International Law

Rio Tinto and the MNC History of Corruption in China

By Stan

The sense of outrage in the West that greeted the arrest in China of four Rio Tinto executives last month was predictable. The subsequent trial may indicate whether or not the outrage is misplaced. For the case of the Rio four follows a lengthening list of overseas companies allegedly doing in China what the Chinese there are noted for doing - bribing their way through business, at times getting caught.

About two-thirds of the half-million corruption cases investigated by Chinese authorities over the past 10 years have reportedly involved parties from overseas. (Asia Times)

Pretty nice article in Asia Times that includes quite a few anecdotes about foreign companies involved in corruption over here in China.

Whatever the final disposition of the Rio Tinto bribery case, I think anyone whose initial reaction has been to automatically defend the foreign company is being purposely ignorant of all the payoffs, kickbacks, and other questionable actions over the years.

Also pointed out in the article is that the ultimate punishment of the Rio Tinto employees, should they be found guilty, will almost certainly be less severe than the executions meted out to some Chinese officials that have been found guilty of embezzlement or other forms of corruption.

I have no overarching point to make here besides the obvious: let’s withhold judgment until there is, uh, a judgment. Knee-jerk reactions based on nationalism (boo . . .) are ridiculous.

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Full post as published by China Hearsay on August 17, 2009 (boomark / email).