Liberal Senator James Paterson says reports of China’s move to impose national security laws on Hong Kong are “deeply concerning” and Australia should make its concerns “very clear”.

The motion put forward by the Chinese communist party has sparked fears that it would allow a widespread crackdown on anti-government demonstrations and put an end to Hong Kong’s autonomy under the “one nation, two systems” policy.

Mr Paterson told Sky News Hong Kong legislators believe “it is not just the end of the ‘one country, two systems’ arrangements but the end of Hong Kong as we know it.”

“[It] shows that yet again Beijing and the Chinese communist party cannot be taken at their word and will uphold commitments that they voluntarily themselves entered into,” he said.

“Australia should make very clear our concerns about this and our strong support for the ‘one country, two systems’ policy and we should hold Beijing and the Chinese communist party to account for the promises they’ve made.

“We cannot allow it to slip under the cloud of COVID-19, we cannot allow Beijing to use that as a crisis to get away with what they’re doing.”