Sydney: The US is attempting to extradite a former military pilot from Australia after accusing him of illegally training Chinese military pilots.

However, the pilot's lawyer claims that his client has been unfairly singled out because of the current geopolitical conflict between the United States and China.

Daniel Duggan, 54, has been imprisoned in Australia since his arrest in October. Dennis Miralis, Duggan's lawyer, said outside a Sydney courtroom Tuesday that Duggan denies the allegations and will fight extradition at every step.

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Last month, Australia's Attorney-General, Mark Dreyfus, approved the US extradition request. However, before the extradition can take place, a judge must first decide whether Duggan is eligible for extradition under Australian law.

According to Miralis, the US Department of Defense acknowledged that other people were assisting foreign militaries, but the US and Australia had singled out Duggan for extradition.

"We are concerned that this accentuates the political nature of what is going on here," Miralis told reporters.

A 2016 indictment from the United States District Court for the District of Columbia was recently unsealed. Prosecutors claim Duggan was an officer in the United States Marine Corps and a naval aviator. They claim Duggan conspired with others to provide training to Chinese military pilots in 2010 and 2012, as well as possibly at other times, without first obtaining the necessary licence.

Prosecutors allege that Duggan received approximately nine payments totaling approximately $88,000 Australian dollars ($61,000) and international travel from another conspirator for what was sometimes referred to as "Personal Development Training."

According to the indictment, Duggan travelled to the United States, China, and South Africa, where he trained Chinese pilots.

According to Miralis, Duggan "contests and denies" the allegations.

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It should be noted that under US law, Mr. Duggan is presumed innocent. "Under Australian law, he is presumed innocent," Miralis said.

Miralis claimed that his client was subjected to inhumane and unacceptable living conditions at the Silverwater Correctional Complex, where he was housed alongside convicted felons and was designated an extreme high-risk inmate.

"As a result of the current restrictions, Mr. Duggan remains under extraordinary stress," Miralis said. He claimed Duggan had not been able to see his six children since his arrest three months ago.

According to Duggan's LinkedIn profile, he became the general manager of AVIBIZ Limited in 2017, "a comprehensive consultancy company with a focus on the fast growing and dynamic Chinese Aviation Industry." AVIBIZ's headquarters are in Qingdao, a city in eastern Shandong province.

Duggan served in the United States Marine Corps for 13 years, until 2002. During his service, he became an AV-8B Harrier fighter pilot and an instructor pilot.

From 2005 to 2014, he lived in Australia, where he founded and became chief pilot of Top Gun Tasmania, a company based in Tasmania that offered joy flights in a British military jet trainer BAC Jet Provost and a Chinese military propeller-driven trainer CJ-6A Nanchang.

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In 2014, he relocated to Beijing. It is unclear whether he remained in China or what he was doing in Australia when he was apprehended.

Since 1976, the United States and Australia have had an extradition treaty.