Sydney: Australian mining giant Rio Tinto
turned to US elder statesman Henry Kissinger for help in
building bridges with China following the jailing of four of
its employees, it was reported on Wednesday.
Former secretary of state Kissinger, 86, has been well
connected in China since a secret 1971 visit that led to
former president Richard Nixon's historic meeting with
Chairman Mao Zedong.
The Sydney Morning Herald, without naming its sources,
said Kissinger helped secure a meeting on Rio's behalf with
Wang Qishan, a Politburo member and former banker who handles
many of China's international financial affairs.
Australian businessman Stern Hu was Monday sentenced to
10 years in jail after being convicted of accepting bribes and
stealing trade secrets following a three-day trial in
Shanghai, much of it held behind closed doors.
Three of his Chinese colleagues at Rio Tinto were
sentenced to between seven and 14 years.
Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd today asked China to
hold trials in public.
Rudd said there were always going to be "bumps in the
road in our relationship with China", after Beijing expressed
concerns about Australia's criticisms of the trial.
"I would say to our friends in Beijing, however, that the
responsible course of action is to ensure that your judiciary
process is transparent, that when people are brought before
your courts, that those trials are held publicly," Rudd told
reporters.
PTI
First Published: Wednesday, March 31, 2010, 21:56