Stern Hu Pleads Guilty in China’s Trial Against him and 3 Other Rio Tinto Employees

Stern Hu plead guilty Monday, March 22, 2010 for accepting bribes up to the amount of 1 million yuan, or $790,000 US dollars, but some believe that the Chinese government is acting unfairly and manipulative, and believe Stern Hu’s decision to plead guilty was not his alone. Rio Tinto and other Australians believe Stern Hu did nothing wrong.

Australia is fighting to give Stern Hu a fair tria l and warns them that the world is watching them. China must act ethically during this trial to maintain businesses worldwide because many companies are becoming skeptical of doing business with the country because of this trial and the recent Google trial. Australia fought for the right to have Australian officials present at the trial, but China’s courts denied.

Stern Hu was an Australian executive at Rio Tinto, along with the other three Chinese colleagues who were arrested for bribery and stealing State secrets. They were arrested in July of 2009, but their trail date was not until March 22nd, 2010. During the first day of trial Stern Hu plead guilty to the bribes, but he is disputing to the amount of bribes he accepted.

Rio Tinto and Australians still believe that it is possible Stern Hu did nothing wrong, so they are backing him until real evidence is found that can actually stand in court. Due to China’s recent trial with Google, Rio Tinto is taking precautions in trusting the government.

Stern Hu could serve up to twenty years for accepting bribes, but for the sake of keeping Rio Tinto’s business, along with other Australian firms, China may try to compromise. If the executive were to have to serve twenty years imprisonment, the tension between Australia and China would increase significantly, and being they are both very dependent on one another due to the steel industry, things could get ugly.

For Stern Hu’s sake, and for the sake of the steel industry, I hope the trial is held in a principled and ethical manner. It is expected to take weeks before a verdict is made, and until the verdict is made, the Australian government and Rio Tinto will be watching very closely to ensure that Stern Hu and the other executives are getting a fair trial. But in China, because of the Communist influence, it is very rare that prosecution loses.