Australia warns China on Rio Tinto 'spying' trial

Kevin Rudd has told China the world will be watching the trial

Australia's prime minister, Kevin Rudd, has warned China that it faces international scrutiny over the way it conducts a spying trial next week.

The case involves an Australian citizen, Stern Hu, who is employed by the mining giant Rio Tinto.

He and three Chinese colleagues, Liu Caikui, Ge Minqiang and Wang Yon, were arrested on suspicion of corruption last July.

Mr Rudd said: "The world will be watching."

The trial will begin on 22 March, but defence lawyers and politicians are worried because the case is most likely to heard in private and few details of the charges have been given.

The arrest of Mr Hu and his colleagues came as Rio Tinto was negotiating prices with Chinese steel mills on behalf of the world's iron ore producers.

If convicted, the four could face up to 27 years in prison.

When indictments were issued last month, the prosecutor's office said the men had "exploited their positions to seek gain for others, and numerous times either sought or illegally accepted massive bribes from a number of Chinese steel firms".

Political headache

China is Australia's biggest trading partner.

The case has created a political and diplomatic problem for Australia's Mandarin-speaking prime minister, who has made improving relations with China a priority.

The leader of Australia's minority Greens party, Senator Bob Brown, was more outspoken than Mr Rudd.

"The sentence for Stern Hu will have been predetermined in Beijing. Australia needs to be, in the strongest terms, telling China that it must open that trial." He said.