Stern Hu knows the stakes at play

On July 18, 2009, Dr. Wenran Jiang, Mactaggart Research Chair and Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of Alberta, was interviewed by the Australian on the detention of four Rio Tinto executives last week in Shanghai, China, on charges of bribing staff of Chinese steel companies during iron ore negotiations this year.

In the interview, Wenran recalls Stern Hu, one of the detained Rio Tinto executives, from their days together at Beijing University. They were both studying in the history department there 30 years ago. He noted that it's unfortunate to see what's happening to him. In the world of commercial negotiations, the borderline between what is public information and what is a state secret may be easily crossed or blurred in China.

Now, Jiang says, because of China's desire to re-regulate the industry and the resulting media insistence that Chinese businesses that have acted detrimentally to that goal must pay a price, many of Hu's Chinese customers will be shaking, wondering when the police will knock on their door.

You can read the article here.