The Macau government issued yesterday a strongly-worded statement in response to media enquiries about certain claims about the Macau Special Administrative Region (MSAR) contained in the “2021 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices”, which was issued by the US Department of State earlier this week.
The statement released by the Macau Government Information Bureau (GCS) “strongly” opposed the report’s “baseless” allegations concerning human and civic rights in the MSAR.
According to the statement, the local government “expresses its strong opposition regarding such references to Macau in the self-styled report, a format that year after year repeats baseless and biased commentary.”
The statement underlined that since Macau’s return to the motherland 22 years ago, the central and local governments “have resolutely adhered to, and precisely implemented, the ‘One Country, Two Systems’ principle, as well as the pursuit of ‘Macau people administering Macau’, and enjoyment of a high degree of autonomy,” adding that “such principles have led to remarkable and widely-recognised success in terms of rapid economic growth, and consistent optimisation of people’s well-being.”
The statement also pointed out that the rights and freedoms enjoyed by Macau residents are fully protected by the nation’s Constitution and the local Basic Law.
“The people of Macau have enjoyed over time a growing sense of gain, happiness, and security”, the statement said, underlining that “such facts, and Macau’s progress in relation to human rights protection, cannot be refuted through interference by a foreign power.”
“The US, having serious internal problems in relation to human rights, has no authority to make the groundless and baseless accusations contained in the report,” the statement said, adding that the local government urges the US to abandon its “double-standards” mentality on human right issues, and stop interfering in the internal affairs of both the MSAR and the People’s Republic of China (PRC).
