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China charges Rio detainees
China last night formally arrested four employees of British-Australian mining giant Rio Tinto, including an Australian citizen, and charged them with commercial bribery and trade secrets infringement in a case that has rocked the global steel industry. The four have been held without charge since 5 July. In a brief statement on the arrests, reported by the country’s official Xinhua News agency, it did not mention the much more serious charges of espionage that Beijing had earlier alleged, fraying relations between China and Australia in recent weeks.