China: Rio Tinto Arrest Comes Amidst China Price Deadlock

Mr. Stern Hu, an Australian executive with mining company Rio Tinto, might have felt that his high-powered job gave him some status in Mainland Chinese society.

But money and official titles seem not to have been any protection when Stern Hu was arrested earlier this week on charges of so-called „stealing state secrets.“

Though details are still hazy, it seems that Mr. Hu and three Chinese nationals working for Rio Tinto have been detained over attempts to gain information related to iron ore prices in China’s domestic market.

Rio Tinto is a leading exporter of iron ore, and has been in a price deadlock with China.

With tensions over the current price struggle, it’s not clear whether Hu and the Chinese workers actually broke any law on the books, or whether this is a case of state intervention in a key commodities market.

(NTDTV)