Chief Executive (CE) Fernando Chui Sai On told reporters Wednesday that he had sent a letter to the US Consulate General for Hong Kong and Macau to find out whether or not Washington’s Web spying programme involves snooping on local Internet networks.
Chui’s remarks came in the wake of recent controversy surrounding the US National Security Agency’s PRISM “surveillance” programme, which was exposed by former CIA employee and NSA contractor Edward Snowden.
Snowden has alleged that the US is hacking international communications and spying on Web traffic, including hacking into Hong Kong and mainland Internet networks.
“The government is aware of this controversy. We have sent a formal letter [to the US consulate] requesting more information. I’ll express my concern when I meet the consulate general today [Wednesday],” said Chui who attended a receptionto celebrate the 237th anniversary of the independence of the US from Britain, according to The Macau Post Daily
However, US Consul-General Stephen Young, who hosted the reception, told reporters on the sidelines of the event that he had not received any letter from Chui as yet. “I’d be happy to receive the letter but I haven’t yet, so I can’t say anything about it,” said Young.“…I can’t talk about something that I haven’t seen.”
Young also commented on Snowden. “… He [Snowden] took the job to damage the US government, so as somebody who has spent 33 years working for the US government, I can’t have a lot of respect for somebody like that, that’s my personal comment.”
Asked by reporters, Young said that he had not heard that the US government is spying on Macau’s Internet networks.(macaunews)
