This week Beijing is fuming over Rio Tinto's rejection of a planned $19.5 billion investment by Chinalco, one of China's state-owned enterprises. The official Chinese Xinhua News Agency likened Rio Tinto to "a dishonorable woman."
Last Friday, that disreputable female, the world's second largest iron ore miner, announced it had exercised its option to back out of the Chinalco deal by paying the Chinese company a break fee of $195 million. On the same day, the Anglo-Australian concern announced a production joint venture deal with BHP Billiton ( BBL - news - people ), the world's third-largest iron ore miner. "The perfidy of Rio," said Xinhua, "seems somewhere between short-sightedness and possible political prejudice."
Read Full Article »