Rio Tinto
If you ever find yourself in a foreign prison awaiting representation from Australia on your behalf just pray that West Australian Premier Colin Barnett does not come through the door.
Not only is he unlikely to put up any kind of a fight for you, after a big Yum Cha lunch he may well agree to pull the hanging lever should your executioner be off sick.
Like the prince of a Chinese tributary kingdom of the middle-ages Colin Barnett travelled to Shanghai to assure his leaders that he wasn’t angry at them over the arrest of Stern Hu – actually it was our fault as Australians for over-reacting.
Continue reading "The best eunuch in the Chinese court: Colin Barnett" »
While the Australian media is working itself into a frenzy over the jailing of Rio Tinto executive Stern Hu, the public seems to be forming a more pragmatic view of our relationship with China.
The Federal Opposition’s attempts to whip up a new round of dog whistling over the arrest have fallen on deaf ears as the public accepts there are things that are outside the power of even a Mandarin-speaking Prime Minister.
But the failure of the Hu jailing to bite with the public may speak to a broader maturing in out attitude towards the emerging superpower to which our fortunes are so closely tied.
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Albert Fish says:
Stern Hu is not an Australian citizen. Some time ago the Chinese government downloaded the entire website: http://www.basicfraud.com and then got some advice upon the issues raised from a number of internationally recognised universities. The Law School at Cambridge has always been most helpful in that regard. Read more »
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johnv_au says:
I want to know what law he broke and when that law was made maybe just after Rio refused under great pressure from goverment and public opinion to sell a large stake in its australian operation to the state run chinalco Lets set up india and taiwan and sell to… Read more »
He may be known as the Ruddbot, but when it comes to his much vaunted specialist skills on China, it would seem that batteries were not included.
As the Prime Minister plays catch up on being caught flat footed on the Stern Hu case, he needs to demonstrate that his special China skills are not just a party trick, but can genuinely be used in Australia’s interests.
When in Opposition, Kevin Rudd was quick to criticise John Howard, claiming he was “dragging his feet on providing Mr Hicks with a fair trial”. These were his exact words in a door stop he gave almost four years ago on August 2.
Continue reading "Free David Hicks, but fumble on Stern Hu" »
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johnv_au says:
Hicks was cought with the smoking gun I say he got of lucky Hu has be detained without charge so charge him or let him return to his adopted land Geoff, Who cares if he is a lib he has a right to free speech and get Rudd To act… Read more »
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Geoff says:
Scott Scott Scott…......Why don’t you put somewhere that you are a Liberal MP. ( another unknown one ) The only way people can find out is by clicking on your picture. Are you ashamed of which side you are on? Read more »
Nothing that follows is personally approved by David Penberthy or Rupert Murdoch, let alone Kevin Rudd. That’s the beauty of writing for a free media in a democracy.
However, it’s equally ludicrous to suggest that every word that appears in China’s state-owned media every day represents the personal views of Chinese president Hu Jintao.
I don’t know Hu - who really does? - but I’m not sure he would have chosen the noun “perfidy” to describe Rio Tinto’s betrayal of Chinalco a couple of months back. Yet that phrase was quickly interpreted as the semi-official, if colourful, position of China Inc to the collapse of the deal - purely because it ran on the “state-owned” Xinhua news agency.
Continue reading "How a man’s jailing exposed China’s state-run spin" »
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miantiao says:
Socialism with special Chinese Darwinist-capitalist characteristics! Socialism in China is very different to the idea of Western socialism where we regard it as welfare, policies that put in place mechanisms that provide citizens with help and assistance when life takes a turn for the worse. The social welfare systems of… Read more »
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Madison says:
There are countless third world countries, with many of them run by democratic governments who have tried and continuously failed to lift themselves out of poverty. China may have done it under a communist regime but at least they are making serious progress. Regardless of political regime, as long as… Read more »
餵。我的名字是凱文，我有一個非常大的問題 (Translation: Hello, my name is Kevin and I have a very big problem).
Oh how Kevin Rudd must be wishing right now for a dirty stoush with, oh, let’s say Malaysia, or Indonesia, or even better, one of the African nations.
How terribly unlucky for the Prime Minister that his first bona fide diplomatic crisis involves China. Our man in Beijing is facing calls to personally intervene in the case of Australian Rio Tinto executive Stern Hu, who’s being held without charge by Chinese authorities on suspicion of commercial espionage.
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Miantiao says:
Australians are breaking laws all over the world in the service of Australia’s national interest. Such people are called ‘assets’ and form a vital part in.Australia’s efforts to get the best possible trade outcomes. Every nation does this, its no secret. Hu is not one of them, but he may… Read more »
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Tory Maguire says:
Wow Paul - you’re the first person who’s ever made that joke about my name, or at least the first person in the past 10 minutes. Genius. Read more »
CHINA is a huge country. Its landmass is 25 per cent bigger than Australia, its economy is 10 times larger, it has 60 times as many people and, I am led to be believe, significantly more BBQ duck restaurants.
Thankfully, Australia is still ahead in a few areas. We have more stars on our flag, we have won more cricket World Cups and, as developments in the past few weeks prove, we trounce the Chinese in corporate haggling.
Increasingly, Australian business is going to rub up against China. The People’s Republic is our No2 trading partner but is likely to regain the No1 slot from Japan this year or next. And Beijing’s “go global’’ directive, or zou chu qu, means China’s state-owned firms will continue to eye opportunities to join with, or buy outright, Australian companies.
Continue reading "China will have learned from failed mega-deal" »
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