Re: Does Rudd inspire confidence?
1. I agree, this is the best course of action. [ to do nothing]
2. Stern Hu is a dual national.
3. The Chinese government are treating him as one of their own, ..
4. as they should.
5. Hu is a "ring in", his allegiance to Australia is zero, zip, zilch.
howdy MacQ
the following revolves around an attempt to work out how long he's been in Aus...
1. I'm inclined to agree with you - or at least I'm not gonna rush in where an experienced diplomat would fear treading
2. true - which means he's been in Aus at least approx 8 years, 5 years for permanent visa, 2 years for apply for citizenship, 6mths to 1 yr to pass - I'm guessing since about 1993 - anyone know? The article below says he's been with Rio since mid 90's.
3. probably true - that they are treating him as one of their own (rightly or otherwise by international law)
4. disagree (not that I'd know) and
5. disagree again. - If he's been here since early 90's (to be confirmed - possibly longer? anyone know?), and has worked hard for Rio since, then he gets our backing surely.
cheers. 2020
PS - hey, if there are specific corruption charges in the wings, then all bets are off. Let's face it , the courts in Aus are a joke - ... and China is ten times worse.
PS As Harrison Ford says in a movie (forget which) "You want justice, go to a wh-ore-house; you want to get screwed, go to court". Still that was USA, we're much better here (yeah right lol)
XXXX bludy hell it was Richard Gere "Primal Fear " as best I now recall
http://business.watoday.com.au/business/who-is-hu-a-man-of-integrity-20090710-df36.html
Who is Hu? A man of integrityJohn Garnaut
July 9, 2009
A year ago, after Stern Hu had survived 20-odd rounds of negotiations and won Rio Tinto and Australia an extraordinary 87 per cent price increase for its iron ore contracts, I asked him if he was being too aggressive.
He said he had no qualms with driving as hard a bargain as he could on price. But he had misgivings about whether Rio Tinto should risk its integrity in China by claiming "force majeure" to wriggle out of long-term contracts to chase higher prices elsewhere.
"We acted in accordance with the letter of the contracts, but not the spirit," he said.
One of the ironies and tragedies of Mr Hu's incarceration, together with his senior staff, is that he is widely known in China and at Rio Tinto for his integrity and quietly spoken good judgment.
He is reputed to know exactly how far to push China without breaking the relationship.
...mmm sounds like that is wrong
... Rio recognised these talents and appointed him to manage their Beijing sales operations in the mid-1990s and then transferred him to the sales hub, Shanghai, in 2001.
.....
Mr Hu grew up in Tianjin and met his wife at the prestigious Peking University.
He is fiercely proud of his son, who wants to work in hotel management and has just spent a year studying in Europe and the US.
Both Mr Hu's wife and son are in Shanghai and struggling to come to terms with his disappearance. And they want to defend their privacy.
....
Whatever leverage the Rudd Government has over Mr Hu is unlikely to extend to Chinese passport holders.
PS thanks god for the fact that Smith is Foreign Minister, and we don't have to listen to someone like Downer at a time like this.