A former Macanese pro-democracy lawmaker became the first person to be arrested under the territory’s national security law, with authorities yesterday alleging that he had ties to foreign groups endangering China.
The Chinese casino hub, which has its own legal system largely based on Portuguese law, enacted national security legislation in 2009 and widened its powers in 2023, to bring it in line with similar laws in Hong Kong and China.
Macanese Judiciary Police said a 68-year-old local man surnamed Au (歐) was arrested and handed over to public prosecutors on suspicion of “establishing connections ... outside Macau to commit acts endangering national security.”
Photo: AP
Local media identified the man as Au Kam-san (歐錦新), a primary-school teacher who became one of Macau’s longest-serving pro-democracy legislators before deciding not to seek re-election in 2021.
The man allegedly provided “a large amount of false and seditious information to an anti-China group” for public exhibitions online and abroad since 2022, and “stirred up hatred” against the Macanese and Chinese governments.
He is also accused of spreading false information to groups, which allegedly disrupted the territory’s leadership election last year and caused foreign countries to take hostile action against Macau, police said in a statement, without naming the groups.
A stalwart of Macau’s tiny opposition camp, Au spent years campaigning on issues such as social welfare, corruption and electoral reform. He was one of the founders of several pro-democracy groups, including the New Macau Association.
Online news platform All About Macau reported that judicial police on Wednesday took away the former lawmaker and his wife, Virginia Cheang (鄭妙珊).
Cheang yesterday told the outlet outside the public prosecution office that she was listed as a witness and that she did not know why her husband was detained.
The former Portuguese colony reverted to Chinese rule in 1999 through a “one country, two systems” framework that promised a high degree of autonomy and rights protections.
For years it was regarded by Beijing as a poster child in contrast with neighboring Hong Kong, which often saw boisterous protests.
The high-water mark of Macau activism came in 2014 when 200,000 people rallied to oppose granting perks to retired government officials, an event that Au helped organize.
After Beijing cracked down on Hong Kong after months of huge and sometimes violent democracy protests in 2019, curbs established in that territory were extended to Macau.
Macanese officials last month disqualified 12 candidates from the legislative elections set for next month, saying that they did not uphold Macau’s mini-constitution or pledge allegiance to the territory.
Additional reporting Reuters
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) is expected to start construction of its 1.4-nanometer chip manufacturing facilities at the Central Taiwan Science Park (CTSP, 中部科學園區) as early as October, the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister newspaper) reported yesterday, citing the park administration. TSMC acquired land for the second phase of the park’s expansion in Taichung in June. Large cement, construction and facility engineering companies in central Taiwan have reportedly been receiving bids for TSMC-related projects, the report said. Supply-chain firms estimated that the business opportunities for engineering, equipment and materials supply, and back-end packaging and testing could reach as high as
CHAMPIONS: President Lai congratulated the players’ outstanding performance, cheering them for marking a new milestone in the nation’s baseball history Taiwan on Sunday won their first Little League Baseball World Series (LLBWS) title in 29 years, as Taipei’s Dong Yuan Elementary School defeated a team from Las Vegas 7-0 in the championship game in South Williamsport, Pennsylvania. It was Taiwan’s first championship in the annual tournament since 1996, ending a nearly three-decade drought. “It has been a very long time ... and we finally made it,” Taiwan manager Lai Min-nan (賴敏男) said after the game. Lai said he last managed a Dong Yuan team in at the South Williamsport in 2015, when they were eliminated after four games. “There is
Democratic nations should refrain from attending China’s upcoming large-scale military parade, which Beijing could use to sow discord among democracies, Mainland Affairs Council Deputy Minister Shen You-chung (沈有忠) said. China is scheduled to stage the parade on Wednesday next week to mark the 80th anniversary of Japan’s surrender in World War II. The event is expected to mobilize tens of thousands of participants and prominently showcase China’s military hardware. Speaking at a symposium in Taichung on Thursday, Shen said that Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi (王毅) recently met with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi during a visit to New Delhi.
FINANCES: The KMT plan to halt pension cuts could bankrupt the pension fund years earlier, undermining intergenerational fairness, a Ministry of Civil Service report said The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus’ proposal to amend the law to halt pension cuts for civil servants, teachers and military personnel could accelerate the depletion of the Public Service Pension Fund by four to five years, a Ministry of Civil Service report said. Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜) on Aug. 14 said that the Act Governing Civil Servants’ Retirement, Discharge and Pensions (公務人員退休資遣撫卹法) should be amended, adding that changes could begin as soon as after Saturday’s recall and referendum. In a written report to the Legislative Yuan, the ministry said that the fund already faces a severe imbalance between revenue
RSS