Former Labor leader Kim Beazley has joined a growing chorus of senior opposition figures telling the embattled Sam Dastyari he needs to consider resigning from the Senate in the wake of mounting revelations about his relationship with China.

Mr Beazley, a noted defence and foreign policy specialist who also served as Australia's ambassador to Washington, was speaking after Fairfax Media revealed Senator Dastyari had tried in 2015 to urge then shadow foreign affairs spokeswoman Tanya Plibersek to abandon a meeting with a pro-democracy activist in Hong Kong.

The New South Wales senator has also come under fire for tipping off a Chinese Communist Party-linked billionaire that his phone might have been tapped by intelligence agencies and contradicted Labor policy by taking a pro-Beijing line on South China Sea disputes.

Mr Beazley said Senator Dastyari needed to consider the example of politicians who've stepped aside when their ongoing problems have made it hard for their parties to stay on message.