Authorities can request entry to non-public digital gadgets and passwords from anybody in Hong Kong, even should you’re solely transiting via the airport.
As of final month, it’s unlawful to refuse to reveal your gadgets’ passwords to the Hong Kong police underneath the town’s broad Nationwide Safety Legislation.
From April 30, it is going to even be unlawful to import different smoking merchandise like vapes or possess them in public locations, such because the airport.
Hong Kong’s safety legal guidelines might be interpreted broadly and apply to actions outdoors Hong Kong, together with social media posts, the Australian authorities’s Smartraveller web site notes in its up to date warning.
“The utmost penalty underneath Hong Kong’s nationwide safety legal guidelines is life imprisonment,” the warning reads.
“Residents of different nations, together with Australia, have been arrested, convicted and imprisoned underneath Hong Kong’s safety legal guidelines.”
Authorities in Hong Kong are in a position to detain an individual with out cost for as much as 16 days and deny them entry to a lawyer for as much as 48 hours, Smartraveller says.
The warning comes as Australians are flocking to Hong Kong in report numbers.
In 2025 alone, 469,000 Australians travelled to the vacation spot – an enormous 27 per cent surge from the earlier 12 months, in response to the Hong Kong Tourism Board.
The board attributed this surge to a number of key components, together with the launch of extra direct flights, drawcard occasions and the town’s stopover attraction.
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