Central official: "There is no so-called comprehensive tightening of the 'two systems' space"｜Selected interview series from "The End"

This article is specially reproduced by Macao independent media "Lunjin Media". The original title is: Central officials respond to "Lunjin" questions, explain the DQ incident and Macau New Era . At the same time, selected articles from "The End" are reprinted in Matters, so that readers from both sides of the Taiwan Strait and four places can better understand Macao's social issues.

Our words: In Macau, in addition to the "Australian X Daily" that can receive a direct response from the central government, probably only "Lunjin" has the ability/dare to directly make an interview with the central government officials. In this Q&A draft published last year, "On the End" asked a lot of sensitive questions, such as "Do Australians have to love the party" and "Is one country, two systems tightened", all of which were also answered directly by the official. , full of sincerity, and even took the initiative to mention the revision of the "National X Law", which was not asked, and the answer is quite interesting.

Central officials stationed in Australia have always been more low-key than Hong Kong, and seldom communicated with unorganized or even more critical local media, so this exclusive interview is still precious.

In this year's Legislative Council election, the EAC made an unprecedented decision on a large-scale DQ non-organized candidacy. The EAC suddenly announced the new "seven rules" to review the eligibility of candidates, and it also showed that the need to support the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party is an important basis for evaluating whether candidates/candidates are eligible to run for election or lose their qualifications. . However, neither the Macao Basic Law nor the Macao Legislative Council Election Law have this requirement.

Regarding the questions that were hotly debated in the community, a reporter from "Lunjin" made an appointment with a central official who has been working in Hong Kong and Macau for a long time, and the official responded to the questions in writing.

Among them, the central government official mentioned the central government's policy considerations, and specifically mentioned in judging the situation: "In the summer of 2019, the social unrest occurred in Hong Kong society for several months..." The situation, he pointed out: "Of course, 'one country, two systems' The setbacks and difficult situations experienced in Hong Kong's practice are also important experiences and lessons for Macau. It shows that the destructive power of opposition forces inside and outside Macau cannot be underestimated.

(Q: reporters; A: central officials)

Q: Macao is a special zone that adheres to the principle of "one country, two systems". "Loving the country and Macao" has always been a fine tradition of Macao, but ideologically, there is no concept of loving the party. Facing the new requirements of the new era, it is very difficult. manage?

A: You are right. Macau has a glorious tradition of patriotism. Since the handover, loving the country and Macau has become the core value of society. The patriotism of people from all walks of life in Macau has deeply educated and moved me.

It is precisely because Macau people generally have a patriotic heart. When they see that under the leadership of the Communist Party of China, people's lives have been continuously improved, and the country has become increasingly prosperous and strong, especially since Macau has achieved great development under the leadership of the central government, they are deeply impressed. Proud, and from the heart to identify and accept the leadership of the Communist Party of China.

This year marks the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China. More than 43,000 people watched the large-scale photo exhibition of the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China. The large number of celebration activities organized by the Macao society and the wide range of participation fully demonstrate this. This is the mainstream and fundamental aspect of Macau society. Most people in Macau society recognize and accept the leadership of the Communist Party of China from the height of patriotism.

Recently, Macau society has talked a lot about upholding the leadership of the Communist Party of China. To sum up, they have addressed three levels of problems: First, the leadership of the Communist Party of my country is our country’s national system and constitutional system. Any attempt to overthrow the leadership of the Communist Party of China is an attempt to subvert state power. This is not allowed.

Under the constitutions of Western countries and their political systems, political parties take turns governing through elections. In these countries, the replacement of ruling parties is achieved through elections. This is their constitutional system and is allowed. my country's state system is different. The leadership of the Communist Party of China is the fundamental system of the state. The Constitution and laws stipulate that this fundamental system cannot be changed. Any attempt to do so would be an act of subversion of state power.

Second, under "one country, two systems", the members of the executive, legislative and judicial organs of the Macao Special Administrative Region must recognize and support the leadership of the Communist Party of China and are willing to cooperate with the Communist Party of China. The EAC has recently determined that some candidates for the Legislative Council are ineligible to be elected, and this is the reason behind it.

my country is a country under the leadership of the Communist Party of China. The Macao Special Administrative Region is a local administrative region directly under the Central People's Government. Whether it is a government official, a judicial official or a member of the Legislative Council, politically and legally, it is under the leadership of the central government and must be implemented. If the "one country, two systems" principle and basic law formulated by the central government cannot be fulfilled, which is the minimum requirement of cooperation with the Communist Party of China, the special administrative region will not be able to operate, let alone fully and accurately implement "one country, two systems".

Third, as the Macao Special Administrative Region is a part of the country, the majority of Macao residents need to have an in-depth understanding of their own country and its political system, including the Communist Party of China and its leadership.

It needs to be pointed out in particular that the Communist Party of China has no selfish interests other than the interests of the people. It has never gained the recognition and love of the people by instilling a certain concept, but by sacrifice and struggle to truly seek happiness for the people and for the nation. Seek rejuvenation and achieve tangible achievements to win the trust and support of the people.

The same is true in Macau. The Communist Party of China, by formulating and implementing the "One Country, Two Systems" policy, safeguards the rights and interests of Macau residents, and works together with Macau residents to continuously improve the living standards of Macau residents and win the support and support of Macau residents.

Is it difficult to do the above three points? I don't see it difficult to do. In fact, the vast majority of people in Macau have already done it.

Going back to the issue of loving the Party you mentioned, in my impression, neither the leaders of the Central Committee nor the heads of relevant central departments did not ask Macao people to love the Party. I love our people deeply and believe in giving love and getting love in return, but I wouldn't say people have to love me. That's the truth.

The profound truth that our country must adhere to the leadership of the Communist Party of China, simply as requiring everyone to love the party, was created by the opposition in Hong Kong and Macau, with the purpose of opposing patriotism and support for the leadership of the Communist Party of China. Opposing things that were originally consistent with each other is a common tactic used by the Hong Kong and Macao opposition parties.

Q: When the Basic Law was drafted back then, the central government took a more lenient attitude towards Macau's policies. For example, the Macau Basic Law did not adopt the Hong Kong Basic Law to set the proportion of foreign members of parliament, nor did it impose strict regulations on the nationality of key officials (Note). However, in recent years, especially the recent practice of completely blocking pro-democracy candidates from running for the Legislative Council, people are concerned about whether the central government will also tighten the space for the "two systems" in Macau as well as Hong Kong?

A: The central government's policy towards Macao is highly stable. It has not changed since the formulation of the basic principles and policies towards Macao in the 1980s. If anyone thinks there is any change or tightening, we can take out the Sino-Portuguese Joint Declaration and the Macau Basic Law and compare them one by one to see if there is any change. I'm familiar with the regulations, and I can say responsibly, that hasn't changed.

The nationality of the principal officials you mentioned, Article 63 of the Basic Law stipulates that "the principal officials of the government of the Macao Special Administrative Region shall be Chinese citizens who are permanent residents of the Macao Special Administrative Region who have ordinarily resided in Macao for 15 consecutive years." Officials must have Chinese nationality. As for the members of the Legislative Council, the Basic Law of Macau stipulates that the members of the Legislative Council shall be permanent residents of the Macau Special Administrative Region. Among the permanent residents are Chinese nationals and foreigners. The provisions of the Basic Law of Macau are indeed different from those of the Basic Law of Hong Kong. The proportion of people has not changed.

This provision of the Basic Law does not mean that all members of the Legislative Council can be foreigners. I believe you also remember that in the process of formulating the "one country, two systems" policy and the Basic Law, the central government has always emphasized that "Australian people govern Macau" with patriots as the main body of Macau. People will govern Macau. That is to say, foreigners can be included in the administrative, legislative and judicial organs of the Macao Special Administrative Region, but they cannot be the main body at any time; at the same time, the Chinese who serve in the administrative, legislative and judicial organs of the Macao Special Administrative Region must not only become the main body, but also must is a patriot. This is the guiding principle of the Basic Law on "Macao people governing Macao".

In January of this year, President Xi Jinping proposed the fundamental principle of patriots governing Hong Kong and Macau, which has strong practical significance. From the origin, this principle was proposed by Deng Xiaoping in the 1980s. In February this year, Xia Baolong, director of the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of the State Council, put forward three main aspects to distinguish patriots in response to the situation in Hong Kong, which was also put forward in accordance with the three standards proposed by Deng Xiaoping and combined with the actual situation. I found that many people knew about Deng Xiaoping's words, but they didn't understand the meaning very well.

Deng Xiaoping's original words are as follows: "Hong Kong people have a boundary and standard for governing Hong Kong, that is, Hong Kong people with patriots as the main body must govern Hong Kong. In the future, the main component of the Hong Kong SAR government will be patriots, and of course others will also be accommodated. People can also hire foreigners as consultants. What is a patriot? The standard of a patriot is to respect their own nation, sincerely support the motherland to resume the exercise of sovereignty over Hong Kong, and not damage the prosperity and stability of Hong Kong.”

The "patriots" in Deng Xiaoping's words refer to the patriots among the Chinese. From the three criteria of patriots, it can be seen that he refers to the Chinese. Therefore, to accurately understand the "boundary" in this passage means that the SAR government can accommodate foreigners, but the Chinese must be the main body. This is the boundary between "Hong Kong people ruling Hong Kong" and "Macao people ruling Macao"; at the same time, Chinese people who hold positions in the SAR government must be patriots and meet the three standards of patriots, which are "Hong Kong people ruling Hong Kong" and "Macao people ruling Macao" " standard.

Therefore, the fundamental principle of patriotism governing Macao is not something that only exists today, but has been put forward since the formulation of the "one country, two systems" policy, which has not changed either.

Since nothing has changed, there is no such thing as a comprehensive tightening of the "two systems" space. You may ask, in the past some people could enter the Legislative Council, but now they can't. Isn't this tightening?

It can only be said that the implementation of "One Country, Two Systems" was not in place before, and now it is necessary to return to the right track of "One Country, Two Systems". For this reason, I do not agree with the statement that "the pro-democracy camps have been completely banned from running for the Legislative Council." First, it is very misleading, and second, it does not conform to the facts.

What are the facts? The Election Law stipulates that those who do not support the Basic Law of the Macao Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China or are not loyal to the Macao Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China are not eligible to be elected. Candidates are not eligible to be selected. That's what's been happening in Macau recently, that's what it is.

This is not aimed at a certain faction, let alone a ban, but a normal law enforcement act. By the way, some people in Hong Kong and Macau call themselves "democrats", but they put patriotism and democracy against each other. How can there be such an unpatriotic democracy in the world? Therefore, in my opinion, those who hold such a position are essentially anti-democratic.

Q: Since the handover of Macau, the central government has always affirmed Macau's achievements in practicing "one country, two systems". However, recently, the tightening measures in response to Hong Kong have been copied to Macau, which shocked many Macau people, and the citizens wondered "why should such obedient Macau people be punished"?

A: In December 2019, President Xi Jinping visited Macau and attended the ceremony to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Macau's return to the motherland and the swearing-in ceremony of the new government of the Macau Special Administrative Region. He spoke highly of the successful practice of "One Country, Two Systems" with Macau's characteristics, and expressed his appreciation for Macau's inheritance of patriotism. He expressed his high appreciation for the glorious traditions of Confucianism, and expressed his heartfelt pleasure at the continuous improvement of living standards of Macao residents. He demanded that the relevant central government departments and all parts of the mainland should continue to support the development of Macao, and demanded the government of the Macao Special Administrative Region to further improve the level of governance and further promote the sustainable and healthy economy. development, further safeguard and improve people's livelihood, and further promote social harmony and stability.

All these speeches are full of affection for Macau residents, and they are also the guidance of the central government for the work of Macau in the new era. After the outbreak of the new crown pneumonia last year, President Xi Jinping and the central government were highly concerned about Macau and took some measures to support Macau. In popular words, the central government It's too much for the Macau baby, how can I punish it?

In the summer of 2019, Hong Kong society experienced several months of social turmoil. Hong Kong residents experienced great pain and suffered huge losses. Under the leadership of President Xi Jinping, the central government took a series of measures to stabilize the situation, and Hong Kong achieved a transition from chaos to chaos. A major turning point in the governance of Hong Kong has ensured the safety of life and property of Hong Kong residents.

There are two most important measures taken by the central government for Hong Kong. One is to formulate the Hong Kong National Security Law to establish a system for safeguarding national security in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. The second is to amend Annexes 1 and 2 of the Basic Law to improve the election system of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. Coming to Macau? No.

On the contrary, as far as I know, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region has also absorbed Macau's experience in safeguarding national security and implementing the fundamental principle of patriots governing Hong Kong.

Of course, the setbacks and difficult situations experienced in the practice of "One Country, Two Systems" in Hong Kong are also important experiences and lessons for Macau. It shows that the destructive power of opposition forces inside and outside Macau cannot be underestimated. disaster.

Who thought there would be "Hong Kong independence" when Hong Kong returned to China in 1997? Who would have thought a few years ago that the peaceful and peaceful streets of Hong Kong would be rampant with violence? Even to this day, who would dare to believe that our children would be tempted to take to the streets with a mask and do the most bottomless behavior? I believe that no one wants this to happen in Macau, and preventing it from happening is what any responsible government must do, and it is also the best way to safeguard the interests of Macau residents.

Q: The DQ incident has caused great controversy in the community. Many citizens pointed out that the current authorities are removing members who are responsible for the people, but leaving behind "loyal waste", which will only turn the Legislative Council into a "garbage society". In addition, Macao people enjoy and cherish the freedom of speech, but in the DQ incident, they were questioned as "criminal by words", and the society is worried about the limitless "going to the line", causing the fear of silence. How should we respond to the grievances of the people?

A: Members of the Legislative Council are a kind of political position. In any country or region, the political loyalty of the legislators is the top priority, and the national security organs have strict character checks on the legislators. Because if there is a problem with political loyalty, the more capable, the greater the harm to the country and the region.

The EAC examines the eligibility of candidates for election to the Legislative Council in accordance with the Basic Law and the Electoral Law on "support" and "loyalty". It is similar to the character examination in foreign countries. It does not deny what these people have done for residents. In other words, this is not the concern of the law and the EAC.

This time, two incumbent members were found to be ineligible to be elected. To be honest, I don't think they are members who are responsible for the people, and I don't even agree to use insulting labels on other members.

All countries and regions in the world adopt high standards for the examination of the character or political loyalty of candidates for political office. If there is a reasonable doubt about a person's political loyalty, he should not be allowed to hold the relevant political office, and such reasonable doubt may It is to do some kind of behavior, to make some kind of speech, it may also be to join some kind of organization, to accept some kind of funding and so on.

From this point of view, the Macau Election Law stipulates that there must be facts to prove that those who "do not support" or "do not pledge allegiance" are not eligible to be elected. The EAC has formulated seven audit criteria based on this, which is already very restrained and prudent.

It should be noted that character review or political loyalty review is not a criminal conviction, there is no so-called criminal conviction, and it does not affect the freedom of speech enjoyed by residents at all. Similarly, politicians certainly cannot have the same wide range of freedom of speech as ordinary citizens. There are certain things that politicians cannot say. This is the case in all countries and regions, regardless of the issue of freedom of speech.

Q: Article 26 of the Basic Law grants Macau permanent residents the right to vote and stand for election in accordance with the law. Neither in the Basic Law regarding the qualifications of legislators nor in the Electoral Law's regulations on candidates/candidates, there is no explicit requirement that they must be patriots, and there is no requirement to support the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party. There are many opinions in the community that the EAC has used an internal document to deprive the political rights guaranteed by the Basic Law. Does it mean that the EAC has a higher rank than the Basic Law?

A: Your quotation of Article 26 of the Basic Law is very accurate. The word "law" in this provision is very important. It indicates that the right to vote and the right to stand for election must be specifically defined by law. According to the provisions of the Macau Election Law, it has been proved that those who "do not support" and "disloyalty" are not eligible to be elected. Then, according to the provisions of Article 26 of the Basic Law, these people have no right to be elected "in accordance with the law". The EAC must implement the provisions of the electoral law, and if there are facts to prove that a candidate "does not support" or "disloyalty", it must be ruled ineligible for election.

The relevant audit criteria formulated by the EAC for the implementation of the provisions of the Electoral Law are an inevitable requirement for the EAC to perform its duties. These criteria are public, not internal documents. Those who are found to be ineligible for election can also appeal to the Court of Final Appeal. The decision of the Court of Final Appeal is final regarding the review criteria and whether the EAC's determination of each candidate's eligibility for election complies with the law.

Therefore, the EAC correctly implements Article 26 of the Basic Law and the provisions of the Electoral Law, and there is no problem of depriving the political rights guaranteed by the Basic Law. As for the question of patriotism and support for the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party, I have already answered it before and will not repeat it here.

(Note: Macau and Hong Kong have somewhat different requirements for key officials in the Basic Law. Among them, Hong Kong has one more item: "...and has no right of abode in foreign countries."

*Article 61 of the Basic Law of Hong Kong The principal officials of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region shall be Chinese citizens who are permanent residents of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region who have ordinarily resided in Hong Kong for 15 consecutive years and have no right of abode in foreign countries.

*Article 63 of the Basic Law of Macau The principal officials of the government of the Macau Special Administrative Region shall be Chinese citizens who are permanent residents of the Macau Special Administrative Region who have ordinarily resided in Macau for 15 consecutive years. )

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