Australian concerned for Rio employee China holds
BEIJING — Australia’s trade minister met Saturday with Chinese officials and said his government is “deeply concerned” about the detention of a Rio Tinto Ltd. employee on spying charges.
Simon Crean was on a trade mission to Shanghai, where four Rio employees including an Australian citizen, Stern Hu, were detained July 5. Crean said he met with city officials.
“The Australian government is deeply concerned about the position surrounding Mr. Hu,” Crean told Australian Broadcasting Corp. radio. “We’re concerned about his welfare, the access of the family to Mr. Hu, the ability for him to obtain speedy expedition of his case and, of course, legal representation, and we have been assured that that message will be conveyed to Beijing.”
The Rio employees were detained as the world’s third-largest mining company negotiated on behalf of global iron ore producers in price talks with Chinese steel mills. Hu manages Rio’s Chinese iron ore business. The other detainees are Chinese.
The Rio employees are accused of bribing Chinese steel company personnel to obtain summaries of the Chinese negotiators’ meetings and gain an edge in price talks, according to Chinese news reports. The maximum penalty for an espionage conviction is life in prison.
Australian diplomats visited Hu on Friday, and Foreign Minister Stephen Smith said Saturday that he appeared to be well and raised no health or welfare concerns. Smith said Australia was still asking for details of the case.
China, the world’s biggest steel producer, has criticized iron ore suppliers for repeated price hikes and is pressing for reductions. The other major suppliers are Australia’s BHP Billiton Ltd. and Brazil’s Vale SA.
Information on Chinese steel company ore costs, profit margins and technology spending all are considered official secrets, according to news reports.
The accusations reflect the communist government’s sensitivity about fields such as steel and energy that it deems strategic and its intense secrecy about a wide array of economic and industrial information.
“If you’re foreign, information is power in China, and they tend to think most of their information is national security information,” said Robert Broadfoot, managing director of Political and Economic Risk Consultancy in Hong Kong, who has advised companies on China since the 1970s.
Rio expressed surprise at the spying allegations and said Friday it is “committed to high standards and business integrity.” It said Chinese authorities have not given the company any details about the case.
Employees of the China Iron & Steel Association, the iron ore price negotiator for Chinese steel mills, are also under investigation, the newspaper 21st Century Business Herald reported. It says an executive who oversaw iron ore purchases for one of China’s biggest steel producers, Shougang Group, was detained this week.
Other Chinese steel companies also are being investigated, the newspaper Oriental Morning Post said.
Associated Press Writer Kristen Gelineau in Sydney contributed to this report.
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On the Net:
Rio Tinto Ltd.: www.riotinto.com
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