Tape Exposes Australian Senator’s Pro-Beijing Remarks on South China Sea

Australian Labor Party's Senator Sam Dastyari fronts the media in Sydney on Sept. 6, 2016, to make a public apology after asking a company with links to the Chinese regime to pay a bill incurred by his office. Dastyari then told reporters he made a mistake, but had not been asked to resign and would not tender his resignation. That may change given more recent revelations. William West/AFP/Getty Images

For Australian politician Sam Dastyari the hits keep coming and he is now under pressure to resign after being ordered by his party leader to step down from his parliamentary responsibilities. The pressure comes after a recording of a speech the Australian Labor Party senator gave last year where he backed Beijing’s aggressive moves in the South China Sea went public on Wednesday, refuting claims he made earlier that downplayed what he had said.

News of the report came just hours after Dastyari made front-page headlines for allegedly warning a Chinese Communist Party-linked benefactor that his phone was probably being monitored by intelligence agencies.