HK lawmaker barred from entering Macau

Emily Lau

Local authorities barred the Hong Kong lawmaker Emily Lau Wai-hing from entering Macau on Saturday, in coherence with security reasons they claimed. She later expressed her “anger and sorrow” to the media, questioning the MSAR government’s decision and describing it as indicative of a “One Country, One System” model.
Emily Lau is a member of the Hong Kong Legislative Council and the chairwoman of the neighboring SAR’s Democratic Party. She was planning to visit Macau with three friends on Saturday and to stay the night. However, after arriving at the Macau Outer Harbour Ferry Terminal, Lau was immediately brought to a room by immigration officials. The Public Security Police (PSP) officials told her that according to the Internal Security Law, she is seen as a threat to the internal security and stability of Macau, and hence refused her entry. Her three friends, on the other hand, were allowed to cross the border to continue their journey.
Lau later spoke to TDM, criticizing the Macau authorities’ decision. “I think Macau is sending a signal to the Hong Kong people, and also to the Macau people, that they are really moving towards ’One Country, One System’,” she said. “It’s a sign that the Macau authority [is] being ordered by Beijing [and] is just tightening restrictions.”
Moreover, she revealed to other media that she was barred from entering Macau several times in the past when planning to carry out protests here. However, this is the first time she was refused entry, even though she only travelled here for tourism. “We are only tourists. What [could] we have done? I had made absolutely no appointment [to meet] politicians and activists in Macau [during the trip]. I only went to Macau with three of my friends to have some fun and to enjoy the food but the thing still ended up this way. I feel really angry,” she expressed.
Lau reiterated that she did not carry any “sensitive objects” such as a yellow ribbon –
the symbol of the Hong Kong Occupy Movement – with her during the Saturday trip. She said that Macau is starting to adopt the practices of the mainland authorities and she felt “sorrow” for it. Emily Lau also vowed never to set foot in Macau again and suspected that members of the Hong Kong Democratic Party would not be able to enter Macau in the future.
In a reply to media enquiries, the Public Security Police said that while Emily Lau’s identity matched that in the authorities’ database, further investigations suggested that she did not meet the criteria to enter MSAR. The authorities thus issued her a “refusal notice” in accordance with the procedure. PSP claimed that the decision is based on the professional judgment of the police.
It is seen as an increasingly common practice for the Macau authorities to bar individuals like politicians, activists, scholars and journalists from entering the SAR during periods that are deemed sensitive. For example, several Hong Kong journalists and activists were refused entry during the visit of Chinese President Xi Jingping last month. It also made headlines when a one-year-old child from Hong Kong was not allowed to enter Macau because he was seen as “a threat to Macau’s internal stability.”
The Times sent an enquiry to the police regarding the specific motives why the HK lawmaker was considered a threat to security. We also asked PSP about who decides on the so called “blacklist” of persons barred from entering Macau for security reasons, and how someone included on that list can appeal or defend himself. The police had not replied by press time. JPL