When Genghis Khan rampaged across the Asian steppes, the courts of Old Europe barely noticed. This, or something like it, has been the reaction of the US-based powers that dominate the internet to the rise of ecommerce giant Alibaba in the east. Why worry about events in a distant land closed to outsiders, when there are so many other parts of the world to explore and conquer?

当成吉思汗(Genghis Khan)肆虐亚洲草原时，老欧洲的宫廷几乎未有察觉。面对着电商巨头阿里巴巴(Alibaba)在东方的崛起，主宰互联网的美国豪强也是差不多的反应。当世界还有其他许多地方有待探索和征服时，为何要操心一片封闭、遥远的土地在发生什么？

With Alibaba preparing for a US stock market listing, this is a mistake. At the margin, Alibaba has already become a competitor for talent and corporate alliances in the heart of Silicon Valley, as shown by recent investments in mobile messaging service Tango and ride-sharing company Lyft.

在阿里巴巴准备赴美上市之际，这种态度是一个错误。往小处说，阿里巴巴已经在争夺硅谷核心的人才和企业联盟，近期投资移动消息服务Tango和拼车公司Lyft就是例证。

Super-charged with a superior growth stock valuation, it will be in a strong position to beat Silicon Valley at its own games. At the height of his company’s dispute with big shareholder Yahoo three years ago, Alibaba founder Jack Ma toyed with the idea of simply buying the US company. In future, a deal of that size (about $20bn at the time) would barely warrant a second thought.

阿里巴巴拥有超高的成长类股票估值，很有希望在硅谷拿手的游戏中打败硅谷。3年前，阿里巴巴与重要股东雅虎(Yahoo)的纠纷达到顶点，当时公司创始人马云(Jack Ma)曾想过干脆把雅虎买下来。将来，阿里巴巴在进行此类规模的收购（当时在200亿美元左右）时根本不用迟疑。

For now, Mr Ma’s attention is mainly focused on things closer home. China’s internet, already the largest in terms of user numbers, is well on its way to supporting an ecommerce market rivalling even that of the US. This will one day provide a powerful launch pad for deeper incursions into other territories. Mr Ma makes much of his plan to build a company that lasts 102 years – a period that would span three centuries, from Alibaba’s founding in 1999. That may sound rash in the fast-changing internet business, but it is a clear declaration of imperial ambition.

目前，马云的注意力主要放在国内。中国的互联网已经拥有全球最高的用户数量，它正努力为一个堪与美国匹敌的电商市场提供支持。有朝一日，这将为中国企业进军其他地区提供强大跳板。马云的计划在很大程度上是要打造一家能够延续102年的公司——如果从阿里巴巴成立的1999年算起，那将横跨三个世纪。在日新月异的互联网领域，马云的想法可能听上去草率，但这无疑是阿里巴巴帝国野心的宣言。

It is hard to see investors in US internet companies backing a full-scale invasion of the Chinese market. Homegrown companies such as Yahoo and eBay floundered badly there before, while Google struggled before pulling out. But at the very least, companies such as these should be campaigning hard in Washington against a system that allows Chinese competitors unfettered access to the US internet without full reciprocity for US companies. If not, they may one day wake up to find the hordes are beating at the walls of the internet’s capital city.

美国互联网公司的投资者不太可能支持大举进入中国市场。雅虎和eBay等本土公司曾在中国遭遇惨败，而谷歌(Google)在苦苦挣扎之后终于退出。但最起码，这些公司应该游说美国政府改变现在的体系，不能让中国竞争对手畅通无阻地进军美国互联网，而美国公司不能畅通无阻地打入中国互联网市场。如果做不到这一点，它们有朝一日可能发现入侵的大军兵临互联网都城的城下。