Abe and Morrison share concern over Hong Kong security law

Japan and Australia seek to resume business travel between countries

Many countries fear Beijing's new security law covering Hong Kong will be used to crack down on pro-democracy activists and critics of the mainland government. © Reuters

YUKI FUJITA, Nikkei staff writer

July 10, 2020 00:41 JST

TOKYO -- Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Australian counterpart Scott Morrison expressed deep concerns over China's sweeping national security law covering Hong Kong as the two leaders held a virtual summit Thursday.

The law represents "a significant step back for the 'one country, two systems' framework," which is designed to give Hong Kong a high degree of autonomy from mainland China, Abe said during their roughly 100-minute meeting.