Australia suspends Hong Kong extradition treaty

Australia's prime minister says the country has suspended its extradition treaty with Hong Kong and extended visas for Hong Kong residents in response to China's imposition of a tough national security law on the semi-autonomous territory.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison on Thursday announced a range of visas will be extended from two to five years and offers of pathways to permanent residency visas.

It is not clear how many residents are expected to get the extensions.

The move comes after China bypassed Hong Kong's Legislative Council to impose the sweeping security legislation without public consultation.

Britain, too, is extending residency rights for up to three million Hong Kong residents eligible for British National Overseas passports, allowing them to live and work in the UK for five years.

Canada has suspected its extradition treaty with Hong Kong and is looking at other options including migration.

Under the national security law, police now have sweeping powers to conduct searches without warrants and order internet service providers and platforms to remove messages deemed to be in violation of the legislation.

Critics see the law as Beijing's boldest move yet to erase the divide between Hong Kong's Western-style system and mainland China's authoritarian way of governing.

The fear is that the law erodes the special freedoms enjoyed in Hong Kong, which has operated under a "one country, two systems" framework since China took control of the city from Britain in 1997.