China charges Rio Tinto Australia executive of commercial briberyAugust 12th, 2009 BEIJING - Chinese prosecutors have charged Australian executive Stern Hu with commercial bribery, which means he could be facing up to seven years jail if found guilty by Beijing. China's official news agency Xinhua said Hu and three Rio Tinto Chinese colleagues were charged late on Tuesday, six days after being detained in Shanghai.
Rio Tinto 'still unaware' of any evidence to justify China's detention of 4 workersAugust 11th, 2009 Rio Tinto 'still unaware' of China case evidenceSYDNEY — Rio Tinto Ltd. said Tuesday it was still unaware of any evidence to justify China's detention of four employees on spying allegations, as the Australian government urged Beijing to speed up the case.
Rio Tinto shares plunge more than 3 percent after China claims a 6-year spying campaignAugust 10th, 2009 Rio Tinto prices plunge on China spy claimsSYDNEY —Rio Tinto Ltd.'s share price plunged more than 3 percent Monday after China accused the Anglo-Australian miner of conducting a six-year spying campaign that it claimed cost Chinese steelmakers billions of dollars in inflated prices for iron ore. Rio Tinto declined to respond to the latest allegations but said in July that bribery allegations against four Rio Tinto employees detained in China were baseless.
Mining giant Rio Tinto guilty of commercial espionage worth 100 B dollars: ChinaAugust 10th, 2009 SHANGHAI - Relations between China and Australia are likely to take a turn for the worse with authorities in Beijing accusing the British-Australian mining giant Rio Tinto of engaging in commercial espionage that cost China about 100 billion dollars. The sensational allegation was published on Sunday on a website affiliated with China's State Secrets Bureau, which has detained four Rio Tinto employees - three Chinese citizens and one Australian - in Shanghai last month on suspicions of stealing confidential documents from the country's huge, government-controlled steel industry.
Woman advised to have extramarital affair to mend bad marriage!July 29th, 2009 NEW DELHI - A woman was suggested by a marriage counsellor to have an extramarital affair to mend her relationship with her estranged husband. The depressed woman said she heeded to the advice of the "expert" in Harbin, Heilongjiang province, reports The China Daily.
Rio Tinto says Chinese bribery claims falseJuly 17th, 2009 MELBOURNE - Australian mining giant Rio Tinto has said that the allegations that some of its employees in China have been engaged in bribery are "wholly without foundation". Chinese authorities claim four employees of the world's third-biggest miner bribed Chinese steel mills officials during annual iron ore contract price negotiations.
Now, Oz mining giant Rio Tinto accused of bribing executives of 16 Chinese steel millsJuly 15th, 2009 BEIJING - The staff of Australian miner Rio Tinto bribed executives from all 16 Chinese steel mills participating in this year's iron ore price talks, an industry insider has disclosed. "Rio Tinto got to know the key executives of the 16 steel mills, who have sensitive industry information, when the China Iron and Steel Association (CISA) brought them to the bargaining table," China Daily quoted a senior manager at a large steel company, as saying.
Chinese President Hu orchestrated Rio Tinto spy arrest: ReportJuly 13th, 2009 MELBOURNE - Chinese President Hu Jintao personally directed the Ministry of State Security to undertake the Rio Tinto investigation, which led to the arrest of the iron ore company's Australian-origin General Manager, Stern Hu, and three others, news.co.au has claimed. According to the report, the investigation appears to be part of a big shift of how China manages its economy, with spy and security agencies promoted to top strategy-making bodies.
Australia says spy arrest could affect China's businessJuly 12th, 2009 MELBOURNE - Australia's Financial Services Minister Chris Bowen has warned that the country's business people may not want to work in China in the wake of Australian origin Rio Tinto executive Stern Hu being arrested in the country on espionage charges. "The Chinese Government will be very aware that it is not good for business certainty if there's a regular pattern of foreign business people being incarcerated," news.co.au quoted Brown, as saying.
China arrests Rio Tinto's Shanghai GM on bribery chargesJuly 10th, 2009 MELBOURNE - The Chinese Government has arrested the Shanghai-based general manager of multinational mining and resources, Rio Tinto, on charges of bribing staff of Chinese steel companies during iron ore negotiations this year. Australian Foreign Minister Stephen Smith disclosed that Stern Hu is being detained on suspicion of spying and stealing state secrets in China.
Australian diplomats meet executive held in China for spyingJuly 10th, 2009 SYDNEY - Australian diplomats Friday met the Rio Tinto executive held by Chinese authorities since Sunday over spying allegations. Foreign Affairs Minister Stephen Smith would not comment on reports in the Chinese media that Australian citizen Stern Hu stood accused of trying to bribe employees of Chinese steel companies to gather confidential information during iron ore price negotiations.
Four mining firm employees detained in China for spyingJuly 9th, 2009 SHANGHAI - Four employees of the international mining group Rio Tinto Ltd. have been detained on charges of stealing China's state secrets, authorities said Thursday.
Rio Tinto says 4 employees detained in China; Australia seeks access to Australian citizenJuly 8th, 2009 4 Rio Tinto workers detained in ChinaBEIJING — Four employees of Anglo-Australian miner Rio Tinto Ltd., including an Australian man, have been detained in Shanghai for undisclosed reasons, the company and government officials said Wednesday. Rio Tinto has been unable to contact the employees, said Ian Head, a company spokesman in Sydney.
Miner Rio Tinto sells Alcan food packaging division for $1.2 billion to reduce debtJuly 6th, 2009 Rio Tinto offloads Alcan division for $1.2 billionSYDNEY — Rio Tinto has sold a division of its Alcan unit for $1.2 billion as it continues to reduce debt, the Anglo-Australian miner said in a statement Monday. The deal to sell its Alcan Packaging Food Americas division to U.S.-based Bemis Company Inc.
Miner Rio Tinto ends $19.5 billion deal with Chinese firm ChinalcoJune 5th, 2009 Rio Tinto scraps deal with Chinese firm ChinalcoSYDNEY — Anglo-Australian miner Rio Tinto PLC on Friday ended its $19.5 billion deal with Chinese company Chinalco, instead saying it plans to raise $15.2 billion in a share sale. Rio Tinto Chairman Jan du Plessis said in a letter to shareholders the planned deal with Chinalco was now dead and his company would pay it a $195 million break fee.