Australia says 'internal pressure' helped Rio caseAustralia on Thursday said its "internal pressure" helped persuade China to downgrade an espionage case against detained de·tain tr.v. de·tained, de·tain·ing, de·tains 1. To keep from proceeding; delay or retard. 2. To keep in custody or temporary confinement: Rio Tinto Rio Tinto may refer to:
Trade Minister Simon Crean Simon Findlay Crean (born 26 February 1949) an Australian politician, was leader of the Australian Labor Party and Leader of the Opposition at the Federal level, from November 2001 to 2 December 2003. said Hu's formal arrest on charges of business bribery bribery Crime of giving a benefit (e.g., money) in order to influence the judgment or conduct of a person in a position of trust (e.g., an official or witness). Accepting a bribe also constitutes a crime. , rather than more serious allegations of stealing state secrets, reflected a "lesser" case. "We think that the pressure that we've been applying internally has had something of an impact," Crean told reporters ahead of his departure for an ASEAN summit The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) holds annual meetings in relation to economic, and cultural development of Southeast Asian countries. These meetings are known as ASEAN Summit. in Bangkok. "Clearly, we will continue to keep that pressure up and if my counterpart comes to Bangkok, as I expect he will, then I will have the opportunity again to raise this matter with him, as I did a couple of weeks ago." Crean said the "unfortunate distraction" of Hu was not hurting bilateral trade with Beijing, which was worth 58 billion dollars last year. But he warned it could harm business relations, if it dragged on. "I don't think it's having an impact on the bilateral relationship," said Crean. "I think unless it's resolved expeditiously ex·pe·di·tious adj. Acting or done with speed and efficiency. See Synonyms at fast1. ex and satisfactorily, it could have implications in terms of the way in which businesses see the way they do business with China," he added. Crean said Beijing needed Australia "as much as we need them" and he urged China to grant Hu access to lawyers and his family, and to resolve the case as soon as possible. Hu, an Australian passport-holder, was detained on July 5 along with three Chinese colleagues during fraught iron ore negotiations. His arrest followed Rio's snubbing Snubbing is a type of heavy well intervention performed on oil and gas wells. It involves running the BHA on a pipe string using a hydraulic workover rig. Unlike wireline or coiled tubing, the pipe is not spooled off a drum but made up and broken up while running in and pulling of a proposed 19.5 billion US dollar investment from China's state-owned metals giant Chinalco, raising speculation the events were linked. Chinese officials say Hu is suspected of using improper means to obtain commercial secrets about China's steel enterprises, including "taking bribes from individuals not employed by state organisations". The case has raised diplomatic frictions between resource-rich Australia and China, the world's biggest iron ore consumer. 
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