Espionage case dominating Australian politics - ABC 071209

Hu case exposes 'Beijing-Canberra fracture'
The Federal Opposition says Australia's relationship with China has fractured over the detention of an Australian mining executive.

Senior Rio Tinto employee Stern Hu is being held without charge in Shanghai on suspicion that he stole state secrets and tried to bribe staff at local Chinese steel companies.

The Federal Government has expressed frustration that China has given it little information and that consular officials were blocked from visiting Mr Hu for almost a week.

Australian consular staff met Mr Hu in Shanghai yesterday, saying he appeared well and raised no health or welfare issues during the meeting.

But Opposition foreign affairs spokeswoman Julie Bishop has told ABC1's Insiders it is an issue for Government ministers, not diplomats, to handle.

"So far, the Australian ministers as far as we are aware have not even picked up the phone to their counterpart ministers and raised this issue," she said.

"There appears to be a major fracture in the relationship between Canberra and Beijing. There's been a lack of cooperation, no response to numerous requests for information and no info coming from Beijing.

"Our Foreign Minister Stephen Smith has been reduced to scouring Chinese Government websites to find out information on Mr Hu.

"Mr Rudd claims to have a special relationship with China - what benefit is this Australian citizen getting from that so-called special relationship?"

Ms Bishop says the situation reflects a broader problem with relations between Canberra and Beijing.

"I don't think these events occur in isolation," she said.

"I think this may well have been a build up of concerns on the part of China about the way the Australian Government has been treating China.

"We know they are deeply troubled by the Government's [Defence] white paper, we know they were deeply insulted by Mr Rudd's raising of the human rights issues in Tibet."

But frontbench minister Chris Bowen has told Channel 10 the Government believes it is important for Australia to have an open and frank relationship with China.

"It's important that friends tell each other what we think, that we tell China what we're thinking, that they tell us what they're thinking," he said.

"[It is important] so that you don't have a relationship that is one-way, that you have a relationship that is built on mutual trust and understanding and very frank exchange of views when it's appropriate. That's certainly the approach the Prime Minister's taken."

He said the Government would look at any lessons to be learnt from the Hu case to better educate and support businesspeople going to China.


New calls for release

Ms Bishop defended Opposition Leader Malcolm Turnbull, who demanded Mr Hu's release earlier in the week.

"He didn't get it wrong at all. If Mr Hu is not charged, then he should be released," she said.

"He's already been held for seven days and the information we've received from the Chinese website - because there's no minister-to-minister contact - indicated that there has been an extensive inquiry and they have conclusive evidence that he's guilty of stealing state secrets.

"If the Chinese Government say they have conclusive evidence then he should be charged and released or released immediately."

But Mr Bowen says Mr Turnbull should not make political mileage out of the issue.

"He has shown habitual rashness in rushing to make political points out of what is a very sensitive and very delicate matter with the Chinese Government," he said.

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• China
• Australia
• Rio
• Tinto

[isamike]

Our Australian government is piss weak at best, China will tell Rudd to go and get fucked and they'll continue to do what they want, when they want.

[xsdl914]

what about FBI and CIA, do they have to show evidence to the public before they arrest someone?

[irishgodfatherchris]

am i the only one to notice that Stern Hu was arrested the moment the deal between BHP-Billiton and Chinalco broke down

[jbizznator]

If there was any spying going on this wouldn't be a public display. It would be done in private behind closed doors, china wants to make a statement and has done so. Now its time to to release stern hu and get on with it

[HayabusaSenToTai]

Big country versus small country far away...aus is screwed...

[PR0GRAMMING]

Yawn.

[eightincher8]

aussies r worshipper of the anglo-american cult. they are spying for cia and mi5 and spreading shits all over the world.

[victube0418]

This is the monster that American unilateralism has spawned. When America doesn't prescribe to any norm of decent boundary in taking what it wants, America emboldens everybody else to do the same thing. Blame the Chinese all you want & the Iranians too but eventually Americans will have to blame themselves for the sorry state of the world. America has lost the credibility & the right to preach to anyone. Let the Chinese deal with the consequences of their actions but you may not preach America.