You appear to be letting the facts get in the way of your argument. The below quote is from the Australian and is about Chinese Government officials stating that the chinese interest should be involved. This is an obvious attempt to interfere in market based pricing and a get a discount to below market prices.
Your argument that the Australian Government would not accept RIO selling for discounted prices reflects a misunderstanding of the role of Government versus private companies. Private companies can sell products at discounted prices if they wish. If the Chinese had a few board positions on RIO, they could easily push for lower iron ore prices to the disadavantage of other RIO shareholders (including me).
Story follows
CHINESE officials have weighed into the debate on iron ore price negotiations between major producers and steel mills, saying the country's interest should be reflected in the annual talks.
Yao Jian, spokesman for the Ministry of Commerce, said today that China's interest should be reflected in the iron ore negotiations and that China advocates sticking to the mechanism for long-term iron ore price agreements.
