Hu accused of bribery during negotiation

Canberra is questioning Beijing's definition of a state secret after Rio Tinto
executive Stern Hu was accused of bribing staff from Chinese steel companies during
iron ore talks.
Australian officials saw Mr Hu for the first time on Friday morning after being
denied access to the Chinese-born Australian since he was taken by Chinese
authorities on Sunday.
Canberra has been kept in the dark since the Shanghai-based general manager of Rio
Tinto's Chinese iron ore business and three of his colleagues were detained, accused
of spying and stealing state secrets.
Foreign Minister Stephen Smith will brief Mr Hu's family and his employer about the
visit before making any public comment.
The surprise espionage allegations are shaping as a major test of the maturity of
relations between Australia and China.
Already a key economic and political partner, the relationship has received more
attention since Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, a Mandarin-speaker and renowned
Sinophile, came to office.
But that has appeared to count for little since Mr Hu was detained.
The Rudd government has been left to glean information about the allegations from
official Chinese government websites and Chinese foreign ministry press conferences.
"I would have, of course, much preferred that this information would have been given
to us much earlier, through official diplomatic channels," Mr Smith said.
Mr Rudd, in Europe for the Group of Eight (G8) meeting, has stayed at arms-length
from the issue, rejecting opposition calls for him to call Chinese leaders directly
to lobby for Mr Hu.
"This is not the time for sensationalist, domestic political point scoring," he told
ABC radio.
But Opposition Leader Malcolm Turnbull said the issue wasn't just another consular
matter, as Mr Rudd had suggested.
"There is a lot of politics in this," he said.
"(They are) making essentially political allegations against our fellow Australian,
and ... Mr Rudd, who boasts so often about his special relationship with China and
his special understanding of that nation, should put those skills to work in the
defence of an Australian citizen."
According to a Chinese government website, Mr Hu is accused of having "caused huge
loss to China's national economic security and interests".
An unofficial translation provided by Mr Smith's office quoted the website as
saying: "As understood from the Shanghai State Security Bureau, during China's iron
ore negotiation with foreign miners in 2009, Stern Hu, chief representative of
Australia's Rio Tinto Shanghai Office, and three other staff, including Liu Caikui,
gathered and stole state secrets from China via illegal means, including bribing
internal staff of Chinese steel companies".
Mr Smith made it clear that Canberra took issue with the basis for the allegations.
"The Chinese state and the Chinese authorities take a much broader view about what
state secrets or national security might be than what Australia or other nations
might," he said.
"Frankly, it is difficult for a nation like Australia to see a relationship between
espionage or national security and what appeared to be suggestions about commercial
or economic negotiations."
In China, state secrets can include "secrets in national economic and social
development", as well as "other matters that are classified as state secrets by the
state secret-guarding department".
Apart from the diplomatic tangle, there are fears the issue may disturb the vital
iron ore trade between Australia and its second biggest customer, China.
In a statement on Friday, Rio Tinto said it was "surprised and concerned" about the
claims about its staff.
"As the company has said in earlier statements, we are not aware of any evidence
that would support these allegations," the company said.
"Rio Tinto is committed to high standards of business integrity and takes its
ethical responsibilities very seriously."
The spying case during a particularly sensitive period of iron ore negotiations,
with China holding out for more substantial price cuts than foreign miners have
negotiated with other international customers.
Beijing has been unimpressed too by Rio Tinto's recent decision to pull the pin on a
$A25 billion deal with China's state-owned Chinalco.
Nationals Senate leader Barnaby Joyce has caused a stir by suggesting the issues
could be linked.
Chinalco stressed that wasn't the case.
"Chinalco has been in contact with Rio Tinto expressing our mutual concern for the
current situation with their staff," the Chinese state-owned company said in a
statement.
"We have also re-asserted that the situation is in no way related to any commercial
dealings between Rio and Chinalco."