Macau to broaden reach of national security law in response to Pelosi’s Taiwan trip

August 25, 2022 Macau Crime & Legal

Plans by authorities in Macau to amend the city’s national security law were likely sparked by the recent visit of U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to the democratic island of Taiwan, and could result in a crackdown on civil society and the criminalization of speech, analysts told RFA.

Macau’s security chief Wong Sio Chak said the amendments are intended to tackle “complicated and volatile security risks” in the context of overall national security.

The amendments will make it easier for police to collect intelligence and implement “preventive measures,” Wong told a recent news conference launching a public consultation for the amendments.

They will also allow the authorities to “effectively prevent interference by external forces,” Wong said.

The ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) insists that repeated waves of mass popular protest movements in Hong Kong calling for fully democratic elections and other freedoms in recent years were instigated by “hostile foreign forces” seeking to undermine CCP rule by fomenting dissent in Hong Kong.

It first imposed a draconian national security law on Hong Kong in the wake of the 2019 protest movement, ushering in an ongoing crackdown on peaceful dissent and political opposition that has seen more than 1,000 arrests under the law, with thousands more under colonial-era public order and sedition laws.

Macau is now looking to broaden categories of offense under its existing security law, changing “subversion of the central government” to “subversion of state power”, adding ” “instigating or supporting the crime of rebellion,” and giving authorities broader powers to intercept communications.

The amendments will also allow the government to issue exit bans on people involved in national security cases, and give police the power to require information from individuals and organizations suspected of “endangering national security.”