A New Zealand MP embroiled in a controversy over his past links to Chinese military intelligence worked as an intern with the Australian Senate's committee on foreign affairs, defence and trade in the 1990s.

Documents released to The New Zealand Herald under freedom of information of laws show that Jian Yang, who has found himself at the centre of a controversy over Chinese influence abroad, worked at the powerful committee for two months after leaving China, where he was a lecturer at the military-linked Luoyang Foreign Languages Institute, which trains spies.

Nationals MP Jian Yang at Chinese and Korean New Year festivities in the Auckland suburb of Northcote. Credit:Denise Piper

In his application for New Zealand residency in 1998, Mr Yang did not detail the sensitive nature of the institution he worked at, disclosing only employment with "Luoyang University".

Before moving to New Zealand, Mr Yang spent time in Australia and attained master's degree at the Australian National University in 1994. While undertaking a subsequent PhD, he was head of the university's Chinese Students and Scholars Association, an organisation linked to the Chinese embassy.