Matthew Ng, 44, was formally charged Tuesday after being detained in Guangzhou, the capital of Guangdong province, on Nov. 16, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said in a statement.
Ng is CEO of a travel services company reportedly embroiled in a dispute with a local partner.
“The Australian government is monitoring developments closely to ensure due legal process is followed,” the statement said. “The Australian Consulate-General in Guangzhou has raised the Australian government’s strong interest in the case at senior levels of the Guangdong government.” The department would not comment on whether Ng was denying the charges. He remains listed as chief executive of the travel company, Et-China, on its website.
The case follows the arrest and subsequent conviction earlier this year in Shanghai of four employees of mining giant Rio Tinto, including Australian citizen Stern Hu, for bribery and infringing trade secrets. Hu was sentenced in April to a total of 10 years in prison while three colleagues were imprisoned for seven to 14 years.
At the time of his arrest, Hu was in charge of Rio Tinto’s troubled iron ore price negotiations with China, and the case raised worries over the vulnerability of employees of foreign companies to often selective enforcement of the country’s vague state secrets and corruption laws.
The government’s statement Thursday noted that Ng’s charges are very different to the ones faced by Hu.
Et-China has a joint venture handling e-ticketing sales and services for Guangzhou-based China Southern Airlines.
At the time of Ng’s arrest, Australian media said the detention was related to a business dispute between Et-China, which has shares listed on the London Stock Exchange, and another local partner, Guangdong Lingnan International Enterprises.
The Australian newspaper The Age said the two sides were at odds over control of a venture called Guangzhou GZL International Travel Services, which according to Et-China’s website is 50.6 percent owned by Et-China and is one of the country’s largest leisure tour operators.
Lingnan, a state-owned group that operates several prestigious Guangzhou hotels, opposed a planned acquisition of Et-China by Switzerland’s Kuoni Group, the report said.
Ng’s company bio says he has worked as an investment banker in Southeast Asia, Australia and New Zealand and was educated in New Zealand and Australia.
