Australia Suspends Extradition Agreement With Hong Kong, Offers Visa Extensions
Australia is suspending its extradition agreement with Hong Kong and will give skilled migrants from the city five-year visas with a pathway to permanent residence, after China imposed sweeping national security legislation on the financial hub.
“Our decision to suspend the extradition agreement with Hong Kong represents an acknowledgment of the fundamental change of circumstances in relation to Hong Kong because of the new security law,” Prime Minister Scott Morrison said at a briefing in Canberra on Thursday.
Morrison said Australia had formally notified Hong Kong and advised Chinese authorities. His announcement came after Canada suspended its extradition agreement with the former British colony last week, making it the first country to break law enforcement links with the city since China enacted the legislation.
Though China remains Australia’s largest trading partner, Morrison’s moves are likely to fuel tensions between the two countries. Australia said earlier Thursday that its citizens in Hong Kong were at an increased risk of detention, saying the security law could be interpreted broadly.
In another move that could aggravate Beijing, Morrison said his government will be actively seeking to lure Hong Kong-based businesses to relocate to Australia.
“There’ll be citizens of Hong Kong who may be looking to move elsewhere, to start a new life somewhere else, to take their skills, their businesses, and things that they’ve been running under the previous set of rules and arrangements in Hong Kong and seek that opportunity elsewhere,” Morrison said. “Australia has always been a very welcoming country to such people.”
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