Foreign interference: Who is Di Sanh Duong? What you need to know
The first person found guilty under Australian foreign interference laws will spend at least 12 months behind bars.
Here is everything you need to know about the case against Di Sanh Duong.
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* Di Sanh “Sunny” Duong, 68, was born in Vietnam and is ethnically Chinese
* He has a wife and a seven-year-old son
* Fled Vietnam to a refugee camp in Thailand in 1979 before coming to Australia as a refugee in 1980
* A member of the Victorian Liberal Party and ran, unsuccessfully, for a seat in the 1996 state election
* A leader and volunteer in Victoria’s Chinese community, he was president of Oceania Federation of Chinese Organisations
WHAT DID HE DO
* Planned for or prepared to commit foreign interference by trying to get close to Alan Tudge, who in 2020 was a member of the federal cabinet
* He did so on behalf of the Chinese Community Party
* Helped raise $37,450 for Royal Melbourne Hospital through the Oceania group for frontline workers during the COVID-19 pandemic
* Handed the money over via a novelty cheque to Mr Tudge in a media opportunity at the hospital in June 2020
* The cheque was used to forge a relationship with Mr Tudge, who he believed would one day be prime minister
* Duong was seen as an “ideal target” to work as an agent for the CCP’s United Front Work Department
* He was found guilty by a jury in December 2023
WHAT IS THE LAW
* In 2018 the Australian government introduced the National Security Amendment (Espionage and Foreign Interference) Act 2018 to combat the growing challenge of foreign interference
* Foreign interference is an activity carried out by or on behalf of a foreign government
* The activity could be coercive, threatening, deceptive or clandestine and undermine Australia’s sovereignty, values and national interests
* Duong was not charged with committing foreign interference, but with planning or preparing to commit it
WHY IS THIS SIGNIFICANT
* He was the first person in Australia to be charged under the national laws
* He was sentenced to a prison term of two years and nine months and must serve 12 months before he can be released on a good behaviour bond
