The Measure of Australian Politicians - International Social/Political

The sooner (totally ignored) Turnbull is replaced by someone with a skerrick of credibility the better for the opposition; but the Turnbull fiasco is not the major political tragedy of the week. That distinction goes to Foreign Minister, Stephen ‘kneepads’ Smith, who stuttered and spluttered his way through an interview with Lateline presenter, Tony Jones over the arrest in China of Australian mining executives suspected of espionage!

Witnessing Smith’s demeanour and body language when he is faced with a problem he must solve himself as opposed to acting on orders from Washington is truly revealing of this no-account, lackey politician.

Smith’s wooden, stuttering and INDECISIVE performance on Lateline last night was abysmal. One could not help but feel sympathy for all Australian citizens held captive by foreigners. At present, the Smith ‘response’ serves only to highlight how utterly inept and cowardly our puppet politicians are.

Foreign powers constantly test America and its allies for weaknesses and I’m afraid that attacks (people smuggling etc) on Australia could only INCREASE given the lamentable response to such incidents from the Rudd government; notwithstanding the opposition is known to be less capable!

For those not aware of the current state of international warfare be advised that each time America interferes or intervenes in the affairs of other nations, tactical attacks on weak American allies would probably be the response. The thinner America is spread around the globe, protecting what it cannot protect, the more vulnerable it becomes. It’s a tried and proven winning strategy! Responses to U.S. Cyber, Drone and other attacks may elicit counter Cyber attacks or LATERAL tactics such as the arrest of Aussie nationals on serious spying charges, or pressures applied on borders by human or biological agents – basically, it's all too easy! All territorial pressures and strategies (attacking oil infrastructures globally -- MEND -- and constant economic/energy warfare) would be designed to destabilise and force political crises, which would expose the thorough incompetence of greed-driven, corporate-ruled America and her servile 'colonial' allies!

We can hardly wait for Aussie politicians to make complete fools of themselves when faced with new and superior warfare strategies. Kevin Rudd could not effectively cope with the ridicule directed at him by the Indonesian leader of JI on the occasion of his international political debut at a summit in Bali! The world will not soon forget the SHAMELESS COWARDICE and weakness displayed by the Howard and Rudd governments.

Regional opponents do not miss a trick. It is clear that Smith is more suited to subservient roles rather than those requiring leadership! In the current circumstances Smith's performance is left wanting. The opposition response amounted to political opportunism in the form of unsubstantiated wild statements to the media and theorising on events in relation to the arrest of Aussie nationals in China – neither major party took the offensive in the situation, pathetic!

"Not with a bang but a whimper," could have been written for our woeful, subservient and cowardly politicians.

See link for video and transcript of Smith interview:

A Chinese Steel company has denied that it has anything to do with the arrest of four Rio Tinto employees accused of spying in China.

Australian man Stern Hu, the head of Rio Tinto's China operations, has been detained in Shanghai along with three other Rio Tinto staff for alleged involvement in espionage.

Now a senior executive from China's Capital Steel, Tan Yixin, has reportedly been arrested in Beijing for "business crimes".

The 21st Century Business Herald has reported that Tan knows Stern Hu very well and that the two met in April this year at Capital Steel's headquarters to discuss iron ore prices.

But Capital Steel has denied that it is involved in any way in the accusations against Mr Hu.

The company says it knows nothing of the details of his detention and that no speculation should be made on the link between the two separate arrests.

According to the 21st Century Business Herald, the three other Rio Tinto staff being held are: Liu Caikui, a manager who recently joined Rio; Wang Yong, a long time employee of Rio in China; and Ge Minqiang.

The newspaper report says other people have either been detained or are being investigated in relation to the matter.

The Australian Government says it cannot be certain Mr Hu has been treated appropriately since he was detained on Sunday on suspicion of espionage and stealing state secrets.

The Chinese Government has not yet allowed Australian consular officials to meet Mr Hu, who has been living in Shanghai for the last 10 years with his wife.

Foreign Minister Stephen Smith says the Government is urging China to allow Australian officials to see Mr Hu as soon as possible.

"That's one of the reasons why we want access to him, is to satisfy ourselves as to his welfare, to satisfy ourselves as to his wellbeing and to get some indication from him as to how we can be of assistance," Mr Smith said.

Both the Federal Government and Rio Tinto say the accusations come as a complete surprise.

Mr Smith says the Government is doing what it can to try to get access to Mr Hu.

"I'm satisfied, very satisfied, that our response to date has been a sensible and proportionate response," he said.

"We will continue to make all the points we've been making privately and now publicly to Chinese officials."

Nationals Senate leader Barnaby Joyce says he is convinced Mr Hu's detention is linked to Rio Tinto's decision to abandon a takeover offer from the Chinese state-owned mining firm Chinalco.

But Federal Treasurer Wayne Swan says there is no evidence the incident has anything to do with the failed Chinalco deal.

"I don't think it would be the responsible course of action to be speculating about what has occurred in this case," he said.

"I think some of the comments that have been made by others about the possible ramifications of this, or flow through of this from other matters in the commercial sphere, simply cannot be supported by any back-up material."

© 2009 ABC

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