Landmark Verdict: Australian Businessman Convicted of Covert Chinese Communist Party Collaboration

groundbreaking legal development as Australian businessman Di Sanh Duong is convicted of covert collaboration with the Chinese Communist Party in a historic verdict. Explore the intricacies of the case, including a substantial donation to the Royal Melbourne Hospital, intercepted phone calls, and the broader implications for Australia’s foreign influence laws. Stay informed on this landmark decision shaping the country’s stance on external interference and national security priorities.

Verdict on Australian businessman Di Sanh Duong

In a historic legal development, a Melbourne court has rendered a guilty verdict against 68-year-old Australian businessman Di Sanh Duong for his clandestine association with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). This landmark decision marks the first instance of a conviction under Australia’s foreign influence laws, introduced in 2018 to address concerns about external interference in domestic politics.

Duong, a prominent figure in Melbourne’s Chinese community, faced charges related to preparing or planning an act of foreign interference, carrying a maximum prison sentence of 10 years. The case, brought forward by Victoria state police in 2020, alleged that Duong sought to influence former federal government minister Alan Tudge through a sizable donation to the Royal Melbourne Hospital three years prior.

Photographs from a June 2, 2020 event at the hospital depict Duong presenting Tudge with a novelty check for 37,450 Australian dollars ($25,000). The funds were raised by the Oceania Federation of Chinese Organizations from Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos, a diaspora group led by Duong. Federal prosecutors contended that the donation was an attempt to gain favor with Tudge, though the minister himself faced no allegations of misconduct.

During the trial, the prosecution presented an intercepted phone call from April 2020, in which Duong discussed the strategic value of his relationship with Tudge, whom he viewed as a potential future Australian prime minister. Prosecution lawyer Patrick Doyle argued that Duong, a former member of the Victorian state branch of Australia’s Liberal Party, was an “ideal target” for China’s United Front Work Department.

The United Front is an expansive organization overseen by the CCP, responsible for cultivating relationships with elites outside the party, including the Chinese diaspora. It has long been accused by researchers and Western nations, including the United States, of orchestrating global foreign influence operations on behalf of the Chinese government.

Doyle asserted in court that Duong, by virtue of his political background, would be a strategic asset for the United Front. “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 explained.

Prosecutors further claimed that Duong had been in contact with Chinese state security officials. In a recorded wiretapped phone call, Duong was heard saying, “When I do things, it never gets reported in the newspaper, but Beijing will know what I’m doing.”

The sentencing for Di Sanh Duong is scheduled for next year, with the potential for significant implications. The Australian Federal Police issued a statement applauding the verdict, emphasizing that countering foreign interference remains a top national security priority.

Opposition home affairs spokesperson James Paterson, in a statement on social media, welcomed the guilty verdict as “Australia’s first-ever foreign interference case.” He emphasized the importance of successful prosecutions in deterring further attempts to interfere in the country’s democracy, urging law enforcement to continue enforcing the law robustly.