[anti-random]

Hey guys, this is something interesting as well

http://www.watoday.com.au/breaking-n...0709-deer.html

China arrests four Rio Tinto employees

* July 9, 2009
* Page 1 of 2 | Single Page View

Four employees of Anglo-Australian mining giant Rio Tinto have been detained in China for allegedly stealing state secrets, the Shanghai branch of the state security ministry said on Thursday.

A spokesman confirmed an Australian national named Stern Hu and three Chinese citizens were being held, but declined to comment further.

A government news agency, the Xinhua News Agency, also publicly confirmed the arrests on Thursday, but gave no details of the charges against the employees of Rio's Shanghai office.

The Australian government is pressing for access to Hu.

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 Thursday.

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

Given the fact that this happened after Chinalco lost its bid seems kind of suss