Di Sanh Duong, 65, has a relationship with a foreign intelligence agency, an Australian Federal Police statement said. Mr. Duong is president of the Oceania Federation of Chinese Organisations, a global group for Chinese people from Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos, and deputy chairman of the Museum of Chinese Australian History in Melbourne. “Foreign interference is contrary to Australia’s national interest, it goes to the heart of our democracy,” he said. “It is corrupting and deceptive, and goes beyond routine diplomatic influence practiced by governments.” Australia passed laws in 2018 that ban covert foreign interference in domestic politics and make industrial espionage for a foreign power a crime. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said this week that he hoped Australia would do more to bring relations back to the right track as early as possible.

Source: The Hindu November 06, 2020 11:44 UTC