Re: Australia warns China on spy case
Follow up on the Rio Tinto scandal in 2009. Despite Western media and government's demonization of Chinese motive on this case. The simple fact was that Rio Tinto condone and turned a blind eye on the bribery and espionage conducted by their employees in China.
Rio slipped up in China, says former ambassador Raby
Rio's governance mistake was to leave the locals in charge of its business, and people like Mr Hu in the same job for upwards of 15 years, he said.
In a tacit admission that its processes and management control were inadequate at the time, Rio -- which would not comment publicly on the matter -- has shifted many of its key iron ore sales and marketing functions from China to Singapore, The Australian has learned.
Those steps were made as part of a review of its China operations by a board committee initiated in 2010 but whose findings were never made public.
The moves mimic those that Rio's key rival, BHP Billiton, made many years before, partly as a strategy to ameliorate its risk in China, where business is soaked in systematic corruption.
Former Rio employees who declined to be named said warnings from the company's Shanghai and Singapore offices to its Perth iron ore headquarters about possible corruption were routinely ignored despite one employee being fired for taking bribes in 2001 and constant talk of such practices in the sector.
Despite the incident exposing long-term management failure and tarnishing Rio's brand, there was no punishment of executives more senior than the salesmen who now languish in Shanghai prisons.
Following the jailing of Mr Hu and his colleagues, Rio has worked overtime to rebuild its links with its largest customers, jumping into two joint ventures with Chinalco -- the $20 billion Simandou iron ore project in Guinea and a rare exploration venture in China.
Follow up on the Rio Tinto scandal in 2009. Despite Western media and government's demonization of Chinese motive on this case. The simple fact was that Rio Tinto condone and turned a blind eye on the bribery and espionage conducted by their employees in China.
Rio slipped up in China, says former ambassador Raby
Rio's governance mistake was to leave the locals in charge of its business, and people like Mr Hu in the same job for upwards of 15 years, he said.
In a tacit admission that its processes and management control were inadequate at the time, Rio -- which would not comment publicly on the matter -- has shifted many of its key iron ore sales and marketing functions from China to Singapore, The Australian has learned.
Those steps were made as part of a review of its China operations by a board committee initiated in 2010 but whose findings were never made public.
The moves mimic those that Rio's key rival, BHP Billiton, made many years before, partly as a strategy to ameliorate its risk in China, where business is soaked in systematic corruption.
Former Rio employees who declined to be named said warnings from the company's Shanghai and Singapore offices to its Perth iron ore headquarters about possible corruption were routinely ignored despite one employee being fired for taking bribes in 2001 and constant talk of such practices in the sector.
Despite the incident exposing long-term management failure and tarnishing Rio's brand, there was no punishment of executives more senior than the salesmen who now languish in Shanghai prisons.
Following the jailing of Mr Hu and his colleagues, Rio has worked overtime to rebuild its links with its largest customers, jumping into two joint ventures with Chinalco -- the $20 billion Simandou iron ore project in Guinea and a rare exploration venture in China.
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