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SYDNEY: Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd pledged on Tuesday to do all he could for a mining executive detained in China, as Beijing widened its industrial espionage probe surrounding fraught iron ore talks.
Rudd vowed to raise the case of Rio Tinto executive Stern Hu at the highest level necessary in China, dismissing opposition claims that he has been too lenient in a bid to preserve Canberra's vital trade relationship with Beijing.
"We will work our way through this systematically and thoroughly, and once all relevant facts are established – as I have been seeking to do in recent meetings in the last 48 hours – we will raise it at whatever level of the Chinese leadership is appropriate," Rudd told ABC radio.
"I don't intend to go into the details of those consular and diplomatic engagements at this stage – my interest is to advance the interests of the individual concerned."
Hu, an Australian passport-holder, and three Chinese colleagues were detained by counterespionage agents in Shanghai on July 5.
China has not outlined the allegations against Hu, but said it could prove he was involved in bribery during iron ore contract negotiations between mining giants and Chinese mills, accusing him of causing "huge losses" to the country.
Analysts said Hu's arrest has sent tremors through the international business community and shows the potential risks of doing business with China, the world's third largest economy.
Hu's arrest has also created a political and diplomatic headache for Rudd, a Mandarin-speaking former diplomat who has made improving relations with Beijing a priority.
Rudd said the linking of politics and business was a "continued concern for all of us engaged in the China economical relationship", but said he was "absolutely not" concerned about antagonising the Asian giant.
The self-avowed Sinophile rubbished claims made by the opposition in Australia that he was acting with undue deference to Beijing to protect the critical trade partnership, which was worth 58 billion US dollars in 2008.
"On your question about balancing the Chinese relationship, I would say this: Australia's national interest always, and under any circumstance, comes first," he said.
"That means the wellbeing of any Australian citizen, they come first. We will handle the other elements of our relationship in their own terms."
Earlier, Australian Foreign Minister Stephen Smith said Canberra had struggled to obtain information about Hu, and that officials had been forced to scan news websites for updates about his detention.
But Rudd played down those accusations, saying Canberra was "engaged with the Chinese on elements of this entire matter and there are further engagements with the Chinese to occur."
Chinese media said five big steel firms – including China's largest steel maker Baosteel Group Corp – were now being investigated in connection with the arrest of Hu and his colleagues.
The China Daily reported that officials from the China Iron and Steel Association, which represents Chinese mills in talks with Rio Tinto and other global giants, were also being probed.
The arrests come just weeks after Anglo-Australian mining giant Rio Tinto snubbed a massive cash injection from a Chinese state-owned company, prompting angry comments in official media.
China said on Tuesday it was handling Hu's case according to law, and sought to allay foreign concerns about doing business with Beijing.
"This is an independent judicial case," foreign ministry spokesman Qin Gang said when asked about Hu.
"Competent authorities, in line with the facts, have taken relevant measures in accordance with the law to detain this staff member of Rio Tinto," he added. "China's policy of mutual benefit and win-win trade will not change."
- AFP/so
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