Australian Businessman Accused of Selling State Secrets to Suspected Chinese Spies and Creating a Spying 'Shopping List'

An Australian businessman, Alexander Csergo, has been charged with a foreign interference offense for allegedly accepting cash from suspected Chinese intelligence agents and providing them with intelligence priorities, including information about Australia's AUKUS defense technology partnership with the United States and Britain. Csergo, who had lived in China for decades, has been refused bail and is being held as a high security prisoner. He is the second person charged under Australia's foreign interference law, which carries a maximum 15 year prison sentence. Csergo's lawyer has argued that the case against his client is "shallow and unsubstantiated."