Australia urges China to make haste on Rio spy case

CANBERRA, July 14 (Reuters) - Australia urged China on Tuesday to move quickly in dealing with the detention of a senior Australian mining executive on suspicion of spying, as Canberra came under pressure at home to take a harder line with Beijing.

Australian Treasurer Wayne Swan said the government was ready for a lengthy process in dealing with the detention of Anglo-Australian miner Rio Tinto's (RIO.AX) top iron ore salesman in China, Stern Hu, and three other China-based Rio staff.

But, speaking a day after Canberra again summoned Chinese diplomats for more information on the detentions, Swan said the case should be handled as quickly as possible.

"Australian officials will continue to press Chinese authorities for further detail on the reasons for Mr Hu's detention and reiterate Australia's view that his case should be handled expeditiously," he said in a speech.

"I know the (Australian) foreign minister will be having more to say on this case, so it wouldn't be appropriate for me to comment further on it at this time."

Hu and his three Chinese subordinates have been detained in Shanghai without charge since July 5, on suspicion of espionage and stealing state secrets. They are accused of bribing state-owned steel mills to gain information that, media reports say, could have given Rio Tinto an edge in iron ore price talks.

Rio Tinto (RIO.L) is the world's second-largest iron ore producer. It and another Anglo-Australian firm BHP Billiton (BHP.AX)(BLT.L), the third-largest producer, have been locked in pressure-cooker negotiations to agree a price for iron ore supplies governing the current fiscal year.

Chinese mills have been holding out for a cut in price of more than 33 percent, arguing that it is a matter of survival for many of them, but so far there has been no announced deal despite a substantial part of the contract year having already elapsed.

The case has cast a shadow over Australia-China trade, worth $53 billion in two-way terms in 2008. It has at times hurt the Australian dollar and also weighed down on the share prices of both Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton.

Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd is on informal leave for the rest of this week, despite calls for the former Beijing diplomat and fluent Mandarin speaker to intervene in the Rio detentions and call Chinese President Hu Jintao.

Australia has urged Chinese authorities to consider the risks for international business confidence in China. But Australia, which has relied on Chinese demand for resources to shield its economy from the global financial crisis, is treading carefully. (Reporting by Mark Bendeich; Editing by James Thornhill)