Foreign Minister Julie Bishop’s links to Chinese political donors, by Gina McColl.

Chinese businessmen with links to Foreign Minister Julie Bishop have donated half a million dollars to the Western Australian division of the Liberal Party during the past two years, political disclosures reveal.

All the donors have links to the Chinese government, and the vast bulk of the money was given by companies with no apparent business interests in WA. Ms Bishop, the leading federal member of the party in that state, has singled out each of the three key donors for praise. …

Ms Bishop did not respond to questions about how she handled potential conflicts between her responsibilities as a party fundraiser and minister. …

At least the donations weren’t to the Bishop Foundation.

Shadow Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong pointed to Labor’s commitment at the last election to ban foreign donations.