Australia Urges Citizens To Reconsider Stay In HK

Australia has warned its citizens and residents in Hong Kong that they were at "increased risk of detention" in the SAR and urged them to reconsider their need to remain in the city.

In an updated travel advisory issued on Thursday, the government said Hong Kong's new national security law could be interpreted broadly and Australians may be at risk of getting deported to the mainland for prosecution.

The full extent of the law and how it will be applied is not yet clear, the advisory said.

Australia on Tuesday had issued a similar travel advice, telling its citizens that they may be at risk of arbitrary detention on the mainland.

Relations between China and Australia has been frayed ever since Scot Morrison government called for a probe into the origins of the coronavirus after mass outbreaks started in Wuhan and spread across the world.

That tiff then extended to warnings over trade, flow of students and tourists as well as threats of boycott of goods made in Australia.

The Chinese embassy in Australia on Wednesday had said that that Canberra's warning on travel to the mainland was "completely ridiculous and disinformation".

"Foreigners in China, including the Australians, as long as they abide by the Chinese laws, have no need to worry at all," the embassy said in a statement published on its website. (Reuters, RTHK)