Macau, China, Nov. 19, 2024 (Lusa) - Macau's outgoing chief executive on Tuesday assured that there would be no change in the interpretation of the 'one country, two systems' principle, which has been in force in the territory since the transfer of administration and which provides for a certain degree of autonomy.
"We persist in this principle and we work in the light of this principle," said Ho Iat Seng at a press conference after presenting an assessment of his five years in office at the Legislative Assembly.
The concept of ‘one country, two systems’, originally proposed by Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping (1904-1997) and applied for the first time in 1997 and 1999, with the transition of Hong Kong and Macau to China respectively, provides for a certain degree of autonomy for the two regions over 50 years, with a focus on respect for citizens' freedoms and guarantees.
In Macau, where the discourse on strengthening patriotism and love of country is present in practically every sector of society, the deterioration of freedoms in the territory has been addressed by various institutions, including the European Union and the United Nations, which have expressed concern about decisions such as the banning of the vigil for the victims of the Tiananmen massacre and the disqualification of pro-democracy candidates from the legislative elections. Criticisms repudiated by the local government.
‘‘Macau governed by its people, with a high degree of autonomy’ and ‘one country, two systems’ have not changed. Looking at the past, both for this term and for previous terms, there have been no changes," emphasised Ho.
Press freedom was also addressed during the session with journalists, with the official declaring that he had "done his best to safeguard" this right protected by law.
This month, the Macau Journalists Association denounced the "serious deterioration" of press freedom in the territory and called on the authorities to put an end to the "excessive restrictions" imposed on media workers, particularly access to press conferences.
The group of Chinese journalists also drew attention to "a growing number of cases" in which media outlets have been asked to "withdraw pieces due to political pressure".
"During my term I have tried to do my best to guarantee freedom of the press. As it will be in the future, (...) I can't answer for them, but I believe they will follow the same course," he said.
Ho Iat Seng came to power in December 2019 and the first three years of his five-year term were marked by the Covid-19 pandemic, he emphasised when taking stock, pointing out that he had to deal with the public health crisis just ‘ten days after’ taking office.
"But we still managed to win this battle and we also managed to recover our gross domestic product (GDP)," he said.
Since 2020, Macau has only been able to keep its accounts in positive territory due to transfers from the financial reserve, which in 2023 totalled 10.5 billion patacas (€1.2 billion).
But the territory should close next year with a positive balance of 7.7 billion patacas (€904.5 million), according to the budget draft bill sent to the Legislative Assembly last week and which the Chief Executive presented in plenary today.
Ho, who confirmed this afternoon that he is not running again due to illness, will leave office on 19 December, with the new leader, Sam Hou Fai, due to take office the following day, when the 25th anniversary of the Macau Special Administrative Region is marked, following the transfer of administration from Portugal to China.
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