In a first for Australian law, Melbourne businessman and former Victorian state Liberal candidate Di Sanh Duong has been found guilty under Australian foreign interference laws and sentenced to at least 12 months in jail.
The Chinese-Australian national has been accused of unlawfully attempting to influence former federal Liberal MP Alan Tudge, who Duong reportedly believed would be the next Prime Minister.
Prosecutors argued that arranging for Tudge to receive a $37,450 donation on behalf of the Royal Melbourne Hospital in June 2020 was an attempt to garner favour with the MP on behalf of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
No direct links
While Duong has no direct links to the CCP itself, he allegedly liaised with Chinese intelligence operatives, specifically the United Front Work Department, to act ‘on behalf of’ the party.
As a former state Liberal party candidate and a leader in the Chinese Community, Commonwealth prosecutor Patrick Doyle SC described Duong as “an ideal target” to become a clandestine operative for the United Front Work Department.
“A main goal of this system is to win over friends for the Chinese Communist Party, it involves generating sympathy for the party and its policies,” he said.
He said Duong told an associate he was building a relationship with Tudge, who “will be the prime minister in the future” and would become a “supporter/patron for us”.
The prosecuting judge Richard Maidment found Duong guilty of planning to commit an act of foreign interference, a sentence that carries a maximum penalty of 10 years jail.
Duong was sentenced to two years and nine months but could be released after serving 12 months on bond.
Judge Maidment said Tudge and another former MP, Robert Clark, were not implicated in any wrongdoing and there was no evidence or suggestion they had been influenced improperly by Duong.