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.
FRIDAY, SATURDAY: While Typhoon Champi might weaken, officials warned about large waves, while some transport services and tourist spots have been affected Typhoon Champi is forecast to have the greatest effect on Taiwan tomorrow and on Saturday, with a sea warning issued late last night and a land warning expected afternoon today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. The storm’s projected track has shifted slightly westward and it could begin moving away from Taiwan toward Japan’s Kyushu island on Saturday, with the warnings potentially lifted as early as Saturday afternoon, CWA forecaster Chang Cheng-chuan (張承傳) said. As of yesterday afternoon, Champi was about 910km east-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost point, CWA data showed. Its maximum sustained winds had weakened slightly to
The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) yesterday urged China not to exploit typhoons to assert jurisdiction over the Taiwan Strait. The CGA issued the remarks after it found that China was shadowing eight Japan Coast Guard ships that sheltered in Taiwan proper’s western waters due to Typhoon Champi. Eight Japan Coast Guard (JCG) vessels sailed southward along the Taiwan Strait median line from 6am on Thursday, reaching waters southwest of Penghu County’s Cimei Island (七美島), outside Taiwan’s contiguous zone, which extends 24 nautical miles (44.4km) from the territorial sea baseline, it said. As the Japanese ships prepared for the typhoon, they were followed by
STAY CAUTIOUS: Rain is expected to begin easing this afternoon, but a CWA forecaster said that if the storm stalls or loops on its approach, heavy winds are likely Typhoon Champi, which caused widespread damage and injuries, and prompted road closures and evacuations across Taiwan yesterday, is expected to continue to bring heavy rain this morning, with up to 900mm of rain forecast for mountainous areas of New Taipei City, Taoyuan and Yilan County, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. At one point a super typhoon and one of the strongest storms in the Pacific this year, Champi was packing gusts of about 191kph near its center as of 8:30pm, the CWA said. Taipei, New Taipei City, Keelung, Taoyuan, Hsinchu city and county, Taichung; and Yilan, Miaoli, Changhua, Nantou, Yunlin
TOTAL COVERAGE: Champi’s outer band is expected to blanket the entire nation, with the center coming closest tonight or tomorrow before leaving tomorrow evening School and work across most of the nation has been canceled today, as Typhoon Champi is expected to skirt the northeast edge of Taiwan proper. As of 9pm, all municipalities except for Kinmen County had announced cancelations. Taitung County last night announced closures on Green Island (綠島) and Orchid Island (Lanyu, 蘭嶼), but did not announce for the rest of the county until 6am today. Stock market settlements scheduled for today would be postponed to the next business day, the Taiwan Stock Exchange said. The announcements came after the Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday expanded its land warning for Champi to 19 regions
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