An Australia court on Tuesday found a Melbourne man who held prominent positions in Chinese community associations guilty of planning an act of foreign interference, the first verdict of its kind under a law introduced in 2018.
Police in Victoria state had charged Di Sanh Duong, a former member of the Liberal Party, in 2020 with preparing or planning an act of foreign interference, and the court found him guilty of these charges, the Australia Federal Police (AFP) said in a statement.
Local media reported prosecutors had told the court that Duong had been in regular contact with Chinese intelligence and had sought to influence a federal government minister to further the aims of the Chinese Communist Party.
Ethnic Chinese is first person charged under Australia’s espionage act
Duong, an ethnic Chinese from Vietnam who immigrated to Australia in the 1970s, pleaded not guilty. He will be sentenced at a later date.
Duong, who also goes by the name Sunny, served as deputy chairman of the Museum of Chinese Australian History, a popular tourist attraction in Melbourne’s Chinatown, and was also president of the Oceania Federation of Chinese Organisations, which represents ethnic Chinese from Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos.
Geoff Wade, a historian who has studied Sino-Asian ties and Chinese influence efforts, posted on X, when it was still known as Twitter, that the federation is a member of the United Front network, which promotes Beijing‘s interests overseas, such as its stance on the unification of mainland China and Taiwan.
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Under the law, a foreign interference activity undermines Australia’s national interests and is secretly carried out on behalf of a foreign government.
“Foreign interference remains a significant national security priority for the AFP,” the police statement said.
When the law was introduced to parliament, then Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull cited allegations of Chinese government interference in Australian politics and universities, sparking an angry response from Beijing.
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