China-Australia relations have openly fractured amid a growing scandal that has underscored rising perceptions that Beijing has bid to buy influence over politicians and infiltrate the political process in Canberra, writes Erin Cook for Asia Times. Embattled Labor senator Sam Dastyari has quit Parliament after a series of revelations about his links to Chinese Communist Party-aligned interests in Australia. Concerns over undue influence by the People’s Republic of China in foreign politics is not new, writes Ed Kennedy for The Diplomat. In recent years, as Beijing has pursued a more muscular foreign policy in tandem with its pronounced economic growth in the post-financial crisis global economy, these concerns have grown.