Labor candidate Kristina Keneally says voters in the Bennelong electorate are "alarmed" by the prime minister's rhetoric on China.
Malcolm Turnbull at the weekend doubled down on his criticism of Beijing interfering in domestic politics while insisting the communist leadership would respect his tough talk.
But Ms Kenneally on Monday said people from China and Korea have told her "they are really alarmed by the prime minister's rhetoric".
"They see it as China-phobia," the former NSW premier said while campaigning in Bennelong ahead of Saturday's by-election.
"They see it as scaremongering. They see the suggestion from the prime minister that people from Chinese or Asian backgrounds are somehow suspicious and they don't like it."
