Rio Tinto's Stern Hu officially charged in China12/08/2009...

Rio Tinto's Stern Hu officially charged in China
12/08/2009 9:00:00 AM
Rio Tinto executive Stern Hu, who has been detained in China for more than a month, has been charged with commercial bribery and trade secrets infringements, the New York Times is reporting.

On its website, the newspaper said China had formally arrested Mr Hu and three of his Chinese colleagues on Tuesday.

It cited a brief statement on the arrests, reported by the country's official Xinhua News agency, but said it did not mention the much more serious charges of espionage that Beijing had earlier alleged.

The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade had no immediate comment and Foreign Minister Stephen Smith was not immediately available.

According to the Xinhua website, prosecutors had approved the arrest of the four workers, according to a statement of China's Supreme People's Procuratorate late on Tuesday.

Preliminary investigations have showed that the four employees, Stern Hu, Liu Caikui, Ge Minqiang and Wang Yong, had obtained commercial secrets of China's steel and iron industry through improper means, which had violated the country's Criminal Law, according to the statement, Xinhua said.

Mr Hu, an iron ore executive with Rio Tinto, has been held since July 5 and was allowed a second visit by Australian consular officials on Friday.

He had been accused of spying and stealing state secrets.

Rio Tinto iron ore chief executive Sam Walsh said on Tuesday the company remained surprised and concerned over the detention of its staff.

"We are still not aware of any evidence that would support their detention," he said.

"Rio Tinto is committed to high standards in business integrity and takes its ethical responsibilities very seriously."

The episode has caused friction between Australia and China though both governments have denied it will have a major impact on the relationship.