has indicted four employees of the British-Australian mining giant Rio
Tinto for alleged bribery and theft of commercial secrets, a move that
paves the way for a trial in a case that has already elicited
widespread international criticism.
The four were arrested in July and include Australian citizen Stern Hu, the company’s leading iron-ore negotiator in
They “took advantage of their position and sought
and accepted huge amounts of bribes from many Chinese steel companies,”
said a brief online report Wednesday from the New China News Agency
that cited
“They also obtained commercial secrets from Chinese
steel companies through methods including inducement and caused
extremely serious consequences,” the report said The arrests have
tested a
Foreign ore suppliers have been battling Chinese steel mills over prices since demand for minerals surged in 2009.
tried to avert the problem by buying a stake in Rio Tinto last June.
But the deal was rejected because Australian lawmakers feared it
compromised the nation’s natural resources.
The indictments also come at a time of growing discontent among foreign businesses in
The threat by
The four Rio Tinto employees, who include Chinese nationals
The report did not say when the trial would begin.
A representative for Rio Tinto was not immediately available for comment late Wednesday in
—
(c) 2010, Los Angeles Times.
Visit the Los Angeles Times on the Internet at http://www.latimes.com/
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.
