China charges four Rio Tinto employees with stealing state secrets

BEIJING - Four employees of Anglo-Australian mining giant Rio Tinto have been arrested on charges of stealing state secrets, a government news agency reported yesterday.

The Xinhua News Agency report, China's first public confirmation of the case, gave no details of the charges against the employees of Rio's Shanghai office. Australia's government says one of the detainees is Australian and it is pressing for access to him.

The weekend detentions came amid contentious iron ore price talks between Rio and Chinese steel mills. But there has been no indication whether the case is linked to the negotiations. China's vague spying and national security laws give authorities wide latitude in deciding what to prosecute. The government treats a sweeping array of economic and other data as state secrets.

The maximum penalty for a conviction on espionage charges under Chinese law is life in prison. A formal arrest in China means an almost automatic conviction.

The Rio employees are accused of "alleged stealing of China's state secrets", Xinhua said, citing state security officials in Shanghai.

The detained Australian, Stern Hu, is the Shanghai-based general manager of Rio's Chinese iron ore business, according to the Australian government. It says the three other detainees are Chinese nationals.

Meanwhile, a Chinese steel executive who had "close contact" with Hu has been detained by Beijing police, the newspaper 21st Century Business Herald reported yesterday.

Tan Yixin, general manager of Shougang International Trade & Engineering, oversaw iron ore purchases, the newspaper reported, citing unidentified sources. It gave no indication whether the two cases were linked.

A spokesman for Shougang Group, parent company of Tan's employer, said he could not confirm whether Tan was detained. He would give only his surname, Wu. The Foreign Ministry and Beijing police did not immediately respond to questions by phone and fax.

Australian diplomats are pressing for access to Hu and details of his case, according to Australian Foreign Minister Stephen Smith. Under a consular agreement, China has a week to respond and Smith said diplomats expect to see him today or tomorrow.

Rio, which is headquartered in London but has offices in Melbourne, said it knew of no evidence of spying.

- AP