BHP Billiton Has Not Pulled Western Staff Out Of China
July 14 2009 - 10:36PM
Dow Jones News
BHP Billiton Ltd. (BHP) said Wednesday a report that it has
pulled western staff out of its offices in China over fears of a
state crack down in the iron ore sector is incorrect.
The Australian Financial Review reported that some Australian
employees of BHP and Rio Tinto Ltd. (RTP) had now moved out of
China in the wake of the detention of four Rio Tinto iron ore
employees over allegations of stealing state secrets.
A spokeswoman for BHP said the report wasn't true and that the
company's foreign staff were operating as normal in China.
"We don't differentiate between our Chinese staff and our
western staff based in China," she said.
"All our people are continuing to work in the Shanghai office as
normal."
Rio Tinto wasn't immediately available for comment.
-By Alex Wilson, Dow Jones Newswires; 61-3-9292-2094;
alex.wilson@dowjones.com