Australian man denied bail over suspected Chinese spy reports.

An Australian man, Alexander Csergo, has been denied bail after being charged with a foreign interference offence for allegedly accepting cash from suspected Chinese intelligence agents. Csergo, who had lived in China for decades, is accused of writing reports for China's Ministry of State Security on Australia's AUKUS defence technology partnership with the United States and Britain, the QUAD diplomatic partnership, iron ore and lithium mining. He is the second person charged under Australia's foreign interference law, which carries a maximum 15 year prison sentence. Csergo's lawyer argued that the case against his client was "shallow and unsubstantiated," but the prosecution said Csergo had engaged covertly with two others to prepare reports.