Rio Tinto Reaction A Bit Troubling

2009-07-15

First off, apologies for being offline for the past few days. I was attending the Annual Buckaroo Banzai Revival Festival out in the suburbs of Beijing and there was no Internet available. Amazingly successful event. I particularly enjoyed the afternoon workshops, live performances and (of course!) the evening encounter sessions. Let's hope that next year's event in Yangon will be even better!

OK, that wasn't entirely accurate. It's possible I was otherwise engaged over the past few days, although that story is not nearly as entertaining.

Anyway, I will be slowly catching up on the news, but I do feel it appropriate to comment on the reaction to the Rio Tinto arrests. The basic facts here are that a few executives from the Australian mining giant have been arrested by the Chinese government and charged with stealing State secrets/bribing government officials.

Sounds like a straightforward story, yes? Sadly, no. Any time a foreigner gets pinched by the cops in China, the foreign investment community and their boosters (the Chambers of Commerce and various foreign governments, not to mention lots of commentators) go absolutely batshit. This one is no exception.(…)
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