|
¡@
Canberra calls for fair deal for Rio
Tinto¡¦s employees
INDICTED: China charged four employees of the world¡¦s
second-largest iron ore producer in a case watched anxiously by many
international firms
REUTERS , SYDNEY
Friday, Feb 12, 2010, Page 1
Australia urged China to deal quickly and transparently with the trials of four
Rio Tinto mining staff accused of bribery and stealing commercial secrets, amid
growing investor concern over dealing with Beijing.
China on Wednesday indicted the four China-based employees of Rio Tinto, the
world¡¦s second-largest iron ore producer, including Australian Stern Hu (J¤h®õ),
its top negotiator at the time of his arrest last year.
¡§We continue to emphasize to the Chinese authorities the need for the case to be
handled transparently and expeditiously,¡¨ said a spokesman for Australian
Foreign Minister Stephen Smith.
The four are set to stand trial in Shanghai. If found guilty, they could face up
to seven years in jail on the commercial secrets charge and up to 20 years on
the bribery charge, said Zhang Peihong (±i°öÂE), a lawyer for one of the accused
Chinese nationals, Wang Yong (¤ý«i).
Anglo-Australian miner Rio voiced deep concern about the nature of charges
leveled against its staff.
¡§We are very concerned about the nature of these charges, however, as this part
of an ongoing legal process it is inappropriate to comment any further,¡¨ the
company said in a brief statement.
China is embroiled in a series of trade disputes with other countries, while
Internet search engine Google has said it is getting harder to operate in China
and has threatened to pull out of the country over censorship and hacking
concerns.
At the center of the Rio case is Beijing¡¦s demands for a lower yearly fixed
price for iron ore, an essential commodity to drive Chinese steel plants, and
Rio¡¦s refusal to lower the benchmark price it had reached with Japanese and
South Korean mills.
China expert Hui Feng at the University of Queensland in Australia said the Rio
case was a sign Beijing was determined to play tough with foreign firms.
¡§I think this is a clear signal to foreign business that the government is
serious about cracking down on what they see as illegal activities,¡¨ Hui said.
¡§In the past, the government largely turned a blind eye to such activities.¡¨
Hui agreed with Google founder Sergey Brin that it was getting harder to operate
in China in recent years.
¡§How to deal with the political risk is the real issue,¡¨ she said.
Rio¡¦s share price was up 2.62 percent ahead of its second-half results. The
company reported yesterday afternoon a 23 percent slide in half-year profit, its
worst second-half profit in three years, dented by a sharp drop in iron ore
prices, but the result beat analysts¡¦ forecasts.
Rio said it believed the commodity price recovery would continue this year,
showing its confidence in the outlook by declaring its first dividend in a year,
although this was lower than some analysts had expected.
July-to-December underlying earnings before one-offs fell to US$3.733 billion
from US$4.829 billion a year earlier, compared with analysts¡¦ forecasts of
US$3.08 billion on Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
¡@
|
