The United States ambassador to Australia has called on the Morrison government to take stronger action against alleged Chinese government political harassment of Australian residents.

Speaking on ABC television, Arthur Culvahouse said Uighurs in Australia were being monitored and followed by agents of the Chinese government and that the Chinese consul-general to Brisbane, Xu Jie, had encouraged the opposition to pro-Hong Kong democracy demonstrators at the University of Queensland.

US Ambassador to Australia Arthur B. Culvahouse jnr, Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese at Parliament House in October. Alex Ellinghausen

The ambassador's comments on Thursday morning came just hours after a Queensland University protest leader, Drew Pavlou, met US government officials in Washington, DC, to discuss his concerns about alleged Chinese government harassment in Australia.

Mr Pavlou and his lawyer Mark Tarrant met staff of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China, which monitors human rights in China for Congress, and the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission, which investigates national security and trade issues between the two nations.

University of Queensland student Drew Pavlou is a leader of pro-Hong Kong protests on campus. Attila Csaszar

"They were very supportive, they were fully across what has been going on in Australia," said Mr Tarrant, who does not believe the Australian government has done enough to support his client. He said it appeared that Mr Culvahouse in Australia was aware of some of the concerns they had raised this week during meetings in the US capital.

Mr Pavlou said the response to his meeting in the US suggested the American government was more concerned about alleged criminal behaviour of the Chinese government in Australia than the Australian government was.

Mr Pavlou was twice assaulted by masked men during a pro-Hong Kong democracy rally he arranged on the University of Queensland campus earlier this year. Later, Dr Xu made a statement supporting the "patriotic" actions of pro-Chinese government counter-demonstrators, and Mr Pavlou received death threats after being named in Chinese state-owned media. Dr Xu did not specifically support the acts of violence against Mr Pavlov in his statement.

Mr Pavlou and his lawyers have made a police complaint against Dr Xu and have sought a restraining order under the state's Peace and Good Behaviour Act.

Next week a Queensland magistrate will decide whether or not Dr Xu is covered by consular immunity after representation to that effect by the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

Mr Tarrant said it was appalling that the Australian government appeared to be acting on Dr Xu's behalf rather than for a vulnerable Australian student.

Asked what more he believed the government should be doing about the issues on Australian soil, Mr Culvahouse said Australians would be rightly furious if Americans behaved in such a way and would want his "head on a stick."

The US embassy and the Australian Foreign Minister, Marise Payne, have been approached for comment.