CE: National security and patriotic education nothing new to Macau

Macau has a solid and established foundation when it comes to education on national security and patriotism, Chief Executive Ho Iat Seng told the Policy Address Press Conference yesterday evening.

His presentation at the parliament on next year’s policies opened with national security and patriotism. Ho pledged that the two topics will be further reinforced in the coming year. The city will introduce an allegiance-pledging law, among other laws related to national security and patriotism.

When asked to provide more concrete details, Ho first reiterated that national security “is a very important assignment” for the Macau government, before saying that patriotic education “has a strong foundation in Macau and [did not only start] today.”

“Education on these topics has existed in Macau for so long,” he emphasized. “I believe the same happens in Portugal, that students will be taught to be patriotic. This is the obligation of the citizens of any country. This is mandatory.”

Ho mentioned Portugal because the question was raised by an ethnically Portuguese journalist.

Details of the implementation of relevant curricula will be the task of the Education and Youth Development Bureau (DSEDJ), Ho added. He also asked the journalist to read the Policy Address text for further details of national security and patriotic education.

His parliamentary presentation also mentioned that “Macau must never become chaotic.” When a journalist asked him what he believes is making Macau chaotic, he questioned whether the journalist understood the source of Hong Kong’s turmoil in 2019. Ho was referring to the anti-extradition protests in Hong Kong.

“We are conducting early preparation and cannot only work to ‘extinguish visible fires’,” he said. “I will not tell you if external infiltration is present or not, but external forces are constantly acting against us [in areas such as] cyberattacks against our government websites.”

“External forces do not want One Country Two Systems to thrive, that is for sure,” he continued saying. “You may see peace, but I see the constant ringing of alarms.”