The arrest of Australian Rio Tinto executive, Stern Hu, and three other executives by Chinese authorities has sent a chill through the international business community, says China expert Dr. John Lee, and signals that any special relationship between Australia and China is now over.
Dr. Lee, author of the book Will China Fail? says the July 5 arrest of one of the mining giant’s top executives is not coincidental. Mr. Hu's arrest has been widely linked to the failure of the state-owned China Aluminium Corporation (Chinalco) to acquire a US$19.5 billion (A$25 billion) stake in Rio Tinto.
“The timing has to have something to do with what has happened in the past. I think it would be extraordinary if it was just pure coincidence and I think the Chinese are signalling to Canberra, in a sense, that one should play by Beijing’s rules or if one doesn’t there are other consequences to that.
”Shanghai-based, Mr. Hu, was arrested along with three other Rio staff, for allegedly “stealing state secrets from China via illegal means, including bribing internal staff of Chinese steel companies," according to a statement on the Shanghai State Security Bureau website. Read more.