The trial of four Rio Tinto executives ended in Shanghai yesterday, with three defendants contesting charges of stealing commercial secrets in a case that has highlighted the Chinese steel industry’s huge appetite for iron ore.
The trial of Australian citizen Stern Hu (胡士泰) and his Chinese colleagues, in which all four admitted to taking bribes, has strained ties between Australia and its largest trading partner. The four face jail terms of at least five years for bribery.
It has also raised worries about China’s secretive legal system, although the admissions by the executives could also cast doubts over the way mining giant Rio Tinto, the world’s No. 2 iron ore producer, conducts business in China.
“It’s not just Australia that’s watching this trial very closely, but the eyes of the world are focused on the way in which this trial is conducted and what happens as a result of it,” Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd told reporters in Perth.
Hu, head of the China iron ore business, his subordinates Liu Caikui (劉才魁) and Ge Minqiang (葛民強) and iron ore salesman Wang Yong (王勇), pleaded guilty on Monday to taking kickbacks, but they have contested the amounts alleged by prosecutors.
Rio, seeking to improve relations with China, had maintained since the men were detained last July during sensitive annual iron ore price negotiations that they had done nothing wrong. Iron ore is the main raw material for making steel.
“We would always investigate thoroughly any allegations of serious wrongdoing,” Tony Shaffer, Rio’s principal adviser for media relations, wrote in a statement e-mailed to reporters. “We cannot comment on the case of our employees in China at the moment as the legal process is still under way.”
No verdict or sentence had been reached, Zhai Jian (翟建), lawyer for defendant Ge, said on his way out of the court. He did not comment further.
A verdict may be likely before the World Expo 2010 opens on May 1, drawing tourists and international heads of state to Shanghai.
“There may well be some time, a matter of days between the end of the hearing today, and those further processes,” Australian Foreign Minister Stephen Smith told Australian radio.
Lawyers say the four executives have testified that Rio Tinto did not know about the kickbacks, which came mostly from smaller or private steel mills desperate for iron ore at stable and relatively low term prices.
They included Rizhao Steel, formerly one of China’s largest private steel mills, whose billionaire founder Du Shuanghua (杜雙華) gave written testimony about a US$9 million payment to defendant Wang, trial reports showed.
Three of the four Rio employees on trial for stealing state secrets have contested the charge, Zhang Peihong (張培鴻), a lawyer for defendant Wang, said yesterday.
He said the “fourth defendant” did not contest the charge, but did not give a name. In the trial schedule, the fourth defendant is listed as Liu, who faces the lowest of the bribery charges, but it was not clear that Zhang was referring to him.
For its part, Rio Tinto has conducted an independent internal audit to clear itself of any wrongdoing and determine whether there was evidence the company paid bribes to, or received illegal payments from, Chinese steel mills, the Australian newspaper reported yesterday.
A team of forensic accountants and lawyers found nothing that would uphold a claim the company had supported any illegal activity or could have been aware of the alleged misbehavior, the paper said, adding the audit team could not give Rio similar assurances about the activities of the four executives.
SEEKING CHANGE: A hospital worker said she did not vote in previous elections, but ‘now I can see that maybe my vote can change the system and the country’ Voting closed yesterday across the Solomon Islands in the south Pacific nation’s first general election since the government switched diplomatic allegiance from Taiwan to Beijing and struck a secret security pact that has raised fears of the Chinese navy gaining a foothold in the region. The Solomon Islands’ closer relationship with China and a troubled domestic economy weighed on voters’ minds as they cast their ballots. As many as 420,000 registered voters had their say across 50 national seats. For the first time, the national vote also coincided with elections for eight of the 10 local governments. Esther Maeluma cast her vote in the
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
HYPOCRISY? The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday asked whether Biden was talking about China or the US when he used the word ‘xenophobic’ US President Joe Biden on Wednesday called for a hike in steel tariffs on China, accusing Beijing of cheating as he spoke at a campaign event in Pennsylvania. Biden accused China of xenophobia, too, in a speech to union members in Pittsburgh. “They’re not competing, they’re cheating. They’re cheating and we’ve seen the damage here in America,” Biden said. Chinese steel companies “don’t need to worry about making a profit because the Chinese government is subsidizing them so heavily,” he said. Biden said he had called for the US Trade Representative to triple the tariff rates for Chinese steel and aluminum if Beijing was