“It’s been 9 days since the arrest of Mr Stern Hu in Shanghai and according to a report over the weekend on Channel Nine; the highest ranking official that the Australian Government has managed to have formal one to one in person contact with is someone who ranks 15 below the Mayor of Shanghai.”

 

“A state of incommunicado is now in place between the highest levels in China and Australia which is hardly an endorsement of Mr Rudd’s diplomatic skills with the communist authorities in China”, according to Senator Joyce.

 

“In China it appears that if things don’t go the way you like you could be charged with espionage and locked up without legal representation or any real prospect of there being a fair judicious process for ascertaining the facts.”

 

“The paucity of information that is apparent from the communist Government concerning Mr Hu means that the allegations laid at his feet are highly dubious as there appears to be no commercial gain to him. It’s highly unlikely that Rio Tinto might be involved in some sort of nefarious process which would put their whole operation at risk.

 

“If Mr Rudd is unable to prosecute the case with the Chinese that these actions no longer have a place in the world in 2009, then Mr Rudd must make a clear statement about how he’s sees Australia operating with state owned enterprises of a communist administration that has a different view”, says Senator Joyce.

 

“The Labor party has the capacity in the Foreign Investment Review Board inquiry to make a recommendation that takes into account the obvious reality that a state owned entity from the Peoples Republic of China and the communist administration in China are one.”

 

 “If the allegations that the President of China has made the call on Mr Stern Hu’s arrest are correct then this really shows the extent of this connection between the state owned enterprise and communist administration goes right to the top.”

 

“The question Australia must ask is how much ownership of Australia do you want a communist Government to have?”