A spokesman for Senator Sam Dastyari rejected the claims as "complete rubbish". Credit:Dominic Lorrimer Senator Dastyari was on a China trip at the same time paid for by an organisation controlled by Communist Party-aligned Labor and Coalition political donor and businessman Huang Xiangmo. A spokesman for Senator Dastyari rejected the claims as "complete rubbish". "It simply did not occur," the spokesman said. However, multiple sources say Senator Dastyari repeatedly attempted to warn Ms Plibersek that her meetings in Hong Kong would upset figures in the Chinese community in Australia. They say he left messages on her phone and contacted her office multiple times.

Labor's Tanya Plibersek and Bill Shorten. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen Senator Dastyari was unable to reach her directly as she had left her mobile phone at home, a security precaution parliamentarians have been advised to take when travelling to Chinese territory. It is understood his messages were passed on to her. Fairfax Media understands that Senator Dastyari's calls to Ms Plibersek and her office followed a separate representation from then Chinese ambassador to Australia, Ma Zhaoxu. Hundreds of protesters march on a downtown street during an annual pro-democracy protest in Hong Kong in July 2016. Credit:AP Sources said the Chinese ambassador issued a separate warning to Ms Plibersek about her plans to meet activists in the semi-autonomous city.

There is no suggestion Senator Dastyari's approach to Ms Plibersek was connected to the approach by the Chinese ambassador. One suggested explanation is that Senator Dastyari contacted Ms Plibersek's office after receiving an enquiry from a Sydney Chinese-language media outlet that was doing a critical story on her meetings. Asked about this, Senator Dastyari's office declined to provide details of any media enquiry or a resulting story. Several Chinese-language media outlets in Sydney are close to the Chinese consulate and embassy and run columns by Mr Huang and support his work as a community leader. Ms Plibersek ignored the warnings from the ambassador and senator and proceeded with her plans. It is understood she has privately told colleagues she was surprised by her Labor colleague's approaches. One Canberra source said the representations only strengthened Ms Plibersek's resolve to meet with Mr Cheng.

Ms Plibersek declined to speak about the incident. "Ms Plibersek's itinerary in Hong Kong, including a meeting with a prominent pro-democracy activist, went ahead precisely as scheduled – I think that speaks for itself," a spokesman for the Labor frontbencher said. During the trip, Ms Plibersek and Senator Dastyari also bumped into each other in a hotel foyer, although nothing was discussed in that chance encounter. It is understood there were other people present. Variations of the story revealed by Fairfax Media have been circulating in Canberra circles for some time. One incorrect version was promoted by conservative senator Cory Bernardi in a 2016 speech to the Senate, in which he described "one of the stories doing the rounds" about a Labor member who was heading to Hong Kong for a meeting. "They received a phone call from a close associate of the Chinese embassy suggesting that they do not meet with that individual. Quite rightly so, they said, 'No, I'm going ahead with it'," Senator Bernardi said.

"Yet, when they were in Hong Kong about to meet with this individual, one of their colleagues from the ALP rang them up and begged them not to go, because it would upset the Chinese embassy. Who do you think that person was?" Senator Bernardi called on the unnamed Senator Dastyari to "explain why our own members are being warned off, by their own colleagues, from meeting with individuals because it might upset the local embassy". A senior figure in Labor's left faction, Ms Plibersek has publicly called for freedom of expression to be protected in Hong Kong. It is believed she was concerned about how the Chinese ambassador knew who she was meeting with because she had kept her itinerary private and taken counter-surveillance precautions. The revelations about another Senator Dastyari intervention in Australian-Chinese relations come as Attorney-General George Brandis seeks to have the NSW senator scrutinised by a parliamentary committee following a string of damaging missteps with figures linked to the CCP. Two weeks ago, Fairfax Media revealed he had given counter-surveillance advice to Mr Huang in a face-to-face meeting at the Chinese community leader's home, telling Mr Huang his phone was likely bugged by intelligence services and directing him to conduct a conversation outside.

Fairfax Media also uncovered and released audio of a June 2016 press conference Senator Dastyari gave alongside Mr Huang in which the senator backed Beijing's position in the South China Sea. Senator Dastyari's comments contradicted Labor policy on the issue. Senator Dastyari told the Chinese-language-media-only press conference that Australia should know its place and observe "several thousand years" of history in respecting China's claim in the disputed territory. The day before, Labor's then defence spokesman Stephen Conroy had criticised China's "absurd" claims and said a Labor government would conduct freedom of navigation exercises through the area. Until the audio was released, Senator Dastyari had sought to downplay previous reports of his comments on the basis they had been misreported or he had misspoken. Opposition Leader Bill Shorten then stripped Senator Dastyari of various parliamentary responsibilities, criticising his "mischaracterisation" and saying he no longer trusted his judgment.

But the Labor leader has pushed back against calls for his factional ally to leave Parliament entirely. This is the second time Mr Shorten has demoted Senator Dastyari, having taken him off the frontbench in late 2016 following the initial revelations about his dealings with Mr Huang. Labor figures are divided about whether the right faction powerbroker should resign from the Senate, with senior figures from the right faction in Victoria pushing for his demise while he retains backing from NSW Labor leaders. In making the case for new laws to counter foreign interference in Australia, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has targeted Senator Dastyari as a "classic case". "You see with Senator Dastyari a very clear case of somebody who has taken, literally taken money from people closely associated with the Chinese government and in return for that has delivered essentially Chinese policy statements," Mr Turnbull said on Saturday. The Chinese government has strongly criticised some of Mr Turnbull's recent comments, saying he risks "poisoning" the bilateral relationship. The Prime Minister has rejected the complaint, saying he will "stand up" for Australian sovereignty.

Fairfax Media's revelations suggest Senator Dastyari has been willing to agitate inside the party for a more pro-Beijing approach on top of publicly advancing positions out of step with policy. One Labor source told Fairfax Media that Senator Dastyari always had a strong view about Labor's engagement with China and would use any opportunity to push it internally. Hong Kong – officially still semi-autonomous under the "one country, two systems" principle in place since British rule ended in 1997 – has become increasingly tense as the mainland regime of Chinese President Xi Jinping asserts greater control. Mr Cheng is a former secretary-general of the Civic Party and convenor of multiple pro-democracy groups. Ms Plibersek's visit came around the same time as thousands of protesters took to the streets to demand democratic reform. Her trip also took in meetings with Australia's consul-general in Hong Kong, Paul Tighe, the Australian Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong, an international journalist and a gathering of expatriate Labor Party members.

On his trip, Senator Dastyari visited the premises of Yuhu Group, Mr Huang's property company, and Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei, which has been banned by Labor and Coalition governments from working on the NBN due to security concerns. In June 2016, around the same time as Senator Dastyari's press conference with Mr Huang, Ms Plibersek expressed concern that Beijing's crackdown on dissent was spreading to Hong Kong. While Ms Plibersek supports a strong relationship with China, she told the National Press Club in a 2016 debate with Foreign Minister Julie Bishop: "There have been a number of arrests recently that seem to indicate a tightening of freedom of expression in Hong Kong and I wouldn't like to see that trend continue." Ms Plibersek warned that the "pursuit of the pro-democracy movement" and the notorious 2015 disappearance of five Hong Kong booksellers needed to be scrutinised. The Chinese embassy did not respond to a request for comment.