WRAPUP 2-Australia warns of risks to delay in China spy case
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* Australia urges China to think of risks to foreign business
* Foreign Minister says no evidence shown to back detentions
* Chinese steel industry fears wider purge
By Fayen Wong and Lucy Hornby
PERTH/BEIJING, July 12 (Reuters) - Australia warned China on Sunday of the risks to business confidence from the detention without charge of an Australian executive accused of stealing state secrets, and Chinese executives feared a wider purge.
The detention a week ago of Anglo-Australian miner Rio Tinto's top iron ore salesman in China, Australian citizen Stern Hu, and three of his Chinese subordinates has cast a shadow over Australia-China relations and unnerved the steel industry.
Rio Tinto (RIO.L)(RIO.AX), the world's second-largest iron ore miner, was locked in tense price negotiations with China when Hu and his coworkers were detained in Shanghai, accused of stealing state secrets and bribing Chinese steelmakers for information.
"One of the issues for Chinese authorities to contemplate is the extent to which the circumstances of this case will cause the international business community to have any cause for concern," Australian Foreign Minister Stephen Smith said on Sunday. Continued...



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