Labor leader Bill Shorten says he has "lost faith" in Sam Dastyari over his involvement with Chinese political donors, and asked the senator to step aside from his positions as Labor's deputy whip and chairman of the Select Committee on the Future of Public Interest Journalism.

"At the moment I don't trust his judgement again," Mr Shorten said.  "I have lost faith in him and I do think his judgement was erroneous and he did make a significant mistake of judgement and that is why I have sacked him again," he added.  "But I do not believe he has broken a law and I do not believe he is a national security risk."

Yesterday, an audio recording of Dastyari speaking to Chinese journalists about China's expansionist policy in the South China Sea.  The recording revealed that Dastyari strongly defended Beijing, contradicting Labor's view on the matter.  The ABC's Four Corners asked him about this months ago, and the Senator played down his comments as "mumbled".  But the new audio reveals he was clearly reading from scripted remarks.

The Senate passed a motion compelling Senator Dastyari to provide a longer explanation about his conduct.