There are three articles this morning dealing with China’s detention of Rio Tinto executives:

•    the first, titled ‘China May Ease Charges of Rio Tinto Workers’ reports that, according to Australia’s foreign affairs minister, China’s investigation into the alleged theft of state documents by 4 Rio Tinto employees may be treated as a commercial case and not an espionage case.  This article also says “Australian and American officials are pressing China for details of the case amid worries about the employees’ treatment and fears that global companies doing business in China could face legal difficulties when dealing with Chinese companies”;

•    the second, titled ‘Australia says China must handle Rio case quickly’ reports Australia’s trade minister said today that Australia wants more details on the detained employees quickly, but said the case would not hurt economic relations if handled properly; and,

•    the third, titled ‘Australia says China-Rio case a signal for investors’ repeats some of what is said in the other two, but also refers to the case as “a signal to everyone looking to invest in China”.

While these reports are consistent with what I have been saying since the China/Rio Tinto incident first was reported two weeks ago, it is evident to me that China is taking the charges it has levied against the Rio Tinto executives seriously – and is not likely to reverse its position any time soon.  Stay tuned.

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