Beijing is justifiably proud of its economic achievements. The government can point to surging vehicle sales, mammoth infrastructure projects and ritzy shopping malls as evidence of progress. But the arrest in Shanghai of Australian mining executive Stern Hu and three mainland colleagues raises another facet of the nation's development.
Charges of stealing state secrets and bribery have been levelled at the employees of the Anglo-Australian firm Rio Tinto. Exactly what they have done wrong remains unsaid more than a week after the allegations were made - plainly laying bare the reality that the mainland's legal system fails to measure up to internationally accepted standards for the rule of law.
Foreign investors are naturally worried. Diplomatic relations with Australia are strained. Repeated requests by Canberra for consular access to its citizen were initially ignored, but eventually allowed. We are no closer now than when the arrests were made two weekends ago to understanding the nature of the allegations.
'Stealing state secrets' is a charge the central government refuses to quantify or qualify; it is very broad in scope. The claim is therefore one that can be applied at will to any manner of circumstances. It is often handed to anti-government activists, academics and journalists. Unusually, this time, it has been applied to businesspeople.
Rio Tinto is one of the world's biggest mining companies. Recently it has earned Beijing's ire, first over high prices of iron ore, then over business negotiations that went sour. During the commodities price boom, Rio and other mining companies were able to dictate terms. Prices have since fallen, but Beijing remains furious about the manner in which it was treated.
Then Rio pulled out of a deal in which the mainland government-owned company Chinalco was to have bought a US$19.5 billion stake in the miner. Rio's share price was rising and it no longer felt the need to sell when it rejected the offer. That Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd's government was probably prepared to block the sale on strategic grounds if it went through doubtless further angered Beijing.