Wong Sio Chak, the secretary for administration and justice, has reportedly said that the Macao government will prioritise Chinese-made electronic communication devices in its procurement programme, because those manufactured in Western countries “with a hostile stance toward China” constitute “a risk.”
The remarks were carried by the Portuguese news agency Lusa.
According to the agency, Wong said that the policy only applied to public procurement. No such constraints will be put on the private sector.
[See more: The Macao government has strongly rebuffed an EU human rights report on the SAR]
“We have an open market and we will not restrict the private sector from using foreign devices,” Wong said. “Entities and the private sector have the freedom to choose these devices.”
Last month, Beijing said Washington was behind a cyberattack on the National Time Service Center – a breach that could have disrupted communications networks, the power supply, financial transactions and other systems dependent on accurate, standardised time.
Security officials said US operatives “exploited a vulnerability” in the messaging service of an unnamed “foreign smartphone brand” to access the devices of staff at the National Time Service Center, and “steal confidential data stored on them.”
