'Business as usual'
Since the time of writing, Stern Hu has "made some admissions", in the words of the Australian consul general in Shanghai, involving two bribes totalling almost $1m.
But there's a good deal of conjecture here about whether this should be interpreted as a genuine expression of guilt, or part of a pre-trial strategy to limit the sentence against him. Given that the Chinese authorities decided to press charges, the working assumption here has been that Stern Hu and his co-accused would be found guilty.
I also promised to update you on what Tom Albanese, the chief executive of Rio Tinto, had said during his speech in Beijing, which was delivered on the very day that his employees went on trial in Shanghai. Here it is:
"Our commercial ties go back 50 years and [for] most of that time we've enjoyed a strong relationship with China," Mr Albanese said in an economic forum attended by international business leaders and Chinese government officials.
"Only in the last year did we come across some difficulties, which we are working hard to resolve. Last year we did see four of our employees detained in Shanghai," he went on.
"This issue is obviously of great concern to us, as it would be for any company operating in China. I can only say we respectfully await the outcome of the Chinese legal process."
His comments amplify one of the main points of the blog that both the Australian government and the Anglo-Australian mining giant have tried to minimise the commercial and diplomatic fall-out, and have adopted a policy of normalisation - or, put another way - business as usual.
I'm 
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