Sydney - Australian diplomats on Friday met the Rio Tinto Ltd executive held by Chinese authorities since Sunday over spying allegations. Foreign Affairs Minister Stephen Smith would not comment on reports in the Chinese media that Australian citizen Stern Hu stood accused of trying to bribe employees of Chinese steel companies to gather confidential information during iron ore price negotiations.
"There is a limit to what Australia can do," Smith said. "Under Chinese law, which is what we are dealing with, a person can be detained for some time without charge and only when he is charged is he eligible to get legal representation."
Trade Minister Simon Crean, who is in China, is to raise Hu's detention when he meets officials Saturday in Shanghai.
Hu, the head of Rio Tinto's Shanghai operations, is being held along with three other Rio Tinto employees who are Chinese nationals. They are also accused of espionage.
The company released a statement declaring it was surprised by the allegations.
The Aluminum Corporation of China, or Chinalco, also issued a statement saying the case was unrelated to its failed bid to double its stake in Rio Tinto.
Chinalco was upset at Rio Tinto knocking back its bid last month to up its stake to 18 per cent. Rio instead opted to splice its iron ore operations in Western Australia with those of archrival BHP Billiton Ltd.
Chinalco's 19.5-billion-US-dollar pitch for a bigger bit of Rio represented the biggest foreign investment bid China had ever proposed.
China alleged the Rio-BHP joint venture would concentrate too much market power because it would exert a "monopolistic tint" to the iron ore market.
The price of iron ore export contracts are set annually, and China is under pressure to accept the same quantum as Japan and South Korea. China had argued for a 60-per-cent cut on last year's fix - not the 37-per-cent discount that other customers have agreed upon.
