中国最近阻止 Meta 以 20 亿美元（约合 13.4 亿美元）收购总部在新加坡的 AI 新创 Manus，这笔交易在 12 月已与 Meta（扎克伯格的公司）达成并接近完成，但北京要求撤销，甚至 Manus 工程师已在 Meta 的新加坡办公室工作、投资人也已领款。文章指出，这一举动让许多原本想走向全球的中国 AI 创业者「国际化」道路突然中断。作者仍认为，对许多人而言，新加坡仍是务实的选择，因为在中国，官方口头承诺与正式规则之间存在巨大不确定性。

中国担心的是在美国竞争压力下，防止技术、数据与人才通道流向西方对手，尤其是 AI 效率与机器人等关键领域。北京的逻辑可用“杀鸡儆猴”形容：不仅阻止单一交易，也向市场放置信号。与此同时，市场也在分化，许多中国企业被迫二选一，专注国内或海外。即便是高增长科技公司，也出现三年来最弱的季度盈利增长；官方还连续警告「内卷」。在 AI 领域，国内模型环境与海外平台（如 Claude、Gemini）之间壁垒加深，Anthropic 对中国企业透过代理服务存取 Claude 的限制更推高了分歧。

作者预期更多中国创业者仍会南下到新加坡，原因是其兼具可预见的商业规范与相对低摩擦的监管环境，居民中约有四分之三具有华人背景，人口仅六百万却集中两所全球顶尖理工大学。新加坡更靠近国际资本市场，便于以美元募资、设置家族办公室，也为寻求转移资产的中国企业家提供通道，以避开中国严格外汇管制。总体来看，本文将 Manus 事件视为一个可预期的警讯：对战略性 AI 领域的突发式并购或将持续受限，但跨境扩张仍未终止。

China recently blocked Meta’s $2 billion acquisition of Singapore-based AI startup Manus. The deal with Mark Zuckerberg’s company had been essentially finalized after agreement in December and Manus staff were already working in Meta’s Singapore office, while investors had already been paid, yet Beijing ordered an unwind. The move abruptly closed what seemed a promising international path for Chinese AI founders and underscored that in China, verbal assurances from officials are often less reliable than written constraints. The author argues that from a founder perspective, Singapore remains a practical venue despite the shock. (Key numbers: 20, 13.4, 12)

Beijing’s motive is portrayed as protecting strategic advantage while the US accuses China of narrowing the AI gap through U.S. models and chips. Chinese policy concerns focus on data security and preserving lead areas such as AI efficiency and robotics, with the familiar “kill the chicken to scare the monkey” logic behind a red-line response. As regulation and geopolitics harden, many firms are effectively forced to choose either domestic or overseas expansion, rather than serving both. The split is reinforced by product-stack realities: Chinese AI tools are built mainly on domestic models, while global expansion requires deeper integration with platforms like Claude and Gemini; Anthropic’s crackdown on proxy access to Claude further widens the gulf. Even for high-growth peers, quarterly profit growth is at its weakest in three years, and authorities have repeatedly warned against involution, signaling structural pressure at home.

Singapore is still likely to attract more Chinese startups. Its appeal is structural: around three-quarters of residents are of Chinese origin, the population is about six million, and it hosts two leading science-and-engineering universities, creating a deep talent pipeline. It also offers a middle path with lower linguistic and regulatory friction and stronger alignment with international business norms. Its financial proximity to global capital markets and family-office activity is attractive for founders seeking U.S. dollar funding or overseas asset flexibility amid China’s strict foreign-exchange controls. The Manus collapse, while dramatic, is framed as a cautionary but somewhat predictable boundary-setting case; international investment in China is not necessarily closed, but abrupt takeovers in strategic sectors like AI are now clearly riskier.