The government has defended its handling of Australian businessman Stern Hu's case, after China jailed him for 10 years for taking bribes and stealing trade secrets.
Foreign Minister Stephen Smith says the government avoided engaging in megaphone diplomacy over the matter but did lobby for Hu, a Rio Tinto mining executive, to get a fair trial.
Mr Smith says he even personally raised the matter with the Chinese ambassador last week, in an eleventh hour bid to try and ensure Australian officials could observe all the proceedings - part of which were held in secret.
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Mr Smith has told ABC Radio the government is very strongly of the view that appropriate, strong and sensible representations were made at all key points of the process.
Unanswered questions
Mr Smith said there are serious unanswered questions about the trial's industrial spying portion, which was held in closed court, and he regrets that China has missed a chance to clarify the notion of commercial secrets for Australia and the international community.
But he insists yesterday's ruling won't have a substantial impact on China-Australia relations.
Hu and his three colleagues, sentenced to between seven and 14 years in prison, have been fired by Rio Tinto in the wake of the court ruling.
The mining giant says their actions were totally at odds with its strong ethical culture.
