No double standards in Rio detentions
- Source: Global Times
- [07:24 July 13 2009]
- Comments
By Guo Qiang
China’s investigation into Rio Tinto employees over spying accusations is in a matter of national interest and should not be meddled in by the West, which has held double standards when dealing with economic spying cases for quite a long time, a senior expert familiar with the import and export of iron ore said yesterday.
Zhou Shijian, former deputy director of the China Chamber of Commerce of Metals, Min-erals and Chemicals Importers and Exporters (CCCMC), told the Global Times that the on-going investigation will benefit China because the obstacles to the upcoming iron ore
price talks have been cleared away and both parties will have to play fairly.
“It’s ridiculous that many Chinese insiders were bribed by rivals even before the nego-tiation began,” Zhou said. “Our bottom line has been clearly made known to them; otherwise it would greatly damage the interests of China.”
Citing the case of Wen Ho Lee as an example, he said that Western countries have long operated double standards regarding espionage.
Lee, a Taiwan-born Chinese-American scientist working for the University of California at the Los Alamos National Laboratory, was indicted of stealing secrets regarding the US nuclear arsenal for China in December 1999. But eventually, US Federal Judge James A. Parker apologized to Lee for the government’s misconduct.
The detention of top Rio Tinto executive Stern Hu accused of the theft of state secrets has raised concerns that Hu’s arrest “may change the way foreign firms approach doing business with Beijing.”
As a result, Hu’s arrest has produced a chain reaction in China’s steel industry, leading to arrests of top executives of leading steel manufacturers.
Tan Yixin, general manager of Shougang International Trade & Engineering Corp, who is in charge of overseeing iron ore purchases, has also been detained, the 21st Century Business Herald reported over the weekend.
But Wu Jianxin, a spokesman of Shougang, said he wasn’t aware of Tan’s detention.
The newspaper also noted that several senior executives from some other major steel companies and ore trading firms were arrested for selling state secrets.
A source close to national security department told the Global Times yesterday: “Officials at the Australian Consulate-General in Shanghai paid a visit to Stern Hu late Friday and transferred him letters and photos from his family.”
Stern Hu looked well and raised no health or welfare issues, Australian Foreign Ministry Stephen Smith said.
“The Chinese government will be very aware that it is not good for business certainty,” Australian Financial Services Minister Chris Bowen told Channel 10 television.
Australian Foreign Minister Stephen Smith also urged China to consider how the row would impact its standing in the business world.
But Jiang Yong, director of the Research Center of Economic Security at the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations, didn’t agree.
He told the Global Times that spy cases in business areas are common and China should not care about the criticism abroad and judge the case according to Chinese law.
“The relationship between Australia and China is comprehensive, which will not be affected by an individual business case,” he said.
Fu Yao, editor in chief of custeel.com, a leading website focusing on the steel industry in China, said, “It is hard to estimate in the short term how serious the influence is on China-Australia commercial relations.”
The Rio employees were detained as Rio Tinto negotiated on behalf of global iron ore producers in price talks with Chinese steel manufactures.
And Hu’s arrest came after Rio Tinto snubbed the Aluminum Corp of China’s (Chinalco’s) $19.5 billion bid to lift its stake in the Anglo-Australian miner. Chinalco denied that the move was payback for the collapse of its deal.
“It is not a matter of bilateral retaliations,” Fu said.
“The China Iron & Steel Association is certain to conduct internal investigations fol-lowing the collapsed Chinalco-Rio deal and failed attempts to reach an agreement on iron ore prices for the coming year,” he said.
A lawyer in business law blamed the rampant commercial espionage on China’s legislation and the public’s poor awareness.
The public, even the law-enforcement departments, have long lacked awareness of commercial confidentiality, lawyer Chen Guocang said, adding that there is a vacuum in legislation regarding commercial espionage in China.
Liang Chen and An Baijie contributed to this story