The Guardian - China-Ex-Liberal candidate found guilty of using donation to attempt to influence Morrison government for China
December 19, 2023 2 min 408 words
这则报道揭示了一场澳大利亚政治中的外国干涉之争。在这个案例中，68岁的商人杜显阳因涉嫌通过3.7万美元医院捐款试图影响莫里森政府，成为首位因此被判有罪的人。这引发了对澳大利亚2018年制定的禁止对国内政治进行秘密外国干涉的法律的关注。控方声称，杜显阳试图为中国共产党争取政治影响，特别是与前联邦教育部长艾伦·特奇德建立关系。然而，辩护律师则坚称这笔捐款是对抗疫情期间对华人社区不公正看法的真诚尝试。这一案件突显了对外国势力介入澳大利亚政治的担忧，以及如何区分合法政治活动和潜在的外国干涉。
A Melbourne businessman has become the first person found guilty of preparing or planning an act of foreign interference under recent federal laws, over a $37,000 hospital donation.
Di Sanh Duong, 68, faced a month-long jury trial in Melbourne’s county court after being the first person charged under the laws, created in 2018, which ban covert foreign interference in domestic politics.
Prosecutors argued at the trial that Duong planned to gain political influence with the former federal education minister Alan Tudge, on behalf of the Chinese Communist party (CCP).
He did so by arranging for Tudge to receive a $37,450 donation on behalf of the Royal Melbourne hospital in June 2020, money he had raised as president of the Oceania Federation of Chinese Organisations.
Tudge was not accused of any wrongdoing, and had told the trial that his office had organised a media event where a novelty cheque was handed over at the hospital in June 2020.
The former minister told the court he was concerned about “ugly racism” faced by the Australian Chinese community after the pandemic took hold.
Commonwealth prosecutor Patrick Doyle SC told the court that the CCP would have seen Duong, a former Victorian Liberal party candidate and Chinese community leader, as “an ideal target” to work as an agent for its United Front Work Department.
“A main goal of this system is to win over friends for the Chinese Communist Party, it involves generating sympathy for the party and its policies,” he said.
He said Duong told an associate he was building a relationship with Tudge, who “will be the prime minister in the future” and would become a “supporter/patron for us”.
Duong pleaded not guilty and denied all allegations about foreign interference.
His barrister, Peter Chadwick KC, said the donation was a genuine attempt by Duong to help frontline healthcare workers during the pandemic and combat anti-China sentiment.
“The fear of Covid hung like a dark cloud over the Chinese community in Melbourne,” he told the jury.
“It’s against this backdrop that Mr Duong and other ethnic Chinese members of our community decided that they wanted to do something to change these unfair perceptions.”
However, a jury disagreed and returned a guilty verdict on Tuesday afternoon after more than a week of deliberations.
Duong will remain on bail with stricter conditions, including that he must report daily and cannot leave Victoria.
He will return to court for a pre-sentence hearing in February.