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
CROSS-STRAIT COLLABORATION: The new KMT chairwoman expressed interest in meeting the Chinese president from the start, but she’ll have to pay to get in Beijing allegedly agreed to let Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) around the Lunar New Year holiday next year on three conditions, including that the KMT block Taiwan’s arms purchases, a source said yesterday. Cheng has expressed interest in meeting Xi since she won the KMT’s chairmanship election in October. A source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said a consensus on a meeting was allegedly reached after two KMT vice chairmen visited China’s Taiwan Affairs Office Director Song Tao (宋濤) in China last month. Beijing allegedly gave the KMT three conditions it had to
STAYING ALERT: China this week deployed its largest maritime show of force to date in the region, prompting concern in Taipei and Tokyo, which Beijing has brushed off Deterring conflict over Taiwan is a priority, the White House said in its National Security Strategy published yesterday, which also called on Japan and South Korea to increase their defense spending to help protect the first island chain. Taiwan is strategically positioned between Northeast and Southeast Asia, and provides direct access to the second island chain, with one-third of global shipping passing through the South China Sea, the report said. Given the implications for the US economy, along with Taiwan’s dominance in semiconductors, “deterring a conflict over Taiwan, ideally by preserving military overmatch, is a priority,” it said. However, the strategy also reiterated
‘BALANCE OF POWER’: Hegseth said that the US did not want to ‘strangle’ China, but to ensure that none of Washington’s allies would be vulnerable to military aggression Washington has no intention of changing the “status quo” in the Taiwan Strait, US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said on Saturday, adding that one of the US military’s main priorities is to deter China “through strength, not through confrontation.” Speaking at the annual Reagan National Defense Forum in Simi Valley, California, Hegseth outlined the US Department of Defense’s priorities under US President Donald Trump. “First, defending the US homeland and our hemisphere. Second, deterring China through strength, not confrontation. Third, increased burden sharing for us, allies and partners. And fourth, supercharging the US defense industrial base,” he said. US-China relations under
The Chien Feng IV (勁蜂, Mighty Hornet) loitering munition is on track to enter flight tests next month in connection with potential adoption by Taiwanese and US armed forces, a government source said yesterday. The kamikaze drone, which boasts a range of 1,000km, debuted at the Taipei Aerospace and Defense Technology Exhibition in September, the official said on condition of anonymity. The Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology and US-based Kratos Defense jointly developed the platform by leveraging the engine and airframe of the latter’s MQM-178 Firejet target drone, they said. The uncrewed aerial vehicle is designed to utilize an artificial intelligence computer
RSS