Liberal MP Gladys Liu struggles with questions on China links in an interview with Andrew Bolt.

Chinese state media has slammed Sky News host Andrew Bolt’s “TV lynching” of Liberal backbencher Gladys Liu last week while issuing a veiled threat to Australia not to become a “pawn” of the US.

The opinion piece, authored by Chen Hong, director of the Australian Studies Centre at East China Normal University and published on Tuesday in the Communist Party mouthpiece the Global Times, said Bolt “intimidated and interrogated” Ms Liu “on her social affiliation and connection with a few Australian-Chinese associations”.

“The target of this ferocious attack was not Gladys Liu herself but China,” it said.

“By insinuating Liu was a Chinese agent who had infiltrated Australia’s federal political arena, Cold War combatants have sounded the alarm once again on China as an evil menace to Australia’s political sovereignty and national independence. The actions have provoked a new wave of paranoid hysteria among China-threat conspiracy theories.”

It added, “This 21st century witch-hunt has the unmistakeable aftertaste of McCarthyism, the mythology of the Reds under the bed, which led to Liu’s television lynching. It also terrorises those who hold more independent and unbiased views on China-related issues.”

The Global Times opinion piece came as the Herald Sun revealed Ms Liu promised to write references for foreign students in return for volunteering on her campaign, and that Communist Party-linked groups donated to her state parliament run in 2014.

She is also facing a High Court challenge to her election victory after failed independent candidate Oliver Yates launched legal action against Ms Liu, Treasurer Josh Frydenberg and the Liberal Party over campaign signs written in Chinese that he claims misled voters.

The piece accused “bloodthirsty anti-China hawks like Bolt, (Charles Sturt University China expert Clive) Hamilton and their ilk” of hurting Australia’s national interest.

“The demonisation of China, Australia’s largest economic partner, is irrational and irresponsible. Both countries have been economically, socially and culturally linked with shared interests and benefits,” it said.

“China is the biggest importer of Australia’s high-quality, market-priced products and services, which means senseless attempts to decouple the two economies will only be detrimental to the interest and wellbeing of Australia and Australians.”

It added, “The US has consistently instigated their allies to act as pawns by enlisting more support to gain leverage in its economic war against China. Will Canberra fall for the heinous trap and serve as Washington’s legionnaire in the Asia-Pacific while the Trump administration espouses its America First policy?”

Ms Liu, who won the Victorian seat of Chisholm in the May federal election, stumbled through a trainwreck interview with Bolt on September 10, where she dodged questions and repeatedly refused to criticise China or its President Xi Jinping.

Subsequent revelations raised serious questions about her ties to the Chinese Communist Party, sparking calls from Labor and the crossbench for her to step down and a fierce defence from Prime Minister Scott Morrison, who accused her critics of racism.

“It was a decent gesture that (Mr) Morrison condemned the defamation of Liu’s political allegiance, calling such finger-pointing as ‘casting a smear on Chinese Australians’,” the Global Times opinion piece said.

“In contrast to his predecessor Malcolm Turnbull’s reckless spoiling of the Australia-China relations, clear reason and judgment have prevailed for Morrison.”

The piece went on to warn Mr Morrison, who arrives in the US for a week-long trip tomorrow, against getting too close to President Donald Trump. “Arthur Culvahouse, the US ambassador to Canberra, recently demanded that Australia should ‘play a great power leadership role in the region’,” it said.

“Culvahouse … said Australia needs to have more confidence and courage to combat China with the US. It is this condescending attitude and self-interest that has signified US foreign policy. Morrison would be better off if he kept Australia’s national interests in mind while savouring foie gras at the White House.”

frank.chung@news.com.au