Activist Jason Chao believes that the new national security law in Hong Kong shows that Beijing no longer needs Hong Kong and Macau to prove that the “one country, two systems” principle works, within the framework of the country’s unification strategy. A situation that, he warns, will have consequences in terms of freedoms.
“We believe that the erosion of rights and freedoms will not only continue, but also accelerate, because China no longer needs Hong Kong and Macau to promote the ‘one country, two systems’ principle. Therefore, it is very likely that the Macau authorities will incorporate some elements of Hong Kong’s national security law into local law, ”defends the pro-democracy activist, speaking to TDM – Rádio Macau.
One of the possibilities, he says, is that the territory will change the way the crime of secession is defined. The law to defend state security in Macao requires that action be taken “through violence or through the practice of other serious illicit means”, but, notes Jason Chao, the Hong Kong diploma stipulates that the crime of secession it may “or not” imply “the use of force” or “threat of force”.
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