New Macau looking to organize demonstration on Dec 20

The New Macau Association (ANM) is seeking to organize a demonstration next Saturday advocating for universal suffrage. The city is commemorating the 15th anniversary of its handover to China on Saturday, and Chinese president Xi Jinping is scheduled to visit.
The association has already filed a request with the Public Security Police to organize the protest, but has not yet received a reply. The vice-president of ANM, Bill Chou, told Radio Macau that they expect the authorities to approve the request, as it would not be the first time that protests have been held while a Chinese president is in town.
However, the scholar acknowledged that Xi Jinping’s visit and the swearing-in ceremony of the new government might affect the authorities’ decision.
In 2009, the New Macau Association also held a demonstration advocating for the transition to a universal suffrage system.
“It is not the first time that a demonstration coincides with the visit of a president. In 2009, former president Hu Jintao visited Macau and we organized a demonstration. We believe that this time the protest can also be hold to show that the ‘one country, two systems’ policy is indeed implemented in Macau, and that the freedoms it entails are ensured,” he stressed.
The New Macau Association has been advocating for the implementation of universal suffrage in the next Chief Executive elections in 2019.