First person charged under Australia's foreign interference laws denies working for China

Former Liberal Party candidate Di Sanh Duong departs from the County Court of Victoria in Melbourne, Australia, Thursday, Nov. 16, 2023. Lawyers for the first person to be charged under Australia's foreign interference laws have told a court on Friday that a hospital donation made through a federal government minister was not a covert attempt to curry favor on behalf of the Chinese Communist Party. - Diego Fedele/AAP Image via AP

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) - Lawyers for the first person to be charged under Australia’s foreign interference laws insisted in court Friday that a donation to a hospital made via a federal government minister was not a covert attempt to curry favor on behalf of the Chinese Communist Party.

Melbourne businessman and local community leader Di Sanh Duong, 68, has pleaded not guilty in the Victoria state County Court to a charge of preparing for or planning an act of foreign interference. Vietnam-born Duong, who came to Australia in 1980 as a refugee, faces a potential 10-year prison sentence if convicted in the landmark case.