Rio Tinto official admits taking bribe: Report
BEIJING: An official of the Anglo-Australian mining giant Rio Tinto today admitted in a Chinese court that he took nearly USD one million bribe in a case that has sparked a diplomatic row between Beijing and Canberra.
Australian Premier Kevin Rudd warned that the world will be watching China very closely, as Beijing today began the trial of four employees - Australian Stern Hu and three Chinese colleagues - who are facing bribery and commercial espionage charges in the eastern city of Shanghai.
"The world will be watching very closely," Rudd said in Sydney, adding "The Australian government will be monitoring the trial very carefully."
Tom Connor, the Australian consul-general in Shanghai who attended the court session said Hu had "made some admissions" on the bribery matters, BBC reported.
He "did acknowledge the truth of some of those bribery amounts", he said.
Connor said Hu was accused of taking bribes of 1 million yuan ($146,000) and $790,000, but he did not give any details.
The trial of the four who were arrested in July last year, is due to last three days.
Rio Tinto's chief executive, Tom Albanese, said that the company remained committed to strengthening ties with China.
Stern Hu was Rio Tinto's lead negotiator in the talks with Chinese steel mills to try to settle a price for China to buy iron ore from Australian mining companies.
He and three of his Chinese colleagues - Liu Caikui, Ge Minqiang and Wang Yong - have been held in detention since July 5 last year.
Apparently at least one of Hu's colleagues also admitted taking bribes. The four were charged with commercial espionage and bribery.
The charge for espionage is punishable by up to seven years in prison and lengthy term for bribes.
The case was "obviously of great concern to us. We can only say we respectfully await the outcome of the Chinese legal process," Albanese was quoted as saying by the state-run Xinhua news agency.
The world's second-largest iron ore supplier's ties with China could be traced back 50 years as it had provided aluminium to China in the 1960s, Albanese said at the China Development Forum 2010 in Beijing.
It was a "pity" that his company lost a chance to forge a strategic partnership with Chinese state-owned aluminium producer Chinalco last year, Xinhua reported.
Rio Tinto official admits taking bribe: Report - China - World - The Times of India