Gov’t says Taiwan report on Macau is ‘baseless and biased’

The Macau Special Administrative Region (MSAR) government has issued a statement refuting in its entirety the content of a report issued by Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) addressing the current situation of the MSAR, as well as the relationship between Macau and Taiwan over the past year.

In its response, the local government has expressed opposition to the content of the analysis, claiming that the report contains “baseless and biased claims about Macau’s development, and is severely lacking in its understanding of the practical situation in Macau and the public sentiment in the city.”

The MSAR government added: “The report is a wanton attempt by the Taiwan authorities to interfere in Macau’s affairs and make inappropriate commentary about Macau’s social, political and economic progress.”

The government noted that “since its return to the motherland, Macau has maintained social stability and propelled its economy and its people’s well-being. Macau has achieved this by successfully implementing the principles of ‘One country, two systems’, ‘Macau people governing Macau’ and a high degree of autonomy,” remarking that such achievements “have won worldwide recognition.”

In its statement, the MSAR government argues that the local political system has benefitted from substantial development since the city’s return to the motherland, noting that the local electoral system “has been gradually optimized in accordance with the city’s characteristics and development needs.”

In particular, the MSAR addressed the recent Legislative Assembly elections, stating that the elections “were conducted in a fair, just, open and clean manner, and in line with the Basic Law of the MSAR and relevant election laws.”

Written in bullet points, the government’s statement responded to the Taiwan authorities’ analysis report, which posited a continuous degradation of the people’s freedoms and rights in Macau over the last year, as well as relations between the two regions.

In its closing statement, the MSAR government said that it “will continue to stringently fulfil its constitutional responsibility to safeguard the country’s sovereignty, security and development interests,” adding that “[Macau] strongly opposes any attempt at inference into Macau’s internal affairs. Macau society will not be affected by any malicious effort made by external forces.”

Visas ping-pong

One of the issues addressed in the Taiwan authorities’ report concerned the non-issuance of visas to the staff of Taiwan’s office in Macau, which the Taiwanese claims as the reason for halting operations at the office in Macau.

On the topic, the MSAR government refutes Taiwan’s claims, stating that the “government has always worked in compliance with the law regarding applications for accreditation by people wishing to work in its office in Macau.” The response went to assert that the Macau office in Taiwan had to cease operations mid-June 2021 as a result of the non-possibility of renewing accreditation for those wishing to work for the Macau office in Taiwan.

To recall, the acting director of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office (TECO) in Macau, Chen Chia-hung, left his post and returned to Taiwan at the end of June 2021, as he was unable to gain extension to his visa from the Macau government.

According to the report at the time, the issue at play was the requirement of signing of an affidavit that recognizes the “One China Principle,” which officials were not authorized by Taipei to sign.

Before returning to Taiwan, Chen held the acting director role for several years due to the non-issuance of a visa to the new director of TECO appointed by the leader Tsai Ing-wen.

On this issue, the MSAR government reaffirmed its commitment to “continue to uphold the Basic Law of the MSAR and the fundamental principles and policies implemented by the central government towards the Taiwan region as the basis to proceed on matters between Macau and the Taiwan region. The MSAR government will keep promoting and deepening people-to-people exchanges and cooperation between Macau and the Taiwan region.”