Convicted CCP Figure Jailed for 12 Months for Attempting to Influence Minister

Victorian businessman Di Sanh Duong is the first person to be charged and sentenced under Australia’s foreign interference laws.

Di Sanh Duong arrives at the County Court of Victoria in Melbourne, Australia on Feb. 29, 2024. AAP Image/Con Chronis

Following revelations from Australia’s domestic spy agency that a retired federal politician was actively spying for a foreign power, a County Court in Victoria has handed down a one-year sentence to the first person convicted of committing an act of foreign interference.

Vietnamese-born businessman Di Sanh Duong, 68, was found guilty by a jury of preparing for, or planning, an act of foreign interference on behalf of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) following a month-long trial in the County Court at the end of 2023.

He had used a $37,450 (US$26,000) donation to Royal Melbourne Hospital to try curry favour with then-federal Health Minister Alan Tudge, whom he believed could be a future prime minister.

In an intercepted phone call played at his trial, Mr. Duong told associates that Mr. Tudge could be a “patron or supporter for us” and to speak on issues “for us Chinese.”

A Novelty Cheque

Mr. Duong had raised money initially, as president of the Oceania Federation of Chinese Organisations, to be used for COVID-19 supplies, including gloves and masks.

The supplies were to come from China, but due to logistical difficulties, Mr. Duong instead, handed over a novelty cheque at a media event organised by Mr. Tudge’s office in June 2020.

Prosecutors said Mr. Duong, a former Victorian Liberal Party candidate and Chinese-Asian community leader, was a “practiced operative” of the United Front Work Department, a global program aiming to advance the CCP’s goals in foreign countries by influencing people in positions of power.

Mr. Duong pleaded not guilty and denied all allegations of foreign interference, but other calls played to the court had him admitting that he met with CCP leaders when he travelled to China, and boasting: “When I do things, it never gets reported in the newspaper but Beijing will know what I’m doing.”

‘Serious Example’ of the Offence: Judge

In sentencing Mr. Duong, Judge Richard Maidment said he had “exploited” his lack of prior criminal history, his good standing in the community, and his Liberal Party membership in committing the offending.

His targeting of a cabinet minister as the object of his criminal intent amounted to a “serious example of an inherently serious offence,” the judge said.

He imposed a two-year and nine-month prison term, after finding a term of imprisonment was the only appropriate sentence. Mr. Duonge must serve 12 months of that sentence before becoming eligible for release on a four-year good behaviour bond.

Mr. Duong, who has been on bail throughout the proceedings, cried and grabbed a tissue upon hearing the sentence.