾问。不过此次旨在让英国留在欧盟的行动没有成功。 6park.com
He also advised David Cameron, then-U.K. prime minister, helping him secure a second term in office, and was a senior strategic adviser to Mr. Cameron during his unsuccessful anti-Brexit campaign to keep Britain in the European Union.  6park.com
   
在迪斯尼时，Mucha负责的工作范围包括地缘政治事务和粉丝关系等。 6park.com
At Disney, Ms. Mucha oversaw a portfolio that ranged from geopolitical matters to fan relations.  6park.com
   
她曾是长期执掌迪士尼的罗伯特‧艾格(Robert Iger)的可靠副手，她任职期间的一个主要优先任务是在中国扩张。迪士尼与中国官员合作，获得了建造上海迪士尼度假区的权利，这座耗资55亿美元的景区已于2016年开业。该项目实现了迪士尼多年来将中国中产阶级打造成主要收入来源的目标，最终使该公司成为好莱坞所有主流电影公司中市场地位最稳固的一个。 6park.com
Her tenure as a trusted lieutenant to longtime Disney CEO Robert Iger was partially defined by one major priority: expansion in the home country of TikTok’s parent. Disney worked with Chinese officials to secure the right to build Shanghai Disney Resort, a $5.5 billion attraction that opened in 2016. It capped a yearslong effort to establish China’s middle class as a major revenue source for Disney—one that ultimately made the company the most entrenched of any major Hollywood studio in the market.  6park.com
   
迪士尼高管因善于对中国领导人发动魅力攻势而闻名：当艾格得知中国领导人习近平的父亲曾在1980年参观过迪士尼乐园时，他让工作人员找到了习近平父亲的照片送给习近平。 6park.com
Disney executives were known for their charm offensives with Chinese leaders: When Mr. Iger learned that Chinese premier Xi Jinping’s father had visited Disneyland in 1980, he had staff track down a photo of the man to present to the leader.  6park.com
   
这种成功也意味着，在中国业务受到美国国会议员质疑时，迪士尼必须应对政治影响。迪士尼2020年上映的《花木兰》(Mulan)曾在中国新疆地区取景，这次拍摄引起了民主党和共和党议员的强烈抗议。美国官员称中国在新疆地区开设了强制劳动营。 6park.com
That success also meant Disney had to navigate political fallout when business in China has come under question from U.S. lawmakers. Disney’s 2020 release “Mulan” filmed some scenes in China’s Xinjiang territory, where U.S. officials have said China has operated forced-labor camps. The filming drew outcry from Democratic and Republican lawmakers.  6park.com
  
2021年底，艾格最初离职时，Mucha也离开了。她最近开办了一家私人咨询公司。 6park.com
Ms. Mucha left when Mr. Iger initially stepped down in late 2021. She recently launched a private consulting firm. 6park.com