Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said he raised the issue of detained mining executive Stern Hu (胡士泰) during talks with Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao (溫家寶) because the case was a “matter of concern” to Australia.
Rudd met the Chinese leader on the sidelines of the East Asia Summit in Thailand on Saturday and the pair discussed climate change and trade along with the continued detention of the Rio Tinto iron ore negotiator in Shanghai.
ALLEGATIONS
Australian passport holder Hu was arrested in July, along with three other Rio Tinto colleagues, and faces allegations of corporate espionage and bribery.
“In the discussion I had with Premier Wen, I indicated we had continuing consulate matters which need to be resolved between our foreign ministers, and this included representatives of the Australian company Rio Tinto,” Rudd said.
“My purpose in raising these matters today was simply to highlight the fact that this is a continuing matter of concern to Australia,” he told reporters in Thailand on Saturday.
SOBERING SIGNAL
The detention of Hu, Rio Tinto’s lead negotiator on iron ore prices in Shanghai, has raised diplomatic concerns between Australia and key market China and sent a sobering message to the business community.
Hu originally faced more serious allegations of stealing state secrets, but Beijing softened its case, which Australia has attributed to the “internal pressure” of its diplomatic efforts.
On Friday, Australian officials confirmed that the investigation against Hu had been extended but said the full details of the charges against him would probably not be known until he faced trial.
Four contenders are squaring up to succeed Antonio Guterres as secretary-general of the UN, which faces unprecedented global instability, wars and its own crushing budget crisis. Chile’s Michelle Bachelet, Argentina’s Rafael Grossi, Costa Rica’s Rebeca Grynspan and Senegal’s Macky Sall are each to face grillings by 193 member states and non-governmental organizations for three hours today and tomorrow. It is only the second time the UN has held a public question-and-answer, a format created in 2016 to boost transparency. Ultimately the five permanent members of the UN’s top body, the Security Council, hold the power, wielding vetoes over who leads the
A humanoid robot that won a half-marathon race for robots in Beijing on Sunday ran faster than the human world record in a show of China’s technological leaps. The winner from Honor, a Chinese smartphone maker, completed the 21km race in 50 minutes and 26 seconds, said a WeChat post by the Beijing Economic-Technological Development Area, also known as Beijing E-Town, where the race began. That was faster than the human world record holder, Ugandan Jacob Kiplimo, who finished the same distance in about 57 minutes in March at the Lisbon road race. The performance by the robot marked a significant step forward
An earthquake registering a preliminary magnitude of 7.7 off northern Japan on Monday prompted a short-lived tsunami alert and the advisory of a higher risk of a possible mega-quake for coastal areas there. The Cabinet Office and the Japan Meteorological Agency said there was a 1% chance for a mega-quake, compared to a 0.1% chance during normal times, in the next week or so following the powerful quake near the Chishima and Japan trenches. Officials said the advisory was not a quake prediction but urged residents in 182 towns along the northeastern coasts to raise their preparedness while continuing their daily lives. Prime
HAZARDOUS CONDITION: The typhoon’s sheer size, with winds extending 443km from its center, slowed down the ability of responders to help communities, an official said The US Coast Guard was searching for six people after losing contact with their disabled boat off the coast of Guam following Typhoon Sinlaku. The crew of the 44m dry cargo vessel, the US-registered Mariana, on Wednesday notified the coast guard that the boat had lost its starboard engine and needed assistance, Petty Officer 3rd Class Avery Tibbets said yesterday. The coast guard set up a one-hour communication schedule with the vessel, but lost contact on Thursday. A Coast Guard HC-130 Hercules aircraft was launched to search for the six people on board, but it had to return to Guam because of
RSS