China yesterday took aim at Australia over its criticism of the handling of the corruption trial of four employees of mining giant Rio Tinto, ratcheting up tensions between the two key trading partners.
“We express serious concern over the Australian remarks,” Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Qin Gang (秦剛) told reporters. “The Australian side should respect that result and stop making such irresponsible remarks.”
On Monday, Australian executive Stern Hu (胡士泰) and three Chinese staff of the Anglo-Australian firm were jailed by a Shanghai court after being convicted of stealing trade secrets and pocketing about US$13 million in bribes.
Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said there were “serious unanswered questions” about the commercial secrets portion of the three-day trial, which was held behind closed doors last week.
“In holding this part of the trial in secret, China I believe has missed an opportunity to demonstrate to the world at large transparency that would be consistent with its emerging global role,” Rudd said.
The court sentenced Hu to 10 years in jail and his three colleagues to between seven and 14 years in a case that had also stoked foreign concerns about the rule of law in China.
Australian Foreign Minister Stephen Smith said the case could raise concerns for foreign companies doing business in China.
“There is no clarity from China here as to whether we are dealing with what the international business community ... would simply regard as the normal ebb and flow of commercial discussions or commercial information,” he said.
“It was, in our view, a lost opportunity and that's obviously had repercussions for Stern Hu and the other three employees, but it may well have repercussions in terms of the international community's dealing with China,” he said.
Australian business backed the government's call for greater clarity, with the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry describing the fact that consular officials were excluded from part of the trial as worrying.
“Australian business executives doing business in China need to recognize different political and legal contexts and put in place management infrastructure to deal with these issues,” the chamber's Nathan Backhouse said.
Australian National University academic Ann Kent said the stiff sentences handed to Rio Tinto staff would serve to remind foreign firms “to be very careful” in China.
“It sends a message to them that they also need to avoid appointing to executive positions in China people who are former Chinese nationals and are therefore very vulnerable to this kind of treatment,” she said.
Rudd said Australia's relations with Beijing would not be affected by the case, which caused a temporary chilling of ties last year.
“I believe the bilateral relationship will sustain these sorts of pressures,” Rudd said. “We’ve had disagreements with our friends in Beijing before, I'm sure we’ll have disagreements again.”
Analysts say Rudd faces a delicate balancing act in preserving the vital relationship while not looking too soft on China.
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