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Wall Street JournalThe Chinese government Thursday said prosecutors have sufficient evidence that an Australian employee of Rio Tinto PLC stole state secrets, hurting China's economic security.
In its first official response to the case, Qin Gang, spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, confirmed that Australian national Stern Hu is being detained for stealing state secrets for a foreign country.
Shanghai security authorities have held four Rio Tinto employees from the Shanghai office, including Mr. Hu, head of the company's iron-ore operations in China, and three Chinese nationals, since Sunday.
"Chinese authorities have in fact obtained evidence which proves they stole -- for a foreign country -- Chinese state secrets, which hurt China's economic interests and economic security," Mr. Qin said at a regular news briefing held by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. "
Hu is the chief representative for Rio Tinto's Shanghai office. On the evening of July 5, he was detained by related government authorities on suspicion of spying and stealing China's state secrets."
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