Melbourne man charged over alleged links to foreign intelligence
A Melbourne man and Liberal Party candidate with alleged links to the Chinese Communist Party has become the nation’s first to be charged under new laws with preparing an act of foreign interference.
Police & Courts
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A former Liberal candidate who belongs to groups allegedly linked to the Chinese Communist Party has become the first person in Australia to be charged under new foreign interference laws.
Di Sanh Duong, 65, president of the Oceania Federation of Chinese Organisations and deputy chairman of the Museum of Chinese Australian History in Melbourne, was on Thursday charged with preparing an act of foreign interference.
The charge followed a year-long investigation by the Counter Foreign Interference Taskforce, led by spy agency the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation and the Australian Federal Police.
It involved raids on properties linked to Mr Duong, known as Sunny Duong, including his $1.7m Surrey Hills home.
Police believe Mr Duong, of Chinese and Vietnamese heritage, was connected to a foreign intelligence agency.
Sources said the Oceania Federation was linked to China’s United Front Work Department, while the museum had in recent years been taken over by Chinese Australians sympathetic to the CCP.
Mr Duong also serves on the museum board with former state Labor candidate Stanley Chiang.
Mr Duong ran as a Liberal Party candidate in the 1996 state election for the seat of Richmond. A Liberal source said he was famed for his outspoken anti-communist views and had left the party some years ago.
He has remained well connected to some high-level decision makers.
In June, Mr Duong presented a $37,450 cheque to the Royal Melbourne Hospital for COVID-19 research on behalf of the Oceania Federation, at a press conference held by federal Multicultural Affairs Minister Alan Tudge, who described the OFCO as a “terrific community organisation”.
AFP Deputy Commissioner Ian McCartney said: “The CFI Taskforce has taken preventive action to disrupt this individual at an early stage.
“Foreign interference is contrary to Australia’s national interest, it goes to the heart of our democracy. It is corrupting and deceptive.”
Mr Duong faced the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on Thursday, where he was granted bail. He is expected to reappear in court for a committal mention on March 11.
If convicted, he faces a maximum 10-year jail term.
Mr Duong is the first person in Australia to be charged with a foreign interference offence since the commonwealth introduced sweeping counterespionage laws in 2018.
Those target foreign interference in Australia’s political processes and include offences for theft of trade secrets on behalf of a foreign government.
Mr Duong was on Friday stood down from his position at the Museum of Chinese Australian History.
CEO Mark Wang distanced the museum from the scandal, saying the museum has a “strong policy not to promote any political viewpoint”.
“There is currently a news item circulating in the press reporting that one of the Museum of Chinese Australian History’s Board Members, Mr Duong Di Sanh, has been charged for “Foreign Interference” by the Australian Federal Police,” Mr Wang said in a statement.
“We are shocked and surprised of this occurrence and due to the gravity of the matter, Mr Duong has been stood down from his position as Board Member until hearings against him are completed.
“We are an Australian Museum that supports the life and culture of multicultural Australia and has a strong policy not to promote any political view point.”
The Australian Institute of International Affairs’ national executive director, Bryce Wakefield, said there had always been espionage and attempts at interference, but “certain actors have taken it to the next level in recent years”.
Neighbours said AFP officers recently spent a day raiding Mr Duong’s house before taking him into custody.
An elderly woman was at the single-storey brick home on Thursday but went inside and closed the curtains.
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