Secretary for Security Wong Sio Chak said Tuesday that the police are “investigating (suspected local) cases” concerning national security.
Wong did not say how many such suspected cases were under investigation.
Wong made the remarks during Tuesday’s press conference on Macau’s crime statistics for the first half of this year at the S. Francisco Barracks.
Wong’s remarks came a day after the local government announced on Monday that it will set up a commission tasked with formulating local policies on the safeguarding of national security and coordinating tasks concerning local legislation on the protection of national security.
The government said that the new commission is not an entity for the enforcement of Macau’s local national security law – the Law on the Defence of National Security, which was enacted in 2009 based on the Article 23 requirement of the Macau Basic Law.
The commission, consisting of a number of senior officials, will be chaired by the chief executive, with the secretary for security as its vice-chairman.
Repeatedly asked by the media during the press conference whether the local police are investigating cases in Macau endangering national security, Wong admitted that “there are [suspected] cases (concerning national security) under investigation.”
Wong reaffirmed that in line with international practice, the local police will not disclose details of such cases when they are still under investigation. He said that the police will only announce details of such suspected cases when they have reached the prosecution process.
Wong noted that national security and local security are closely interrelated, adding that the nation has obviously been facing threats to state security for many years.
Wong underlined that Macau has the institutional duty to properly draft local legislation on the protection of national security in line with the Article 23 requirement of the Macau Basic Law, and to properly carry out law enforcement and judicial tasks on the matter.
Wong also said that the Judiciary Police (PJ) are studying the possibility of establishing a unit under the Judiciary Police for the enforcement of Macau’s local national security law, as well as an anti-terrorism unit.
