On the fourth day of his ongoing six-day working visit to Macau, Xia Baolong, who heads both the Hong Kong and Macao Work Office (HKMWO) of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and the State Council’s Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office (HKMAO), yesterday visited the Legislative Assembly (AL) where he had a meeting with all legislators during which he said that the relationship between Macau’s executive and the legislative organs stipulated in the Macau Basic Law “is not the one between the executive and the legislative organs under the West’s separation of powers”.
Legislative Assembly President Kou Hoi In quoted Xia’s remarks made during the closed-door meeting while speaking to reporters after the meeting.
Including Kou, Macau’s legislature currently has 33 members.
Speaking to reporters, Kou said that Xia acknowledged the work carried out by the local legislature’s current term, including its passage of the government-initiated bills amending the city’s gaming industry system, law safeguarding national security, and election systems.
According to Kou, Xia also urged the local legislature to further strengthen and improve its relationship with the city’s executive organ with the aim of leveraging the institutional advantages brought about by Macau’s executive-led system. Kou quoted Xia as underlining the need for mutual respect and support between the city’s executive and legislative organs.
According to a statement by the Macau Government Information Bureau (GCS) last night, Xia had breakfast yesterday with some of the local deputies to the National People’s Congress (NPC) and some of the local members of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC).
Chief Executive Sam Hou Fai also attended the breakfast meeting.
According to local media reports, Xia had the breakfast meeting at Federal Restaurant in Zape.
After the breakfast, Xia headed to the local legislature for his meeting with all local lawmakers.
In the afternoon, the statement said, Xia, accompanied by Sam, visited the Qingmao pedestrian checkpoint where he was briefed by Secretary for Security Wong Sio Chak about the operation of its “joint inspection and one-time release” system with the mainland.
Afterwards, the statement said, Xia visited various cultural and tourism facilities across the city.
Xia arrived in Macau on Thursday for his fact-finding visit scheduled to end tomorrow.
On the second day of his fact-finding visit on Friday, Xia had a meeting with Sam in the morning where they exchanged views on the ongoing administration and governance exercised by the local government, according to a GCS statement that day.
In the afternoon, the statement said, Xia had a meeting with representatives from various local patriotic community associations at Government Headquarters in Nam Van where they exchanged views on topics such as promoting the high-quality development of the city’s patriotic community associations, their contributions to accelerating Macau’s appropriate economic diversification and the development of the Guangdong-Macau In-Depth Cooperation Zone in Hengqin, and their united efforts to create a new chapter in the successful implementation of the “One Country, Two Systems” principle with Macau characteristics.
The meeting was also attended by Sam and Secretary for Administration and Justice André Cheong Weng Chon.
Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Cheong quoted Xia as saying during the meeting that the development of Hengqin is very important for advancing Macau’s appropriate economic diversification campaign, adding that Xia urged local community associations to always consider Hengqin’s development as a task that they should also undertake.
On the third day of his investigation and research tour on Saturday, Xia had breakfast with “the older generation of patriots”, according to a GCS statement that day.
Sam also attended that breakfast meeting.
According to local media reports, Xia had the breakfast meeting at Grand Plaza Restaurant in the podium of the government’s high-rise rental residential building for senior citizens on Plot P in Areia Preta district.
Afterwards, the statement said, Xia visited A-Ma Temple and the nearby Maritime Museum, after which he boarded a fire and rescue vessel newly purchased by the Macau Customs Service at the nearby Barra Pier.
The statement said that during the trip aboard the vessel, Xia was briefed by Sam and Secretary for Transport and Public Works Raymond Tam Vai Man about Macau’s management of its coastal waters and the ongoing development of its land reclamation areas, as well as the local government’s plans to set up an international integrated tourism and cultural zone in Macau and to build an ecological island in its coastal waters.
Xia was also accompanied by Secretary for Security Wong Sio Chak and Customs Service Director-General Adriano Marques Ho during the boat trip.
On Saturday afternoon, the statement said, Xia, accompanied by Sam, inspected several government plots earmarked for future public projects, including a science and technology research and development industrial park.
Xia was briefed by Secretary for Economy and Finance Anton Tai Kin Ip and Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture Wallis O Lam about the local government’s plans for the different future public projects, the statement said.
The statement said that Xia wrapped up the third day of his visit to Macau with a visit to the Giant Panda Pavilion in Coloane.
Xia Baolong (centre), looks at a model of the Qingmao pedestrian border checkpoint displayed there yesterday, accompanied by Chief Executive Sam Hou Fai (second from right), Central People’s Government Liaison Office in Macau Director Zheng Xincong (third from right) and Secretary for Security Wong Sio Chak (right). – Photos: GCS
Legislative Assembly (AL) President Kou Hoi In chairs yesterday’s meeting between Xia Baolong and local lawmakers at the legislature’s building.
