Macau Legislative Council Candidates Faced with Redefinition by the Collective DQ “Love the Country and Love Australia”-BBC News

Dr. Yu Yongyi, associate professor of the Department of Government and Administration at the University of Macau, believes that this DQ operation is not a problem of “one country, two systems”, nor is it a problem of Macau itself. He speculated that this time the matter was led by Beijing.

Huang Dong, a senior Macau current affairs commentator, believes that the DQ incident has frustrated Chief Executive He Yicheng’s rise in popularity due to the timely response to the 2019 novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19; new crown virus).

Under Macau’s “Right of Association Law”, residents can organize “political groups”, which are de facto political parties. However, there has never been a group that organizes political parties to participate in direct elections. Instead, they participate in elections in the name of a “nomination committee”. Community support. Traditionally, the name of the nomination committee is not the same as the name of the nomination committee.

Judge Tang Xiaofeng, chairman of the EAC, announced on Friday (July 9) that the 19 direct election lists and five indirect election lists confirmed this year have been reviewed, and it was found that two candidates in one group were “not voters”; there were six groups in total. Twenty-one persons “have proved that they do not support the Basic Law of the Macao Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China” or are not loyal to the Macao Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China”, that is, a total of 23 persons are not eligible for selection.

The “anti-non-support” clause was written into the “Law on the Election System of the Legislative Council of the Macao Special Administrative Region” in December 2016 and became one of the reasons for “not eligible to be elected”. Earlier in Hong Kong, the legislative council election “confirmation of election” storm occurred. Some candidates from “Hong Kong independence” were ruled that the nomination was invalid. Then there was a storm of inauguration. The Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress of China issued a report to Hong Kong for the fifth time. Interpretation of the Basic Law and related incidents of deprivation of membership.

This “non-support” clause in Macau was cited for the first time in the 2021 election. Judge Tang Xiaofeng only confirmed that it was based on the police information provided by the Department of Security of the Macau Special Administrative Region. Administrative and judicial procedures, as well as the privacy of each candidate” declined to elaborate.

After several questions, Judge Tang Xiaofeng said that the EAC noticed that the Macau Special Administrative Region Court of Final Appeal rejected the Democratic Party’s decision to host the June 4th Candlelight Gala on June 3, and affirmed the Macau Basic Law and China’s Constitution. Macau’s constitutional system and its related systems, as a supervisory election agency, have the responsibility to follow up and deal with issues concerning the qualifications of candidates. But he still did not name which candidate it was related to.

On the evening of Monday (12th), Judge Tang Xiaofeng convened a press conference again and said that “patriots governing Macao” is a principle that must be followed in comprehensively and accurately implementing the “One Country, Two Systems” policy. Therefore, candidates must sincerely support Macau’s Basic Law and support it. The Basic Law must support China’s Constitution. According to the amendment to the Constitution in March 2018, supporting the leadership of the Communist Party of China has become a new basis for examining whether candidates are eligible. Anyone who engages in acts that endanger national security and sovereignty, participates in “anti-China chaos in Australia” activities, proposes to “end the one-party dictatorship”, maliciously attacks and smears the legislation and decisions of the National People’s Congress, is not eligible to stand for election.

As for whether there is a retrospective period, Judge Tang Xiaofeng said that “the time is not clearly stipulated in the law.”

“According to the Constitution as the fundamental law of Macau, candidates must uphold the Constitution, the Basic Law, and clearly state the leadership of the Communist Party of China, some attacks on the Communist Party, some statements and actions intended to overthrow. , Are enough to constitute’insincere support’.”

This speech of Judge Tang Xiaofeng was immediately summed up by the Macau media as “the seven-point standard of patriotism.”

The news shocked the Macau public opinion circle. Huang Dong told a BBC Chinese reporter: “Some candidates actually expected this situation, but such a large-scale DQ is really not as serious as it was estimated, even worse than Hong Kong.”

Huang Dong described that when the DQ news was announced, he walked into the street that night, “Suddenly I felt that this city is very strange, and there are not a few friends and citizens who feel like me.”

His statement was confirmed to a certain extent: According to all media reports, listeners who called the government-run Australian Broadcasting Television (TDM) Radio Macau Chinese Channel on the political program on Monday were almost completely dissatisfied with the large-scale cancellation of candidacy by the EAC. . A Mr. Zhang said: “Macao is so behaved. If you are so behaved, you still have to do this? Everyone is very uneasy.”

Jorge Neto Valente, president of the Macau Bar Association, also expressed shock at TDM Macau Radio Portuguese Channel. The senior Portuguese lawyer believes that the authorities’ attempts to crack down on candidates who support universal suffrage violates Macau’s Basic Law and even the freedom of expression permitted by China’s Constitution.

By Tuesday (13th), the EAC officially announced that five names were not accepted for the election, including “Democratic Prosperity Macau”, “Academic Advancement”, “New Macau Progress Association”, “Macao All Victory” and “Gaming New Macau”.

Among them, candidates for “Democratic Prosperity Macau”, “Academic Society Advance” and “New Macau Progress Association” are mostly current or former members of the old political group New Macau Academy, including no longer being ranked first in the list to run for the election. Veteran MP Ng Kwok-chang, who is seen as retreating, and MP So Jiahao, who was elected for the first time in 2017. The lead candidate for the “Macao Grand Victory” is Luo Quansheng, who claims to be a “political amateur”, and the “New Gaming Macau” is led by Zhou Yifang, the leader of the casino workers’ union.

Among the democrats’ expanded “open camp”, only the senior MP, José Pereira Coutinho, who represented the interests of the Macanese and civil servants, survived. He has never publicly stated his position on the DQ incident.

After the announcement by the EAC, the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of the State Council of China, the Liaison Office of the Central Government of China in the Macao Special Administrative Region (Macao Liaison Office) and the Macao Special Administrative Region Government issued successive statements in the evening, “resolutely supporting” the decision of the EAC. Among them, the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office stated that the DQ decision “demonstrates the fairness and majesty of the rule of law, safeguards the seriousness and fairness of the election, safeguards the constitutional order of the special administrative region, is completely legal, necessary and justifiable, and embodies the responsibility to perform duties strictly in accordance with the law. “.

Hu Zhiwei is currently being detained pending trial for the case of 47 people “conspiring to subvert state power” in the primary election of the Hong Kong Democratic Party Legislative Council. The Democratic Party issued a document overnight, saying: “The Democratic Party expresses its extreme regret for the serious misrepresentation of the Macau Special Administrative Region Government and requests the Macau authorities to expedite the accusation. Make solemn clarifications and corrections.”

Wu Guochang’s long-time partner, Ou Jinxin, who chose not to stand for election this year, posted a post on the Internet just after the DQ news was announced: “As a democrat, you must support the Basic Law the most. Even if the Basic Law is written sparsely, it’s a problem for the protection of human rights. Insufficient, insufficient planning for the democratic political system, but as the mini-constitution of Macau, it has extremely important legal authority, and the basic law is the space on which the democrats of Macau depend.”

“It is natural for the democrats to support the Basic Law. It is absolutely absurd to use DQ as a reason for not supporting the Basic Law and not loyal to the SAR. Of course, I have seen what has happened in Hong Kong in the past two years, especially in recent months. Absurdity, no matter how absurd, can be regarded as expected.”

According to the EAC’s announcement, Monday is the deadline for the replacement of candidates on the affected list, and they can also file a judicial appeal. “Democracy Prosperity Macau”, “Academic Society Advance” and “New Macau Progress Association” three groups of candidates for the list of democratic parties showed that they have a clear conscience. They went to the EAC to obtain the EAC resolution documents to study the next steps and do not rule out appeals. The Court of Final Appeal of the Macao Special Administrative Region.

According to Macau’s “Legal Daily”, when the “Macao Justice” team led by trade unionist Li Shaokun raised objections to the EAC, Li Shaokun was wearing a couplet with the words “The central sword is directed at Haojiang, when the world’s youth will be cut down on corrupt officials”. Undershirt, complained to reporters that he “loves the country and Australia” and claimed that there was a “man behind the scenes” that made him ineligible for the election. After deleting two unqualified persons from this list, they were accepted by the EAC and continued to stand for election.

Huang Dong commented: “The government’s explanation is completely opaque. It’s a black box operation. Until today, it still says:’We have done this in accordance with the law, and there is sufficient evidence to prove it.’ But he can’t come up with anything to explain it to the outside world. If you move, the red line will follow you.”

Dr. Yu Yongyi told the BBC Chinese reporter: “You can find practical examples of what so-and-so did with DQ one or two people. There are so many people in six groups. You really have to think of a good package that can cover each group. All the things done in the past, it is concluded that these behaviors are wrong.”

Lin Chang, the president and editor-in-chief of the well-known leftist newspaper in Macau, said in a column on Monday: “The legal profession and according to most’Australians’ have a positive attitude towards this, and expressed respect for the EAC’s legal actions. Review decision.”

“This is not only an urgent practical need to prevent and resolve the risks of future elections in Macau, but also a practical measure to implement the requirements of the Fourth Plenary Session of the 19th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, and to continuously’improve the special administrative region’s systems and mechanisms related to the implementation of the Constitution and Basic Law.’ To be more specific. It is to take precautions against the negative effects of Taiwan’s “Sunflower Movement”, Hong Kong’s illegal “Occupy Central”, and “Regulations turmoil”, to prevent local opposition forces in Macau from copying the “anti-China and chaotic Hong Kong” model, and putting those in the cloak of patriots. The “lurkers” and “pretenders” were eliminated one by one, and the right to hold the governance of the special administrative region firmly in the hands of the patriots. Of course, it is also based on the actual situation in Macau and draws on the experience of improving Hong Kong’s electoral system. Practice, and continuously improve the specific performance of Macao’s local electoral system.”

Dr. Yu Yongyi said that the DQ incident in the Legislative Council election was “not without a trace, but it was unexpected that it happened so quickly.”

On the Sunday (4th) before the DQ incident, Macau “theoretical circles” held a large-scale “Patriots Love Australia” seminar. Yu Yongyi said, “It just so happened that some people clearly said what a patriot is, and what those people must do to be qualified to be leaders and supervisors in the government.”

Yu Yongyi looked puzzled. He told a BBC Chinese reporter: “No one would say that the group of people who are now’ruling Macao’ are not patriotic! Even if some individuals are more naughty, on the whole Macau society is’patriots governing Macao’! “

For a long time, descriptions of Macau’s society and politics have always been inseparable from the “12·3 Incident” when the Cultural Revolution broke out in 1966. The Chinese leaders of Macau and the Guangdong Revolutionary authorities of the Communist Party of China successfully forced the Governor of Macau and Portugal to sign a “confession”. Since then, Macau has been described as a “half-liberated area”, and “patriotic” merchants actually dominate the political and social development of Macau. Recently, when the CCP celebrated the 100th anniversary of the founding of the party, the official media reviewed the “deep friendship” between the late Macao businessman Ma Wanqi and the CCP in a high-profile manner.

Even 10 years ago, former public administration scholars of Macau Polytechnic Institute Yu Zhen, Lou Shenghua and Chen Zhuohua published the book “Vertical Study of Chinese Political Culture in Macau”, they said: “Macau schools have always emphasized patriotic education, and its remarkable achievements are clearly reflected in our According to the survey results, the high recognition of the country should be affirmed, but the education of “love Macau” seems insufficient.” This means that the current young and middle-aged Macau people are more “patriotic” than “love Macau”. .

At this seminar on the theory of Macau, Dr. Jiang Hua, a senior tutor at the Research Center for Constitution and Basic Law of the University of Macau, stated that Hong Kong and Macau SAR, as a local administrative region directly under the central government, should naturally be in the hands of patriots. , The Macao Special Administrative Region adheres to the principle of “patriots governing Macao” is “justified by nature.”

Jiang Hua said: “I often tell my students that different people may have different opinions on this basic political system in China, but everyone’s bottom line is that you can’t try to destroy or subvert this system, you can’t. To oppose and overthrow the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party, you must at least respect and accept it.”

“Some people are deemed to be people who do not meet the standards of patriots. They may ask questions like I think I am also a patriot. Then why do you think that I am not a patriot? Then this standard of patriots It is indeed very worthwhile to further legalize and clarify it.”

In May 2021, the Hong Kong Legislative Council passed the “Public Service (Participation and Appointment) (Miscellaneous Amendments) Ordinance 2021” aimed at amending the oath requirements of public officials, which is clearly stated in the “Interpretation and General Provisions Ordinance” Chapter 1 of the Laws of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region It stipulates what is meant by “supporting the Basic Law and loyal to the SAR”, and lists six “positive lists” and nine “negative lists”. Jiang Hua’s remarks seemed to imply that Macau should keep up with Hong Kong.

The day after the seminar, Lin Chang, the president of the Xinhua Australia News, stated in his column, “In fact, among the list of candidates that have been submitted to the EAC of the Legislative Council, there are some individuals who are not in line with what Deng Zhonghua and Luo Yonggang proposed. He continued without naming names and accused some candidates of “openly advocating’Australian independence’,’Taiwan independence’,’Tibet independence’ and’Xinjiang independence'”, and “together with the international Falun Gong organization, what are they doing in Australia” “Delivering the human rights torch” farce in an attempt to impact the Beijing Olympics”, “has been close to Huang Zhifeng and other “anti-China chaos in Hong Kong” elements, and participated in some activities held by it.”

This pushed things back more than ten days ago. On June 18, the National Hong Kong and Macau Research Association, the official think tank of the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office of the State Council of China, held an academic seminar for the 2021 annual conference in Macau. Deng Zhonghua, deputy director of the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office, said in a speech that the key to achieving “patriots ruling Hong Kong” and “patriots ruling Macao” is to uphold the standards of patriots and ensure that true patriots are selected.

Deng Zhonghua then listed six requirements:

Deng Zhonghua said: “Only by meeting these requirements can you be a true patriot and be able to become the governor of Hong Kong and Macau.”

Immediately afterwards, it was the turn of Luo Yonggang, deputy director of the Liaison Office of the Central Committee of Macau, to put forward his six requirements for a “true patriot”:

The demands made by Deng Zhonghua and Luo Yonggang are not unprecedented, but they have become reasons cited by Lin Chang to question that individual candidates are not patriots.

Prior to the seminar, the Macau Democratic Development Joint Committee, both of which were directors by Wu Guochang and Au Jinxin, continued to bid for the 32nd anniversary candlelight party for the June 4th Incident in Tiananmen Square in Beijing in 1989. As a result, it was banned for the second year in a row. The difference is that in 2020, the Public Security Police Bureau cited the new crown virus epidemic prevention regulations to prohibit gatherings, and in 2021, it cited the “Criminal Code” and “Administrative Procedure Code” and the National People’s Congress Standing Committee “On Stopping Disturbance and Calming Off” on July 6, 1989. The Counter-Revolutionary Riot Resolution, alleging that the rally involves inciting subversion of the regime, overthrowing the constitution, challenging the authority of the central government, provoking and slandering the central government and other reasons are prohibited. This ultimately led to the Court of Final Appeal decision cited by Judge Tang Xiaofeng, Chairman of the EAC.

Pushing the timeline forward, in October 2018, Macau established the “National Security Committee”, which is different from the same organization established by the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress of China in June 2020 after the Hong Kong National Security Law was promulgated. The Commission was established on the basis of the “Maintenance of National Security Law” enacted locally, and the Liaison Office of the Central Committee of Macau and other Beijing agencies in Australia did not participate in it.

After the establishment of the National Security Commission of Macau, in January 2020, the “Amendment to the Judicial Police Department” bill was passed and took effect in October of the same year. Under this bill, the Macao Judicial Police Bureau established the Security Department, which has four national security police departments, and authorized the police to use any form of access to civil and criminal identity information, and is not subject to the privacy protection supervision of the Personal Data Protection Office. The Police Department will expand its staff year by year, and under “exceptional circumstances,” the Chief Executive may not follow the requirement that most civil servants in Macao will be publicized and issue an order to exempt the publication of the results of the recruitment of certain police officers. This bill was therefore criticized by the democrats as the “Secret Police Act” and questioned whether there will be mainland Chinese personnel going to Australia to take up secret positions in the national security department of the police.

In April 2021, when the Secretary for Security Huang Shaoze met with reporters from Macao media, he said that there had been a storm in Hong Kong against the amendment of the Fugitive Offenders Ordinance, which impacted national security. The Macao security authorities should consider all the security situation during the Legislative Council election as a whole. Whether it is because Hong Kong has caused an abnormal situation in Macau, and Hong Kong’s amendment to the electoral system is an inspiration, learning and reference for Macau, but Macau does not intend to imitate Hong Kong in elections.

The words are still in my ears, and the DQ incident occurred in July. Huang Shaoze also refused to disclose the details of the information provided to the EAC on the grounds that the Secretary for Security did not have the power to vote, saying that all the information was obtained legally.

Huang Dong believes that the more distant background can be traced back to Cui Shian’s tenure as the chief executive, the “returning protests” that took place in May 2014 against the legislation of the compensation system for resigning senior officials, and the semi-official Macau in May 2016. The foundation donated 100 million yuan to Guangzhou Jinan University, Cui Shian who is also a school governor, to trigger a “100 million backwater” parade. Between these two social events in Macau, the Hong Kong Umbrella Movement took place, which made the Macau authorities more nervous.

Huang Dong told a BBC Chinese reporter: “I have come into contact with influential figures from individual establishments, and none of them understand (DQ candidates) this matter. Because their faction is capable enough to be elected, it is not guilty of using such extreme means to give They canvassed.”

“In the past they could also say:’We won through competition.’ Nowadays there is no competition at all.’Lying and being elected’, isn’t your social acceptance much lower?”

Ou Jinxin described on Facebook that the large-scale DQ of the EAC of the Legislative Council of Macau is a “feat”, “over-fulfilling the’patriot ruling Macau’-Hong Kong still wants to have some democrats to embellish it, Macau even embellishment Do not want any”. So Jiahao said at a joint press conference for democratic candidates on Saturday (10th) that if the Macau SAR government insists on going its own way, Macau society and the parliament will move towards “single words” and Macau’s public interests will “not be the worst, only worse.”

Yu Yongyi believes that this DQ incident means that “total governance from the north” will land in Macau, but in the short term it may be a redefinition of the “establishment faction”.

Yu Yongyi told a BBC Chinese reporter: “This time the DQ is just similar to Hong Kong, leaving the so-called traditional opposition camp out of the system. But what role does the existing establishment have? Will newcomers join? Will these newcomers become the main axis of the establishment, and the existing establishment into the so-called’loyal opposition’?”

“Some problems have occurred in mainland China, which seem to conflict with the established establishments in the Macao Special Administrative Region. I will look at it this way.”

Yu Yongyi’s colleague and Assistant Professor of the Department of Government and Administration at the University of Macau, Ming Yu Yang, contributed to the Ming Pao newspaper in Hong Kong, and pointed out: “The Legislative Council of Macau has always been nicknamed the “junk club” in Macau society. It can be seen that the recognition of it is not high. If there are limited differences. The loss of voice will further attack the legitimacy of the Legislative Council and even the Macau government. Such a “new normal” is not a good thing.”

Yang Mingyu wrote: “The Macau government has been criticizing the public for its responsiveness and accountability, especially since the outbreak of the new crown epidemic, Macau’s economy has been directly affected. The public expect the government to focus on restoring the economy and improving people’s livelihood, as mentioned above Non-incorporated councillors cannot have a substantial influence on the passage of government policies, but their opinions can help relevant government departments to recognize and understand the deficiencies of policies and the preferences of the public. The de facto help to governance is incomparable. of.”

According to Hong Kong news reports, the latest developments in Macau have made Hong Kong Democratic Party members even more discouraged about the situation of the December Legislative Council elections. A veteran Hong Kong journalist and host of political commentary programs, Au Jialin also wrote on his blog: “From Macau to Hong Kong, everyone should finally understand. Full control, power-control addiction, and DQ addiction. No matter how obedient you are, the ending will be the same. The same; whether there is fierce confrontation or not, the script has already been written.”

“You don’t need to look back at the turbulent situation in Hong Kong over the past two years. You only need to pay attention to the rapid decline of human rights and freedom in the Mainland, and the arrogance and self-confidence of the Howling Wolf. You know that Hong Kong and Macau are not immune. No matter you are on your knees or you have been fierce. To resist, you must be uprooted. You are classified as an enemy, you become the object of struggle, and you are no longer eligible to enjoy normal rights.”

Huang Dong also pessimistically believes that it is necessary to be vigilant against the ultra-leftist trend of promoting the “patriots governing Macao”, so that Macau will evolve into a Portuguese Salazar (António de Oliveira Salazar) combined with the totalitarian rule of the Cultural Revolution.

Huang Dong told the BBC Chinese reporter: “Civilized things, legal rules, and spiritual things are completely out of touch with the world. They are out of touch and go to extremes in the opposite direction. This is the most worrying thing in this city.”

“Hong Kong is gone, Macau is going to die like this, so what hope is there for the entire Greater China region?”