Xi Jinping arrives in Macau to mark 25 years of Chinese rule

Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived in the former Portuguese colonial city of Macau on Wednesday to mark the 25th anniversary of its handover to Chinese rule amid tight security and a clampdown on dissidents, including those living overseas.

“Macau is a bright pearl in the palm of the motherland,” Xi said on arriving at Macau International Airport in comments quoted by state news agency Xinhua.

“In the next few days I will be walking around and having a look, as well as extensive and in-depth exchanges with friends from all walks of life to discuss development plans for Macau,” he said.

Authorities banned drones and were taking steps to “disarm the city” ahead of Xi’s arrival, following an order from Chief Executive Ho Iat Seng in November.

Weapons and ammunition suppliers have been shut down, with imitation weapons also banned for the duration of Xi’s visit, and licensed holders of firearms have been required to hand over their guns.

Macau current affairs commentator and veteran journalist Camoes Tam told RFA Cantonese that the city had effectively declared martial law.

“Macau is already under martial law -- just without declaring it,” Tam said. “It has banned drones, and all firearms for self-defense purposes have been handed over to the government for safekeeping.”

“Compared with the visits of [former] Premier Wen Jiabao and the Portuguese president, who visited various places and interacted with the public before the handover, Xi Jinping’s schedule seems very mysterious and confidential,” Tam said.

‘Well-behaved child’

Macau, which was handed back to China two years after Hong Kong, is governed under the same “one country, two systems” framework as Hong Kong, but political opposition and pro-democracy activism has typically been far more muted than in the former British colony.

Unlike Hong Kong, the city’s 700,000 residents were post-1979 arrivals from neighboring Guangdong province who were never promised fully democratic elections, and the city’s political and financial elite never wanted more democracy.

Pro-democracy politicians were barred from the city’s Legislative Council in 2021, and from holding public office generally. But the city never saw mass public protests like those that emerged repeatedly in Hong Kong following the city’s 1997 handover.

RELATED STORIES

K-pop group BLACKPINK gets blasted for calling fans ‘Macanese,’ not ‘Chinese’

EXPLAINED: Who will be the next leader of Macau?

China Lauds Macau’s Lack of Political Opposition on 20th Anniversary of Handover

The contrast with Hong Kong has led some to dub Macau “the well-behaved child” out of the two cities, from Beijing’s point of view.

“Despite Macau being the well-behaved child, they still have to be on such high alert,” Roy Choi, a journalist from Macau currently living in Taiwan, commented on the security measures for Xi’s trip.

“I’m not sure if that’s because they lack self-confidence, or because they don’t actually trust this good child?” he said.

Choi said the authorities have placed journalists and pro-democracy figures in the city under surveillance ahead of the presidential visit, and approached media outlets to lay down red lines for reporting of the anniversary.

He said he had postponed a visit back to Macau for a medical appointment for fear of being caught up in the security dragnet around Xi’s visit.

Warned in the U.K.

Meanwhile, in the United Kingdom, former social activist Jason Chao received a text message from police in China warning him to keep a low profile during the visit.

“The 25th anniversary for Macau’s return to the motherland is nearly here, so you are requested not to make any discordant sounds on social or mainstream media during the celebrations,” the Dec. 8 message said.

“You should not attend or organize any activities connected to this event, OK?” it said.

Chao, who is a British citizen, said the message was an unacceptable “transnational threat.”

“This is interfering with a British citizen’s right to freedom of speech,” he said. “I think it’s a very serious violation because I’m in another country.”

Former pro-democracy lawmaker Au Kam Sin said he was recently hauled in to “drink tea” with mainland Chinese state security police, who wanted to know that he wouldn’t make trouble during Xi’s visit.

He said that while the police seemed reassured by his response that he didn’t have any secret activities planned, he was recently denounced on an online discussion forum as “an agent of anti-China forces.”

“I think there is probably a group trying to create this image [of me] behind the scenes,” he said of the forum posts. “There is definitely a political agenda.”

“It’s probably related to the anniversary of the handover and the visit of a national leader to Macau, but I still don’t see what such slander actually achieves,” Au said.

“I’m not going to let it silence me.”

Translated by Luisetta Mudie. Edited by Malcolm Foster.