China fired another round in its ongoing trade dispute with Australia when it formally arrested four Rio Tinto employees it had accused of bribery and spying.
The four employees were formally arrested on charges of infringing on trade secrets and paying bribes, China's Xinhua News Agency reported Wednesday morning.
Three of the employees are Chinese and one is Australian citizen Stern Hu, who was born in China. Chinese authorities have held the four Rio Tinto employees since July 5, when they were detained in Shanghai and accused of paying bribes to obtain steel industry secrets.
The arrests came during contentious negotiations between China and the miner on iron ore prices.
Australia and China have had an increasingly tense relationship since June, when Rio Tinto enraged and surprised China by pulling out of a deal to tie up with Chinese company Chinalco. Chinalco had agreed to pay $19.5 billion to buy much of Rio's mining operations and convertible bonds.
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