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An Australian judge has ruled that a former US Marine pilot, Daniel Duggan, can be extradited from Australia to the United States to face charges of training Chinese military pilots.

Duggan, 55, who is also an Australian citizen, faces multiple charges in the US, including money laundering and violating arms control laws by allegedly training Chinese military pilots to land on aircraft carriers. He has denies all allegations. 

Magistrate Daniel Reiss said that the conditions for extradition were met, declaring, “Mr. Duggan is eligible for surrender.” Duggan’s legal team argued that there is no proof that the pilots he trained were military personnel and noted that Duggan became an Australian citizen in January 2012, before the alleged offenses. Conversely, US authorities argue that Duggan remained a US citizen until 2016, when he formally renounced his citizenship at the US embassy in Beijing.

Duggan’s wife, Saffrine, expressed their intention to appeal to Attorney General Mark Dreyfus to reject the extradition. Duggan has a 15-day window to seek a review of this ruling, with the final decision resting with Australia’s Attorney General.

Duggan’s case involves seven co-conspirators, including convicted Chinese hacker Su Bin, though Duggan’s defense argues the hacking charges are unrelated.

Duggan’s connection to Su Bin, who pled guilty in 2016 to hacking US defense contractors and stealing military aircraft designs, complicates the case. According to Duggan’s lawyer, Duggan was prevented from leaving China in 2014 and was acquainted with Su Bin through employment with a Chinese aviation company.