Video seen by The Canberra Times shows two officers approaching Drew Pavlou and a friend at the Queen's Terrace cafe, which is open to the public, on Wednesday afternoon.

They informed Mr Pavlou the "higher ups" deemed him "high risk" of protest activity, before escorting him from the premises.

The campaigner has described the incident as a "terrible, terrible thing for our democracy", questioning whether the order was motivated by Labor's attempts to unthaw Australia's relationship with China.

Coalition spokesman on foreign interference James Paterson, who met with Mr Pavlou earlier on Wednesday, said the activist had previously attended meetings in the building without incident.

"Australian citizens who protest frequently visit Parliament House for meetings, including union officials and environmental activists, without being asked to leave by the AFP," he said.

"I am concerned that Mr Pavlou's lawful activism is being cited as a reason why he was not permitted in areas of Parliament House open to the public."

Mr Pavlou was in Parliament to discuss the abuse of the Muslim Uyghur minority in Xinjiang, and what he believes is a targeted campaign of harassment against him and his family by pro-Beijing groups.

He insisted he had no intention of protesting in parliament, asking the officer: "I've been invited to meet MPs, so why would I glue myself to paintings and ruin my meetings?"

"I agree. Unfortunately it has come down from higher up that they prefer you to leave right now," the officer replied.

Mr Pavlou complied with the order to leave, but described it as "shocking".

When asked by Mr Pavlou whether the his removal was a legal directive, the officer warned their bosses could revoke his "tacit approval to be here" and deem him a trespasser.

"I don't want it to get to that, I respect you," the officer said.

A spokesperson for the AFP would not reveal whether Mr Pavlou would be removed from public areas of Parliament if he re-entered at a later date.

"The AFP can confirm that they engaged a male at Parliament House today who then departed the building voluntarily. No arrests were made as a result of this incident," they said.

"No further comment will be made on this matter."

Speaking to The Canberra Times on Wednesday afternoon, Mr Pavlou described the incident as a "terrible thing for our democracy" and said it remained unclear why he had been escorted out.

"If the Speaker's office was involved, and they told the AFP to do this, then is this the government currying favour with China?" he asked.

"Suddenly, a couple of days after Albanese's big China diplomatic reset, I'm being carted out of Parliament by the police because I'm a known protester against the Chinese Communist Party."

Mr Pavlou said he was at the cafe to kill time between a meeting with Senator Paterson and Labor MP Peter Khalil, both members of the powerful Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security.

Police informed him he would be able to meet with Mr Khalil on Wednesday evening, but only if the MPs' staff escorted him through the building, he said.

A spokesperson said: "The incident you have referred to was not at the directive of the Speaker's Office".

In July, it was revealed human rights activists and politicians had been inundated by bomb threats, purporting to be from Mr Pavlou, via email.

Mr Pavlou claimed he was the target of an "orchestrated campaign" after being arrested in London over one threat attributed to him.

"These bomb threats won't stop, they keep going, even in Australia. I keep having to talk to the police," he said.

"It's a terrible harassment campaign. They're doing it even to my siblings now, my younger brother, people who are not political at all."