Di Sanh ‘Sunny’ Duong found guilty of foreign interference over $37k donation

Melbourne businessman Di Sanh “Sunny” Duong has become the first person convicted under foreign interference laws for trying to curry favour with former federal minister Alan Tudge.

Di Sanh Duong was found guilty by a County Court jury on Tuesday. Picture: Nicki Connolly

A Melbourne businessman linked to the Chinese government has become the first person convicted under foreign interference laws for trying to curry favour with former federal minister Alan Tudge.

Di Sanh “Sunny” Duong, 68, was on Tuesday found guilty of preparing an act of foreign interference over a $37,450 donation to the Royal Melbourne Hospital during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Duong, a former Victorian Liberal candidate and long-time party member, used the donation to cultivate a relationship with the former acting Immigration Minister as a preparatory act to influence him in favour of Chinese Communist Party (CCP) positions.

He claimed the donation was to help frontline healthcare workers and to counter anti-Chinese sentiment.

But a County Court jury found him guilty after a week of deliberations, making him the first person to be tried and convicted since the laws were passed in 2018.

A County Court jury found Di Sanh Duong guilty on Tuesday Picture: Andrew Henshaw

Former federal minister Alan Tudge Picture: David Crosling

The three-week trial heard Duong — a prominent businessman and leader in Melbourne’s Chinese community — was recruited by United Front, a global CCP organisation that advocated policies such as the reunification with Taiwan.

He was the president of an organisation known as the Oceania Federation of Chinese Organisations from Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos and also involved with other groups which carried out work for United Front.

The trial heard United Front ran a global program of influence directed towards 40 million ethnic Chinese people living overseas, seeking to co-opt them to advance the goals of the CCP.

Duong was in contact with CCP officials, picked up on intercepted phone calls discussing how China’s interests could be advanced and met with officials from China’s Ministry of State Security during overseas trips.

In June 2020, Duong donated $37,450 to the Royal Melbourne Hospital, with a giant novelty cheque presented in front of a media pack invited by Mr Tudge’s office.

The trial heard Duong believed Mr Tudge was a potential future prime minister who was “gentle” and not prone to step on other people’s toes.

Prosecutor Patrick Doyle SC said Duong was laying the groundwork to influence Mr Tudge in favour of the CCP positions in the future.

While it was not illegal to be associated with the CCP or lobby on behalf of governments, Mr Doyle said such interests needed to be declared.

He said the case was not about espionage but rather about how the government of one country sought to interfere in the governance of others.

“Before you start thinking of spy novels and James Bond films, this is not really a case about espionage,” he said in his opening address.

“It’s not really a case about spies as such. It’s a case about a much more subtle form of interference. It’s about influence.”

In March 2019, Duong sent then Liberal Party president Robert Clark a list of ideas the Coalition should take to the federal election.

They included China build high speed rail from Melbourne to Brisbane funded with mining resources, Australia join the Belt and Road initiative and it cut ties with the United States.

Duong had his bail extended but was banned from leaving Victoria and must report daily to police.

He will return to court for a pre-sentence hearing at a later date.

The offence carries a maximum 10-year jail term.