Briefs | Macau-Portugal fugitive bill details announced

The fugitive bill between Macau and Portugal was published in the government’s Official Gazette yesterday. The bill, which was signed on May 15 in Portugal, stipulates that Portugal has the right to refuse to transfer Portuguese nationals to Macau, and that Macau is entitled to refuse to transfer Chinese nationals and Macau permanent residents, but not Portuguese nationals who are Macau’s permanent residents. Political prisoners may not be handed over. Transfers which go against the humanitarian spirit, or of a person who is sentenced to imprisonment in absentia, can be turned down. Macau’s Public Prosecutions Office is the authority for sending and receiving transfer requests.

Japan believed not a competitor to Macau gaming

A Japanese diplomat at the Consulate General of Japan in Hong Kong, Mitsuhiro Wada, expressed that there exists no potential for competition between the gaming industries of Macau and Japan. In Wada’s opinion, tourists in Macau mainly come from mainland China and Hong Kong, whereas Japan’s integrated resorts are mainly receiving Japanese citizens, followed by overseas tourists. He believes that Japan can learn from Macau. Moreover, the Japanese consulate said that many Japanese enterprises attach importance to the development of the Greater Bay Area (GBA), and that if the GBA shows progress, it will become an important commercial region for Japan.

UM inaugurates Cultural Building

The University of Macau (UM) yesterday held an inauguration ceremony for its new Cultural Building, which will house the current Centre for Chinese History and Culture, Centre for Macau Studies, Confucius Institute, Chinese-Portuguese Bilingual Teaching and Training Centre, Centre for Arts and Design, and Macao Base for Primary & Secondary Education in Humanities & Social Sciences. According to a statement from the education institution, together the departments support Macau’s effort to “develop into a center for cultural exchange between China and foreign countries in the Greater Bay Area and even in the world.”