China yesterday warned against politicizing the trial of four Rio Tinto employees, including an Australian, in a case that has badly strained relations between the two countries.
“It will not and should not be politicized,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang (秦剛) told reporters.
His comments came after Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd earlier yesterday warned China the “world will be watching” next week’s trial of Stern Hu and three Chinese colleagues on bribery and industrial espionage charges.
Australia said its diplomats should have full access to the trial.
The detention of the four, along with Google’s dispute over Internet censorship and hacking complaints, has stoked investors’ worries about doing business in China.
The case initially caused tensions between Australia and China, but ties have since recovered, yet could again be soured depending on the outcome of the trial.
China arrested four Rio staff members, including Hu, an Australian citizen, in July and will start their trial in Shanghai on Monday on charges of bribery and stealing business secrets.
The trial will be open to hear bribery charges and closed to deal with infringement of commercial secrets charges, but Foreign Minister Stephen Smith said Australian diplomats should have access to these under a consular pact with Beijing.
“I was disappointed that there was an indication from Chinese officials and the court that Australian officials would not be present, or be able to be present, for the commercial information charge,” Smith told reporters.
Despite the trial, and the collapse of a US$19.5 billion deal with state-owned aluminum firm Chinalco, Rio is now working with Chinalco on potential joint ventures in Mongolia and chief executive Tom Albanese is to visit Beijing at the weekend.
China is Australia’s biggest trade partner, with trade worth US$53 billion last year. Australia exported US$15 billion worth of iron ore to China in 2008, or 41 percent of China’s iron ore imports.
Under the commercial secrets charge, courts can jail people for up to three years, or up to seven years in serious cases. The bribery charge could draw jail terms of up to 20 years. Rio has said the four did nothing wrong. If convicted, they can appeal.
Michael Danby, an influential lawmaker and chair of the Australian parliament’s foreign affairs sub-committee, said the detention of foreign businesspeople would ultimately damage China’s political and economic relations with other nations.
“I do know that this prosecution is essentially political in nature and that if the Chinese Communist authorities decided that it was in their interests to drop the charges against him, they could and would do so,” Danby said in a statement.
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