Australia warns nationals about breaking Hong Kong’s new domestic national security law ‘without intending to’

Australia also reminded its nationals of new powers granted to police under the domestic security law, including the measure to detain arrestees without charge for up to 16 days – from the current 48 hours – and deny them access to a lawyer.

“The 2024 Safeguarding National Security Law and the 2020 National Security Law may be interpreted broadly. The laws could be applied to activities that occurred outside Hong Kong, including social media posts,” the advisory said.

“You could break the law without intending to. You may be at increased risk of detention. The maximum penalty under these laws in Hong Kong is life imprisonment.”

The Australian government added it could not intervene in the Hong Kong judicial process and warned citizens that denial of entry to the city was also possible.

It said it continued to advise residents to exercise “a high degree of caution” while visiting Hong Kong.

Hong Kong is home to one of the largest Australian communities abroad, with around 100,000 living in the city, according to Canberra’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

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Australia, alongside countries such as the United States, Britain and Canada, had said they were concerned about the law’s implications for human rights and its impact on the city’s high degree of autonomy.

The new legislation targets five major activities: treason; insurrection, incitement to mutiny and disaffection, and acts with seditious intent; sabotage; external interference; and theft of state secrets and espionage.

Four of the 39 offences in the ordinance are punishable by up to life imprisonment, with some applicable to offenders based outside Hong Kong.