SmartTraveller warns travellers to Hong Kong that social media posts could land them in jail under new laws

Aussie travellers to Hong Kong have been warned about new laws in the holiday hotspot.

The Chinese region’s new national security law can be “interpreted broadly” and extends to social media posts, even those made outside Hong Kong.

“You could break the law without intending to,” SmartTraveller says. “You could be detained without charge for up to 16 days and denied access to a lawyer for up to 48 hours.”

The Australian Government’s official travel advice service reviewed its advice for Hong Kong on Thursday, and now urges travellers there to “exercise a high degree of caution”.

The 2024 Safeguarding National Security Law came into effect in March, adding 39 new national security crimes to an already staunch security law directly imposed by Beijing on Hong Kong in 2020, after pro-democracy protests were held the year before.

The law known locally as Article 23 covers crimes including treason, insurrection, sabotage, external interference, sedition, and theft of state secrets and espionage. The most serious offences are punishable by up to life imprisonment.

Of the 14 people already arrested under Article 23 by September, the offenders were all apprehended for crimes such as wearing a T-shirt with a “Liberate Hong Kong” protest slogan, and connections to anti-government Facebook groups and pro-revolution posts.

Those charges were all related to sedition and seditious intent, and of those charged, sentences ranged from 10 to 14 months in prison, according to Hong Kong Free Press.

Aussie government ‘can’t intervene’

The US State Department deputy spokesperson Vedant Patel described the terminology outlining the law as “poorly defined and incredibly vague”.

It was described by the Amnesty International China director Sarah Brooks as “another crushing blow to human rights in the city”.

“The authorities have enacted this law in the blink of an eye, killing off any remaining shred of hope that public outcry could counter its most destructive elements,” she said.

Aussie travellers found in breach of the controversial laws won’t be bailed out by the Australian government, either.

“The Australian Government can’t intervene in the Hong Kong judicial process,” SmartTraveller said.

It also warned that Chinese law did not recognise dual nationality, so travellers entering Hong Kong on a travel document other than an Australian passport, and those deemed a Chinese citizen, may be refused access to Australian consular services, it said.

There were nearly 300,000 visitor arrivals in Hong Kong from Australia, New Zealand and the South Pacific in 2023 alone, just over half of the number of travellers to the destination pre-COVID, according to Statista data.

– With CNN