Today's pretend discussion of Chinese impact in Australia is plodding. There is plenty of outrage and the formation of committees, but no action. Another investigation was conducted by the AFP, via The Australian: The Australian Federal Police launched a formal investment nation to claims by self-proclaimed Chinese spy Wang Liqiang that Chinese intelligence services were seeking to interfere with Australian politics.

The Australian reports that the AFP will try to investigate Mr Wang, who is thought to be in exile in Sydney after allegations that he was undertaking espionage activities in Hong Kong, Taiwan and Australia for China.

The investigation provides a possible benchmark for external interference and intelligence legislation that the coalition government introduced in 2018 by then-Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull. "The AFP can verify that the statements made by Mr Wang are being actively investigated," a spokesman said on Monday.

The defector is a threat, says The Guardian: Chinese defector Wang Liqiang's Australian minders have been urged to "double" protective duties as experts lift major fears about his safety.

On Saturday, in the Sydney Morning Herald and Age newspapers, Chinese state media tried to discredit Wang as a convicted "fraudster," liar, and fake after he publicly disclosed his role in Chinese intelligence and his bid for Australia's protection.

The Chinese government issued a notice from the Shanghai Public Security Office stating that it was investigating him for a scam, and published a digital court record suggesting a 2016 fraud conviction. George Newhouse, Australia's lawyer for Wang, told Guardian Australia: "He refuses to acknowledge those allegations."

Labor Senator Kimberley Kitching cautioned that the Liberal Party had questions to answer in connection with Chinese supporters in the light of'' deeply disturbing'' reports that a Victorian car dealer told ASIO that Chinese agents promised to bankroll their political ambitions before he was found dead in a hotel room.

ASIO, Australia's spy agency, took the unusual step of announcing an inquiry into "Nick" Zhao's murder, 32.

A cause of death could not be determined by the coroner.

"It's profoundly, deeply disturbing and we'd never want to do it in another country," said Senator Kitching on Sky News.

"You can believe that? If you had a beginning in authoritarian countries with democratic elections. We'd never try to do that. Yet Rex Patrick is still the only one that makes any sense, from Seven: South Australian Center Alliance Senator Rex Patrick said while there was no evidence to indicate a connection between the two incidents, Liu also owed an explanation for her previous links to CCP propaganda organisations to the parliament and its members.

"She didn't comment on her relationship with the Chinese to the legislature," Patrick said on Monday.

Anson Hong, chairman of the Australian National Liaison Council of Chinese Australians, was a member of a delegation travelling to Canberra to meet Liu in the run-up to her first July speech. The team was paired with fellow Victorian Liberals Alan Tudge, Michael Sukkar, Tony Smith, Rowan Ramsey, and Katie Allen in the government party house.