Di Sanh Duong arrives at the County Court of Victoria on Thursday.Credit:AAP
Judge Richard Maidment said Duong,68,maintained contact before and during his offending in 2020 with Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officials both in Australia and overseas.
The court heard he would use the encrypted appWeChat to communicate with people he believed to be operatives of the Chinese Ministry of State Security.
Maidment said in June 2020,Duong presented then-federal minister Alan Tudge with a well-publicised $37,450 donation to the Royal Melbourne Hospital using funds from the Oceania Federation of Chinese Organisations,of which he was president.
The prosecution said it was Duong’s intention to solicit Tudge’s future help.
Duong appeared at a press conference held by then-minister Alan Tudge and presented a $37,450 cheque to the Royal Melbourne Hospital.
“The purpose of that future conduct was to influence Mr Tudge,regarding the political or governmental process in Australia,to the advantage of the CCP,” Maidment said.
“You deliberately selected Mr Tudge as a target for future foreign interference offence … precisely because of Mr Tudge’s political power in Australian Liberal government.”