Bill aims to enable Macau to exercise same national security standards as mainland & HK: Wong
The Macau government yesterday launched a public consultation on the draft of its national security law’s amendment bill, which aims to ensure that Macau’s legal system on the protection of national security will be as capable of safeguarding national security as the respective laws in the mainland and Hong Kong.
The proposed amendments also aim to ensure that Macau’s national security law will conform to the requirements outlined by President Xi Jinping’s Overall National Security Outlook, thereby making Macau more capable of tackling non-traditional threats to national security, according to a press conference held by the government yesterday.
In addition, the proposed amendments announced by the government yesterday also aim to strengthen the local government’s ability to prevent external hostile forces from interfering in Macau affairs.
According to the draft released during yesterday’s press conference the local government is proposing to extend the coverage of certain existing criminal offences listed in the local national security law, and adding new criminal offences to the law.
According to the press conference, the local government proposes to upgrade its national security law to a complete and comprehensive piece of legislation on safeguarding national security, a change from the current version which is merely a criminal law that punish offences endangering national security.
The press conference hosted by Secretary for Security Wong Sio Chak about the bill and its public consultation process was held yesterday morning at the S. Francisco Barracks, where Wong’s office is located.
The public consultation, which started yesterday, will last 45 days. Three sessions for members of the general public, and five sessions for specific professions and representatives from different segments and sectors of civil society, will be held during the consultation period, which will end on October 5.
Yesterday’s press conference, which lasted two hours, was also attended by several officials under Wong’s portfolio.
Macau enacted its national security law – the Law on Safeguarding National Security Law – back in 2009, based on the Article 23 requirement of the Macau Basic Law.
Macau’s national security law, Law 2/2009, has never been amended since its enactment in 2009. Macau’s police forces reportedly have never enforced the local national security law, i.e., no one has faced charges on the criminal offences listed in the law.
Amendments to laws must be passed by the Legislative Assembly (AL).
Article 23 of the Macau Basic Law states that the Macau Special Administrative Region (MSAR) shall enact laws, on its own, to prohibit any act of treason, secession, sedition, subversion against the Central People’s Government, or theft of state secrets, to prohibit foreign political organisations or bodies from conducting political activities in the MSAR, and to prohibit political organisations or bodies in the MSAR from establishing ties with foreign political organisations or bodies.
The current version of the local national security law lists the five crimes on endangering national security stated by Article 23 of the Macau Basic Law and their respective penalties, namely treason, secession, sedition, subversion against the central government, and theft of state secrets.
The current version of Law 2/2009 also lists additional punishments concerning foreign political organisations that commit the five crimes endangering national security in the MSAR, and additional punishments regarding Macau-based political organisations or bodies that establish ties with their foreign counterparts for committing the five crimes.
Interrelation of traditional & non-traditional security threats
Addressing yesterday’s press conference, Wong said that the security landscape globally and in countries and regions surrounding Macau has seen profound changes over the past decade or so since the implementation of the local national security law. Given the ongoing interrelation of traditional security threats and non-traditional ones, Wong said, the nation’s and Macau’s security and development are facing new and more serious challenges.
Consequently, Wong said, Macau’s national security law needs to keep pace with the times, with the aim of enabling the local government to meet the need of safeguarding overall national security in the new era.
Wong underlined that the proposed amendments aim to resolve the existing shortcomings of the current version of the local national security law, thereby enabling Macau’s national security law to safeguard national security in a way that will be as capable as the respective pieces of legislation in the Chinese mainland and in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR).
The country’s current national security law, officially known as the National Security Law of the People’s Republic of China, was enacted in 2015, while Hong Kong’s national security law, which was enacted by the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress (NPC), came into force on June 30, 2020.
The public consultation document proposes that Macau’s national security law should be amended in such a way that will meet the requirements outlined by Xi’s Overall National Security Outlook – which lists various non-traditional threats to national security that the nation is facing, in addition to the traditional ones.
Non-violent means
According to the consultation document, the local government proposes that secession by non-violent illegal means should also be punishable.
Article 2 of the current version of the local national security law, concerning the crime of secession, covers those who use violence or other grave illegal means in an attempt to separate Chinese territory from the nation or subject it to the sovereignty of another state.
The local government also proposes that subversion against the Central People’s Government, as defined by Article 3 of the current local national security law, should be extended to subversion against the political power ruling the nation. The consultation document notes that the current version of Article 3 cannot cover acts against the fundamental system of the state and acts against other organs of the central authorities.
In addition, the document notes that the current version only covers subversion by violence or other grave illegal means. The local government proposes that subversion by non-violent illegal means should also be punishable.
Moreover, the local government also proposes to widen the definition of the crime of sedition as enshrined in Article 4 of the current version of the local national security law. The current version covers those who publicly and directly incite others to commit treason, secession, or subversion against the central government.
The consultation document proposes to also punish those who publicly and directly incite others to participate in turmoil endangering national stability.
While the current version of the local national security law targets “foreign” political organisations or bodies endangering national security in the MSAR, the government now proposes that the crime should be extended to organisations or bodies “outside” the MSAR.
Wong noted yesterday that external hostile forces do not only come from foreign countries but can also from non-foreign regions outside Macau. He also noted that organisations or bodies that endanger national security are not necessarily political ones.
Wong also mentioned the visit to China’s Taiwan region by Nancy Pelosi, the speaker of the US House of Representatives, as an example indicating external forces’ intensified interference in China’s internal affairs.
According to the document, the government also proposes the setting-up of specific criminal procedures tackling cases of endangering national security, such as barring people under investigation for suspected national security law violations from leaving Macau for up to five days.
The government also proposes specific measures to intercept telecommunications with the aim of preventing crimes endangering national security.
Wong also said that Hong Kong’s riots and violent protests against the government in 2019 are stark reminders that Macau needs to improve its national security law with the aim of preventing similarly chaotic situations from occurring in Macau.
Wong noted that Hong Kong’s chaos in 2019 caused the central authorities to enact a national security law for Hong Kong, adding that that’s why the Macau government needs to propose amendments to its national security law with the aim of preventing Hong Kong’s previous chaos from happening in Macau.
In addition, Wong also said that the government aims to publish a report at the end of October summarising the findings of the ongoing public consultation process, after which it will be able to submit the amendment bill to the legislature in early November for debate and vote.
Secretary for Security Wong Sio Chak addresses yesterday’s press conference at the S. Francisco Barracks about the government’s public consultation on its local national security law amendment bill. – Photo: GCS
