Stern Hu faces 'lesser charges' in China

Beijing appears to have dropped claims of spying against Stern Hu but the Australian
could still face up to seven years in jail after he was officially arrested for
commercial violations.
The Rio Tinto executive and three Chinese colleagues - Liu Caikui, Ge Minqiang and
Wang Yong - were officially arrested more than a month after they were apprehended
by authorities in Shanghai on July 5.
The allegations, that relate to annual iron ore negotiations, have created friction
between Australia and China though both countries have denied it would have
long-term ramifications.
Late Tuesday, the Chinese Ministry of Public Security told Australia's
consulate-general in Shanghai that Mr Hu had been formally arrested on suspicion of
commercial bribery and violating commercial secrets.
The claims against the Rio Tinto workers are much less onerous that original
allegations of spying and stealing state secrets levelled against the group, which
are punishable by death in China.
A statement by China's Supreme People's Procuratorate, translated and published by
Reuters, indicated the stealing or using bribery to get state secrets, which caused
losses to the their owner, could attract jail terms of up to seven years, as well as
fine, depending on the severity.
Foreign Minister Stephen Smith wouldn't speculate on possible penalties but
confirmed they were much less severe than for state secrets offences.
"Mr Hu is suspected of offences involving using improper means to obtain commercial
secrets about China's steel enterprises ... and of commercial bribery which involves
the offence of taking bribes from individuals not employed by state organisations,"
he said in a statement.
"The use of criminal law articles as the basis of formal arrest, and the involvement
of the Ministry of Public Security rather than the Ministry of State Security,
indicate that the case has moved from the state secrets area."
Under Chinese law, an official arrest is understood to be a significant advance in
the legal process but doesn't equate to the laying of charges in Australia.
From the time of detention, authorities in China have 37 days to make a formal arrest.
China gave no indication why the accusations against Mr Hu were modified.
Beijing has insisted the matter would not hurt its ties with Australia or its
trading relationship with other countries.
"We do not think this case should or will have an impact on the healthy and steady
growth of our bilateral relations with Australia," Vice Commerce Minister Fu Ziying
told reporters on Wednesday.
"It will not impair China's efforts in terms of attracting (foreign investment)."
Opposition foreign affairs spokeswoman Julie Bishop told Sky News it was hard to say
why the accusations had been downgraded given the lack of transparency from Beijing.
"There clearly has been a change of heart," she said.
Rio Tinto suggested the downgrading of the charges supported its belief they had
done nothing wrong.
The company's iron ore chief executive, Sam Walsh, told reporters its staff had
followed Rio Tinto's code of conduct.
"The charges have been downgraded and I think that reflects what I've been saying
all along that we don't in fact believe that there's any evidence of wrongdoing," he
told reporters in Canberra.
"We work very closely with our people and obviously our management team interface
with Stern and our employees but everything from what we understand this is a normal
commercial market situation.
"I don't believe that our employees have in fact done what has been referred by the
charges."