Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced that Australia suspended its extradition treaty with Hong Kong. The country will extend visas and offer a path to citizenship for residents who wish to leave Hong Kong.
What We Know:
- At a press conference in Canberra, Morrison said the new national security law undermined “Hong Kong’s own basic law” and changed the aspects of their extradition treaty. Australia updated its travel advisory for Hong Kong, discouraging Australians from traveling there and asking Australians in Hong Kong to return. Canada also suspended its extradition treaty with Hong Kong.
- Australia will extend visas for Hong Kong residents and encourages businesses to relocate to Australia. Chinese officials call this a “gross interference” in domestic affairs. “We urge the Australian side to immediately stop meddling . . . otherwise it will lead to nothing but lifting a rock only to hit its own feet,” said officials from the embassy in Australia.
- The U.K. will also offer a path to citizenship for up to three million Hong Kong residents.
- Hong Kongers living in Australia will get an extra five years on their visa and a path to permanent residency if they are students or skilled visa holders. Future applicants will also receive these benefits. There are currently around 10,000 residents from Hong Kong in Australia. The Global Times, a Chinese state-backed tabloid, published an editorial warning that Australia’s economy “will have a bitter pill to swallow”.
- The former extradition treaty allowed Australia and Hong Kong to seek extradition of any person facing prosecution or criminal sentence within the jurisdiction. The process only occurred twice in the last decade.
- Australia recently announced a major increase in defense spending, an indirect response to China’s increased aggression in the Indian and Pacific region.
The Hong Kong security law has been criticized for how it undermines Hong Kong’s limited democracy and civil liberties. Chinese and Hong Kong officials say the law keeps order and targets “terrorism,” but the law gives unprecedented power to the police and criminalizes most forms of protest.
