The Office of the Commissioner of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) in the Macau Special Administrative Region (MSAR) issued the following statement in the Chinese language yesterday, concerning a question by the media about this week’s report by the US Statement Department which contained certain references to the human rights situation in Macau:
Q: The US State Department has just released the 2021 Country Report on Human Rights, and some of the content covered the Macau Special Administrative Region (MSAR). What’s your opinion?
A: The so-called “Country Human Rights Reports” published by the US year after year ignore facts and are full of prejudice. They make groundless accusations about the human rights situation in Macau and interfere in the MSAR’s internal affairs and China’s internal affairs. We firmly oppose this.
In the 22 years since Macau’s return to the motherland, the Central People’s Government has unswervingly, fully and accurately implemented the principles of “One Country, Two Systems”, “Macau people administering Macau”, and a high degree of autonomy. The practice of “One Country, Two Systems” with Macau characteristics has achieved world-renowned achievements, with rapid economic development and the continuous improvement of people’s livelihoods. Residents enjoy a wide range of rights and freedoms conferred by the nation’s Constitution and the MSAR Basic Law, and their sense of gain, happiness and security are increasing day by day. No external force’s interference can stop Macau’s progress in the field of human rights.
The “double standards” of the United States in the field of human rights are well known. Not only does the United States have a bad human rights record, but it also engages in hegemonism, unilateralism and interventionism in the world, frequently creating humanitarian disasters. The US side should face up to, and reflect on its own human rights issues, abandon the usual tactics of politicising human rights, immediately stop harming the human rights of people in other countries, and immediately stop interfering in the internal affairs of the MSAR and PRC.
(Translation by The Macau Post Daily)
