US Congress calls for more democracy in Macau

The US Congressional-Executive Commission on China has called on the US government to “increase support for democratic reforms in Macau” in their annual report about the human rights situation in China, Hong Kong and Macau.
Similar to their previous reports, the US congressmen say that it is in the hands of the US to “urge Macau authorities to set a clear timeline for transition to universal suffrage in executive and legislative elections”, as has been repeatedly recommended by the UN Human Rights Committee.
The local government responded to the report on Sunday, stating that the “content relating to the territory mentioned in the 2015 annual report by the Congressional-Executive Commission on China of the United States of America is ignoring facts.”
The response also added that the local government “strongly opposes such groundless accusations”, reaffirming that “[the] MSAR is an inalienable part of the People’s Republic of China and the United States of America has no right to interfere in China’s domestic affairs.”
In the report, which was released on Friday, the Congressional-Executive Commission also states that it had not made “any advance” after the appeals they made in both the 2013 and 2014 reports, where similar concerns and requests made to the authorities were seemingly also ignored.
The document highlights the concerns of the congressmen regarding political freedom in the territory, stating that, “civil society and media organizations in Macau [have] reported threats from intimidation and self-censorship. Macau authorities [have] reportedly refused Hong Kong journalists and activists entry for political reasons” and pointing out that Macau political activists have been pressured into softening their actions due to “fears of contagion of the pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong.”
The report also cites “anonymous complaints” received by the Macau Journalists Association regarding an “increase of self-censorship in TDM.” Another “concern” has to do with the fact that the territory allegedly “[remains] a center for violations of China’s financial control” , blaming the problem on insufficient regulation of the gaming industry. RM