Asia-Pacific

Don't politicize Rio Tinto trial, China urges

By Ai Yang (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-03-19 07:17

Judicial proceedings against four company staff start next Monday

BEIJING - The trial of Rio Tinto executives next week, involving Australian passport holder Stern Hu and three other Chinese employees, should not be deliberately politicized, China's foreign ministry said on Thursday.

"It is just an individual business case. It should not be politicized or bring a negative impact on Australia-China relations," Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang told reporters in Beijing.

Qin also stressed that there shouldn't be "all kinds of voices" coming out before the trial to "disturb the judicial system".

Forty-seven-year old Stern Hu and the three other Chinese employees of mining giant Rio Tinto - Liu Caikui, Ge Minqiang and Wang Yong - are charged with stealing commercial secrets and taking bribes.

They will be tried in the No.1 Intermediate People's Court in Shanghai on Monday morning. The trial is scheduled to last three days.

Australia has sought more transparency regarding the case, but court proceedings related to commercial secrets are a closed affair, according to Chinese law.

Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and consular officials in China have expressed concern about the case. Rudd said, "the world will be watching" the case.

Meanwhile, Rio Tinto's chief executive Tom Albanese will likely miss the trial's opening as he is scheduled to participate at the China Development Forum in Beijing the same day, which will also be attended by senior Chinese officials.

Hu and the others were arrested nine months ago at a time when the Anglo-Australian mining giant was acting as the lead negotiator for global iron ore suppliers in price talks with Chinese steel mills. Hu was Rio's senior executive in China in charge of iron ore.

Four lawyers from three different Shanghai-based law firms will be defending the Rio employees in court next week.

Hu's lawyer, Duan Qihua is the managing partner and co-founder of Duan and Duan Law Firm, with overseas branches in the United States and is known to represent top foreign companies in China.

Ge Minqiang's lawyer Zhai Jian refused to tell reporters whether the defendant would plead guilty or not, according to media reports.

Stern Hu and his colleagues face seven years for stealing commercial secrets and 20 years for accepting bribes, but the cap for fixed-term imprisonment is 20 years in China. Rio Tinto's China branch will likely be punished too, reports said.

"If the investigation finds that the company paid for travel and bribery expenses for their actions, it could indicate that the company may be involved in the crime as well," said Zhang Malin, a lawyer from the law department of the Southeast University in Nanjing.