The Macao government says it “strongly deplores” remarks made by the European External Action Service (EEAS) – the diplomatic arm of the EU – over the arrest last week of a Macao resident on suspicion of violating national security.
Although the government has only identified the arrested individual as a 68-year-old male with the surname Au, multiple foreign media outlets have reported that the detainee is the former progressive lawmaker Au Kam San.
Over the weekend, EU diplomats said that the bloc “condemns the arrest of EU citizen and former Macao lawmaker Au Kam San.” (Many residents of Macao hold joint Chinese and Portuguese nationality and therefore EU citizenship.)
The EEAS said that the case “adds to the existing concerns about the ongoing erosion of political pluralism and freedom of speech in the Macao Special Administrative Region.”
Formerly a school teacher, Au became a legislator in 1993 and continued to serve as a directly elected representative in the post-handover period between 2001 and 2021. He has been one of the most outspoken politicians in Macao.
[See more: A 68-year-old Macao man has been arrested on suspicion of violating national security laws]
In response, the SAR government stated on Sunday that “As the case is under investigation, the police and judicial authorities of the Macao SAR will handle the case strictly according to the law and the right of litigation of the suspect of the case involved will be effectively protected by law.”
It added that “the fundamental rights, including electoral rights and freedom of speech, of the residents of the Macao SAR are fully protected” by the city’s de facto constitution, known as the Basic Law, as well as by “relevant laws” and “the human rights conventions applicable to the Macao SAR.”
The statement continued: “Such rights are also fully maintained by the administrative, legislative and judicial authorities of the SAR government.”
The exchange follows the arrest last Thursday of a man named Au, who is suspected of having “been in contact with an anti-China organisation abroad since 2022,” and of “providing the group with large amounts of false and seditious information, for public exhibitions overseas and online.” The organisation is not named.
The man has been charged under article 13 of Macao’s national security law, which relates to “contacting organisations, groups or individuals outside of the Macao SAR in order to commit acts that threaten national security.”
