Di Sanh Duong jailed after guilty verdict in foreign interference test case
Foreign interference “no longer a cost-free exercise” after Chinese community leader Di Sanh Duong was jailed after he attempted to use a $37,450 donation to influence former minister Alan Tudge.
Chinese community leader Di Sanh Duong will spend at least 12 months in jail after he became the first person to be tried and convicted for preparing or planning an act of foreign interference when he sought to influence former Liberal MP Alan Tudge.
The ex-Liberal candidate for Richmond, affectionately known as “Sunny”, clutched tissues and wiped his tears as he leaned toward his translator to learn his fate in the Melbourne County Court on Thursday.
Justice Richard Maidment sentenced the Duong, 68, to two years and nine months imprisonment, however he can be released after 12 months on a four-year good behaviour bond.
Australia’s foreign interference laws were passed in 2018.
The month-long trial centred around a well-publicised $37,450 hospital donation the Victorian businessman handed to former Coalition Minister Alan Tudge, who he tried to influence, in June 2020 for the Royal Melbourne Hospital.
Duong initially tried to raise money for medical supplies, however a cheque was instead given in a bid to curb negative sentiment around the Chinese community during Covid-19.
The court heard that three months after the donation, Duong sought assistance from Mr Tudge to help him obtain a travel exemption for his associate and reminded him of the financial contribution he made.
Justice Maidment said imprisonment was the only appropriate sentence, and that Duong showed a lack of remorse or acknowledgement of criminal responsibility.
“I am equally satisfied that ... you deliberately selected Minister Tudge as a target of the future foreign influence offence precisely because of Minister Tudge’s political power as a Minister in the Australian Federal Government, and because you believed that he could potentially be persuaded to influence Australian Government policy in a manner favourable to the Chinese Communist Party,” he said.
“I also find ... that you maintained contact prior to and during the offending with Chinese Communist Party officials both in Australia and overseas.”
Justice Maidment said he accepted that Duong breached the trust of the Liberal Party and members of the Oceania Federation, whom he collected donations from.
“Indeed, as the evidence at the trial amply demonstrated, such covert methodology was a feature of what is known as the United Front Work System, which is employed worldwide by the so-called United Front Work Department which operates under the direction and control of the Chinese Communist Party.”
The court revisited evidence and facts from the trial, including that Duong was president of the Oceania Federation of Chinese Associations, and that he attended a 70th anniversary event for the national day in Beijing, an invite an expert witness said indicated a level of trust and prestige.
The County Court judge agreed with the prosecution that Duong’s offending was regarded as sophisticated, a sentiment that circles back to prosecutor Patrick Doyle’s opening remarks in November that the case was not like a Bond film, but a “subtle form of interference”.
“The prosecution conceded that there were aspects of conduct that lacked sophistication. In particular, it was accepted that the written list of policy suggestions put forward in 2019 to Robert Clarke ... were vague, impractical and unlikely to be taken seriously,” he said.
“Nevertheless, it was submitted that your approach is an example of you using your long association with the Australian Liberal Party to gain access to ... a senior person of influence in the Victorian political arena.”
He said the 2019 incident provides context to the motivation behind Duong’s approach to Mr Tudge.
Defence lawyer David Carolan argued that his client’s offending was on the lower end of the scale, however Justice Maidment appeared to disagree and said the case “mounts to a serious example of an inherently serious offence” and that imprisonment was the appropriate course of action.
In handing down his judgement, Justice Maidment said it was “impossible to ignore” media reports of ASIO boss Mike Burgess’ comments on alleged historical instances of foreign interference.
“I had no advance warning of those statements or the timing of them,” he said at the end of the sentencing.
“I do not detect any link with the facts of this case. I make it crystal clear that I have not been influenced in my sentencing decision or reasoning by anything in the press reporting.”
The court was told of Duong’s struggles in the past, including that he fled Vietnam by boat in 1979 with 600 other people and had a “terrible experience”, including witnessing dead bodies being thrown overboard and an attack by Thai pirates.
He arrived in Australia in 1980 on a refugee visa, and joined the Richmond branch of the Liberal Party where he was elected president in 1992. In 1996, he ran unsuccessfully for Victorian parliament.
The judge acknowledged that Duong suffers and takes medication for symptoms associated with glaucoma and diabetes after receiving treatment for a medical emergency in China in 2019.
Duong identified Mr Tudge as a foreign interference target in April 2020, and believed was someone who could become Australia’s future prime minister.
The trial heard from Mr Tudge, Victoria’s former attorney-general Robert Clarke, and expert witnesses whose identities were protected.
Prosecutor Patrick Doyle argued that the former Liberal Party member was involved with several Chinese organisations that had ties to the CCP agency United Front Work Department and told the court Duong had sent Mr Clarke policy suggestions on the Australian-Chinese relationship.
The prosecution said Duong exploited his good standing in the community and service to the Liberal Party to aid his offending.
Opposition Home Affairs spokesman James Paterson told The Australian that the court’s decision is “very welcome”.
“It sends the message that Australia treats foreign interference and espionage seriously, and there are serious criminal penalties for those who break the law,” Senator Paterson said.
“Anyone contemplating this activity, and their spymasters in Beijing or anywhere else, will now know this is no longer a cost-free exercise”.
The Australian Federal Police said it’s year-long criminal investigation identified Duong as trying to influence the federal government minister in a bit to pursue objectives of a foreign government.
AFP Acting Assistant Commissioner of Counter Terrorism and Special Investigations Stephen Nutt said espionage and foreign interference represents a serious threat to Australia’s sovereignty.
“Foreign state actors undertaking these activities are intent on creating and pursuing opportunities to interfere with Australians - from decision-makers at all levels of government, across a range of business sectors, and even in our local communities,” he said.
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