The detention of Stern Hu for allegedly bribing Chinese state officials and stealing state secrets, has resulted in both political parties engaging in a frenzy of spin which has dominated our media in the past few weeks.
Foreign Affairs Minister Stephen Smith said Hu was conducting normal commercial negotiations which is not an offence in Australian law. That may be so, but Hu is being detained for ''bribing a state official'' and this is certainly a serious offence in Australian law. Opposition Leader Malcolm Turnbull has gone even further. He criticised the Chinese ambassador in Canberra and demanded that Prime Minister Kevin Rudd immediately contact his Chinese counterpart and demand that Hu be released.
The Chinese appear to have handled the matter in accordance with consular agreements and Trade Minister Simon Crean is satisfied that Hu is in good health and has no complaint about his treatment. So, what is all the fuss about? Hu's case is not being helped by the intervention of both our political parties for cheap political gain.
Major-General Alan Stretton (ret), Batemans Bay
I know nothing of the circumstances of Stern Hu's arrest, but protests of innocence are not always to be believed.
In Britain in the 1960s, a Russian spy, Gordon Lonsdale, was arrested and sentenced to 40 years jail. The Russians then arrested a British businessman working in Moscow called Greville Wynne, accusing him of being a spy.
Britain agreed to a prisoner exchange so they could right the wrong of poor Greville being victimised and swapped Gordon Lonsdale for Greville. Years later, Greville wrote a book admitting that he was a spy and was the MI6 controller of Oleg Penkovsky.
George Beaton, Greenway
Eating crow
It must be quiet at The Canberra Times today. The Adelaide Crows won on Saturday and Fremantle barely scored.
I still have the article where the Times compared AFL teams to countries. Adelaide was compared to the US everyone loves to beat them. Especially Jack Waterford, I imagine, who has insulted South Australia occasionally.
Of course, you will have your chance to mock Adelaide again this week, as it plays St Kilda. But this week I'm crowing. In fact Adelaide has won 10 games this season when it was barely expected to win any. That must really tick you lot off.
John Cleland, Latham
Learning ways
It is always interesting to read articles based on the notion that greater learning occurs in the workplace than in educational settings, particularly when written by academics (''On the track of ignorance'', July 13, p9).
Over 30 years ago when the secondary colleges were set up in Canberra there was a determination to make sure that they offered as wide a range of courses as possible in an adult climate. Unfortunately political and departmental support for such a concept has withered. It is difficult to see why working in menial jobs provides better learning outcomes for our young people than attending Years 11 and 12.
Jenny Stewart's claim that ''it is a furphy that if we keep them in school for longer, bored and disruptive kids will somehow be transformed into model citizens'' is of course nonsense. No one claims that, but what is undoubtedly true is that most young people are better off in a formal learning situation than working on the edges of decent employment and often being exploited. Parents should not be persuaded otherwise.
Steve Thomas, Yarralumla
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