China on Tuesday announced the suspension of Hong Kong’s extradition treaties with Canada, Australia and UK in a tit-for-tat move following similar decisions by them over a controversial national security law.

Foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said, “China has decided to suspend extradition treaties between Hong Kong and Canada, Australia and Britian, as well as criminal justice cooperation agreements”.

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Later, China’s foreign minister Wang Yi slammed the US for “reckless provocation of confrontation” after both sides ordered tit-for-tat closures of each other’s consulates, but called for “rational communication” between the two powers.

On Tuesday, New Zealand Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters said that the country has suspended its extradition treaty with Hong Kong and made a number of other changes.

Earlier this month, Beijing imposed new legislation on the former British colony despite protests from Hong Kong and Western nations, setting the financial hub on a more authoritarian track.

US secretary of state Mike Pompeo and defence secretary Mark Esper welcomed to Washington their Australian counterparts, Marise Payne and Linda Reynolds, for discussions.

The proposal, which has been condemned by the United States and Hong Kong pro-democracy figures as an assault on the city’s freedoms, was tabled on the opening day of the week-long National People’s Congress.

A Hong Kong pro-democracy activist said he has been fired by his university after he served jail time for taking part in protests.