June 4 vigil organizer admits to group’s dissolution

One of the founders and leaders of The Macau Union of Democratic Development (UMDD) has admitted to dissolving the group amid the promulgation of the amended National Security Law, several media outlets reported.

Over the past three decades or so, the UMDD has organized the city’s annual candlelight vigil in commemoration of the June 4 incident that took place in Beijing in 1989. The incident is referred to by Beijing as a political turmoil between spring and summer.

The vigil had been banned the past three years by the security authorities in the city, who cited “Covid-19 prevention and control.”Elaborating on the decision, former lawmaker and co-founder of the UMDD, Au Kam San, was cited by Radio Free Asia’s Cantonese platform as saying that “the current political atmosphere might impact UMDD members who have left public life if those who have remained say something, and if further persecutions occur.”

Another key person in the UMDD is former lawmaker António Ng Kuok Cheong.

Both former lawmakers were disqualified from running in the parliamentary elections back in 2021 on allegations of “not upholding the Basic Law,” as accused by Electoral Affairs Commission President Tong Hio Fong, who was a judge at the local court.

The main evidence presented at the trial centered around Au’s and Ng’s organizing of the June 4 vigil. According to Tong, certain banners and placards shown in the past vigils contained text that violated the Chinese Constitution.

Cited by the same media outlet, Au pointed out that the decision to disassemble the group came before the promulgation of the amended National Security Law. His understanding of the law is that advocating for democracy is itself an illegal act, according to the news outlet.

After the passing of the amended law, lawmaker Ron Lam demanded that the law should not bring about political persecution or jeopardize freedom of speech and expression. AL