The four Rio Tinto employees detained by Chinese authorities in July will be prosecuted on charges of bribery and violating commercial secrets, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing state media. Prosecutors allege that the four men, including Stern Hu, an Australian national, on multiple occasions solicited and accepted huge bribes from several Chinese steel firms and used improper means to obtain Chinese commercial secrets from these firms. There has been no indication when the case might go to trial. The four were formally arrested in August, but the police investigation only ended last month, after which the case was handed over to Shanghai prosecutors. Few Chinese prosecutions end in acquittal and, given the high profile nature of the situation, an exception is unlikely in this case. The episode caused strains in Sino-Australian relations and also raised questions about how the massive iron ore trade between the two nations should be priced.
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