Spying, meddling and even torture allegations are riling China's relations with some of the world's top democracies just as Beijing seeks to convince nations that its 5G technology can be trusted.

In Australia, the Nine Network on Sunday aired explosive accusations that suspected Chinese operatives had offered Melbourne luxury car dealer Bo "Nick" Zhao 1 million Australian dollars ($679,000) to run as a candidate for a parliamentary seat in Melbourne.

The 32-year-old was found dead in a Melbourne hotel room in March after reportedly approaching ASIO, Australia's counterespionage agency. Police have been unable to determine how he died. Australian PM Scott Morrison called allegations of a Chinese plot to plant an agent into Australia's parliament "deeply disturbing and troubling".

That report was denied by China's foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang in Beijing on Monday. "No matter how bizarre the plot is and how their tricks are refurbished, lies are always lies," Geng told reporters. "We have never been and are not interested in interfering in others' affairs."

Also, media reports in selected Australian outlets said that a man who spied for China in Hong Kong and Taiwan offered intelligence information to Australia and wanted political asylum. On Monday, just hours after China's foreign ministry described the defector's claims in Australia as "bizarre", Xuehua "Ed" Peng - who became a naturalised American citizen in 2012 - pleaded guilty to a US criminal charge of spying for Beijing's security service. And last week, the UK accused China of torturing a former employee of its consulate in Hong Kong while seeking information about whether the British government was supporting pro-democracy protests.

The incidents play into fears that China is becoming bolder in undermining democracies under President Xi Jinping .

"The Chinese Communist Party doesn't want democratic governments to be viable," said Michael Shoebridge, a former intelligence official in Australia. "The way the Chinese are operating under Xi shows they are becoming 'out and proud' in their attempts to infiltrate democracies." Beijing's more assertive foreign agenda prompted four of the largest democracies in the Indo-Pacific region - the US, Japan, India and Australia - to this year elevate so-called Quad talks to ministerial level. They plan to present a united front on regional security issues, a move that Beijing has complained could stoke a new Cold War .

The US has also sought to convince nations around the globe to avoid Huawei for its 5G networks, arguing that China wasn't a reliable partner.

Last month, Germany's spy chief said that Huawei "can't fully be trusted" to participate in its 5G network due to its "very high level of dependence on the Communist Party and the country's intelligence apparatus."

Last weekend, newspapers including The Age said an alleged spy, Wang Liqiang, sought asylum in Australia. He had offered secret information including the identities of China's senior military intelligence officers in Hong Kong, as well as details on political interference operations in Hong Kong, Taiwan and Australia, the report said. Wang said he was personally involved in the 2015 kidnapping and abduction of Hong Kong bookseller Lee Bo to the Chinese mainland, and operated under cover in the city as a businessman for a company that was a front for Chinese intelligence agencies, it said. China has said the man is a fugitive found guilty of fraud. AGENCIES

