Success of Macao Basic Law discussed in forum

National identity, legislation improvement key elements, lacking in Hong Kong

Against the backdrop of months of social unrest in Hong Kong, a grand forum to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the implementation of the Basic Law in Macao Special Administrative Region was held in Beijing on Tuesday with experts and officials discussing reasons for its success.

Chinese analysts highlighted strong national identity, the perfection in legislation and residents’ sense of patriotism as the main reasons that lead to the Basic Law’s successful implementation. And these were exactly the same elements lacking in neighboring Hong Kong

Special Administrative Region, they said.

“The success of the Basic Law in Macao demonstrates that the Basic Law could only be successfully implemented when the society reaches a broad agreement of national identity,” China’s top legislator Li Zhanshu told the forum.

Chen Duanhong, who is with the Law School of Peking University, noted at the forum that political loyalty is necessary to develop national identity and Macao has made great efforts in this regard over the past two decades.

After the return of Macao to the motherland, residents in the region, whether Chinese or foreigners, have maintained a “basic political loyalty to the country,” Chen asserted. Political loyalty for Chen meant residents never undertook activities harmful to “national security.” Such activities are banned by Article 23 of the Basic Law, including secession, infringement and damaging national sovereignty, Chen said.

Macao set up a law to safeguard national security in 2009, which fulfilled Article 23 of the Macao Basic Law.

In 2016, the Macao government proactively added secession clauses to its legislative council election system after the central government interpreted Article 104 of Hong Kong Basic Law. The clauses clarified that legislative council candidates must uphold the Macao Basic Law and pledge loyalty to the region. Council members are not allowed to take additional political posts in other countries.

The region also amended local law to protect the national flag, emblem and anthem in 2017. In 2018, the Macao government set up a regional committee to safeguard national security.

These moves in Macao met the governing needs in terms of construction of national institution and national recognition, said forum attendee Li Xiaobing, an expert on Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan studies at Nankai University in Tianjin.

Li noted that the people and groups that “love the country and Macao SAR have played the leading role in the implementation of Macao’s Basic Law.”

The success of the Basic Law in Macao demonstrated the practicability of the “one country, two systems” principle and set an example for neighboring Hong Kong which has been embroiled by social unrest for months, He Liangliang, a commentator on the Hong Kongbased Phoenix TV, told the Global Times.

It is under the guidance of the Basic Law that Macao sustained its previous social mechanism, economic system and lifestyle, Chui Sai On, Macao chief executive, said at the forum.