Australia says spy row risks China business standing

Australia on Sunday warned China risked damaging its business reputation abroad by holding a top Rio Tinto executive accused of spying and predicted a lengthy diplomatic stand-off over his fate.
As the opposition labelled Canberra-Beijing relations "fractured" over Australian passport holder Stern Hu's arrest, Australian Foreign Minister Stephen Smith urged China to consider how the row would impact on its standing in the business world.
"One of the issues for Chinese authorities to contemplate is the extent to which the circumstances of this case will cause the international business community to have any cause for concern," he told reporters.
Hu, the head of the Shanghai office for mining giant Rio, was arrested on suspicion of espionage and stealing state secrets by bribing staff at Chinese steel companies during protracted iron ore price negotiations.
China has become the world's biggest buyer of iron ore, the main ingredient in steel, as economic growth fuels demand for commodities in the world's third-largest economy.
Hu was arrested in Shanghai on July 5 but Australian consular staff only gained access to him five days later and Canberra has still received no official explanation about the allegations he faces.
Smith said Australia had asked China to deal with the matter quickly, adding that it would be another month before consular staff were next allowed to see the executive.
"We may well be in for a long haul here," he said.
China is Australia's number two trading partner, in a relationship worth 58 billion US dollars last year, according to official figures.
Opposition foreign affairs spokeswoman Julie Bishop said Beijing's lack of cooperation on the issue showed deep problems in Australia's diplomatic relations with China.
"There appears to be a major fracture in the relationship between Canberra and Beijing," she told public broadcaster ABC.
"There's been a lack of cooperation, no response to numerous requests for information and no information coming from Beijing.
"In fact our Foreign Minister Stephen Smith has been reduced to scouring Chinese government websites to find out information on Mr Hu." link....