The Liberal MP Gladys Liu has refused to explicitly criticise China after questions about her connections to Chinese Communist party propaganda organisations.

The Chisholm MP also would not say China’s actions in the South China Sea are unlawful, despite an international tribunal finding otherwise.

Liu appeared on Sky News’ The Bolt Report on Tuesday night after an ABC story claimed she was an office-holder with two organisations that were later rolled into China’s United Front propaganda arm.

She said she could not recall whether she had been a council member for two China Overseas Exchange Association chapters from 2003 to 2015.

“If I can’t recall, I can’t be an active member of that council can I?” she told the Sky News host Andrew Bolt.

Liu said she was a member of the Chinese Professional and Business Association, which she mentioned in her first speech to parliament.

“I have no knowledge that that organisation was part of whatever influential China body. If it was, it was definitely not during my time,” she said.

Liu was also asked multiple times if she believed China’s claim to the South China Sea was unlawful, but she refused.

“My understanding is that a lot of countries (are) trying to claim ownership, sovereignty of the South China Sea, because of various reasons and my position is with the Australian government,” she said.

“I want to make sure that Australia’s interests are put first and foremost, and if it is going to affect our trade, or our air travelling, then definitely that is something I would not support.”

In 2017, the then Labor frontbencher Sam Dastyari was forced to resign after comments he made that appeared to suggest Australia should be neutral on the South China Sea and that the “Chinese integrity of its borders is a matter for China”.

In 2016, an international tribunal sitting in the Hague found there was no legal basis for China to claim exclusive economic rights to the South China Sea and resources in the area, a ruling that Beijing reacted angrily to and has refused to abide by.

The tribunal declared that “although Chinese navigators and fishermen, as well as those of other states, had historically made use of the islands in the South China Sea, there was no evidence that China had historically exercised exclusive control over the waters or their resources”.