Australian Senator Sam Dastyari is to resign after weeks of controversy over his links to a Chinese donor and mounting criticism from Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull’s government.

The 34-year-old politician, who stood down from key positions in the opposition Labor party in late November, said he made the decision to allow Labor to concentrate on elections in 2018.

“I’ve not reached this decision lightly. But in my deliberations, I’ve been guided by my Labor values, which tell me that I should leave if my ongoing presence detracts from the pursuit of Labor’s mission. It is evident to me we are at that point, so I will spare the party any further distraction.”

A drip-drip of allegations against Dastyari have been seized on by Turnbull, who said in late November: “Whose side is Sam on? Not Australia’s it would seem.” 

“I have always put the pursuit of the Labor cause first,” Dastyari said in his resignation statement. “Reflecting on the events which led to my decision, I leave knowing that I’ve always honored my parliamentary oath. I’ve always acted with integrity, and I remain a loyal, patriotic Australian.”

Dastyari, Australia's first Iranian-born senator, had served New South Wales for four years. He resigned from the frontbench in 2016 after reports that he may have broken party rules over travel payments from a Chinese company, and has since been the subject of various media reports about his links with a Chinese businessman.

Dastyari’s resignation comes a week after China denied it had ever sought to influence Australian domestic matters and urged Canberra to “cast away its bias” following Turnbull’s claim that foreign powers were interfering in the country’s political process.

Turnbull announced new laws in early December that would ban foreign donations to political parties and criminal charges for anyone found interfering in Australia’s political process.

On Monday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lu Kang warned that recent comments from Australian leaders “are detrimental to their own images and China-Australia relations.”

Addressing the question of interference in other countries’ affairs more generally, Lu added “if the 'non-interference in other countries' internal affairs' has really cast a deep impression in the minds of certain people in these countries, then it is a good thing because this is one of the basic norms governing international relations enshrined by the UN Charter.”

“As for the Chinese side, I can assure you that since the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949, while pursuing an independent foreign policy of peace, we have always abided by the principle of non-interference in other countries' internal affairs when developing relations with other countries. We will not meddle in other countries' internal affairs, and meantime we will by no means allow other countries to interfere in China's internal affairs.”