Patriotism important to SAR’s future

Both the Chief Executive, Ho Iat Seng, and Beijing’s highest representative in Macau, Zheng Xincong, yesterday emphasized the importance of patriotism and national security to the city’s development.

The Liaison Office of the Central People’s Government in the Macao SAR held a reception as an early celebration of Chinese New Year yesterday afternoon. Zheng, director of the Office, and Ho were among the officiating guests.

The government will “firmly safeguard national security and developmental interests, and do our utmost to protect Macau’s social stability and long-term peace and security,” Ho said, during his speech.

He noted the “motherland is the strong backing Macau needs to maintain long-term prosperity and stability. The achievements of the Macau SAR are inseparable from the strong leadership and support of the central government.”

He said Macau should “better integrate into the overall development of the country and seize opportunities to promote new developments in various undertakings.”

The head of the government also said the government would encourage the people to “give full play to Macau’s advantages from its unique position and system.”

“We deeply understand that only by always insisting on walking with the country and seizing the historical opportunities brought by the country’s development can we achieve long-term prosperity and stability in Macau,” Ho said.

During his speech, Zheng described national security as the foundation for stability.

“The high-quality revision and implementation of Macau’s National Security Law has further consolidated the consensus among the people about the causality between national security and stability,” he said.

“To achieve new development, we must firmly safeguard national security. Safeguarding national sovereignty, security and development interests is the highest principle of the ‘one country, two systems’ policy and the fundamental prerequisite for maintaining long-term peace and stability in Macau,” Zheng added.

“Without national security, there will be no stable development environment and a beautiful homeland for people to live and work in in peace and contentment.”

Zheng said that last year, the city received 28 million tourists and the city’s athletes won 13 medals in two major sport events: the FISU World University Games and the Asian Games.