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According to the lawyer of former US Marine pilot Daniel Duggan, his client unknowingly entangled himself with a convicted Chinese hacker while providing aviation training in China. 

Duggan, a 55-year-old naturalized Australian citizen, is currently fighting extradition to the US on charges of violating arms control laws by allegedly training Chinese military pilots. His legal team is now arguing that Duggan was unaware of any illicit activities by his associates, including the hacker Su Bin, who was implicated in the theft of US military designs.

Duggan’s lawyer, Bernard Collaery, stated in recent court documents that his client knew Su Bin only as a contact from the Chinese state aviation company AVIC and was unaware of Bin’s hacking activities. US authorities’ interest in Duggan followed the discovery of communications between him and Su Bin on devices seized from Bin. These messages reportedly detailed payments for Duggan’s travels and other business dealings related to his aviation consultancy work in China.

The extradition case, which is set to be heard in Sydney this month, arises from Duggan’s arrest in rural Australia in 2022—two years post-arrest—and at a time of heightened scrutiny by Western countries over their citizens’ involvement with Chinese military operations. 

Through court filings, Collaery has argued that Duggan’s activities in China were legitimate business endeavors and that allegations of his involvement in military training are “unfounded.”