| Safeguarding National Security Law | |
|---|---|
 Emblem of the Macao Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China | |
| Legislative Assembly of Macau | |
| Citation | Law 2 of 2009 |
| Passed by | Legislative Assembly of Macau |
| Passed | 25 February 2009 |
| Signed by | Edmund Ho Hau-wah |
| Signed | 26 February 2009 |
| Commenced | 2 March 2009 |
| Effective | 3 March 2009 |
| Legislative history | |
| Introduced | 19 February 2008 |
| Committee report | Second Permanent Committee report |
| Amends | |
| Criminal Procedure Code | |
| Status: In force (amended) | |
| Macau National Security Law | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chinese name | |||||||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 維護國家安全法 | ||||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 维护国家安全法 | ||||||||||
| Literal meaning | Safeguarding National Security Law | ||||||||||
| |||||||||||
| Portuguese name | |||||||||||
| Portuguese | Lei relativa à defesa da segurança do Estado | ||||||||||
TheMacau National Security Law (Chinese:維護國家安全法,lit. 'Safeguarding National Security Law';Portuguese:Lei relativa à defesa da segurança do Estado,lit. 'Law related to the defense of the security of the State') is a law inMacau which prohibits and punishes acts of treason, secession, and subversion against theCentral government, as well as preparative acts leading to any of the three acts. Taken into effect on 3 March 2009, the purpose of the law is to fulfil Article 23 of theMacau Basic Law, thede factoconstitution of theMacau Special Administration Region.[1][2][3]
According to theSecretary for Administration and JusticeFlorinda da Rosa Silva Chan, drafting began in 2004, taking into account examples fromPortugal andItaly.[4] Until 1999, Macau wasa colony of Portugal. The draft was released on 22 October 2008. It proposed to ban treason, attempts to overthrow theChinese government and theft of national secrets. Some of the proposed offenses carry a maximum penalty of 25 years in jail.[5]
The law came into force in 2009. This caused some disquiet and concern amongpro-democrats, who fear that this new law could limit Macao residents'freedom of expression and protest, and that it is intended to serve as an example for its rebellious counterpart, Hong Kong.[6]
Edmund Ho,Chief Executive of Macau, said in a press conference that the bill targets "serious criminal behavior" and will not limit protests or criticism ofBeijing. He further said "Chanting a few slogans, writing a few articles criticizing the central government or the Macau government, these activities won't be regulated by this proposed law."[5] Macau Legislator Au Kam-san said "We don't want to see anymainland style national security law. It would be acceptable to enact a law based on theJohannesburg Principles."[7]
Political commentator Larry So Man-yum said the legislation would do well in Macau given residents' patriotism and their lack of awareness aboutcivil rights. "There will be absolutely no problem. Compared toHongkongers, Macau people have high levels of acceptance for the central government. No "Broomhead" will emerge in Macau."[7] In 2003, Secretary for SecurityRegina Ip was nicknamed "Broomhead" for attempting to sellArticle 23 in Hong Kong.[7] TheHong Kong government on 22 October responded with having no plan to embark on the legislation, adding its most pressing commitments are economic and livelihood issues.[8]
During the2019–2020 Hong Kong protests, Macau stayed largely silent,[9] as was predicted.[7] This meant that no modification to Macau's NSL was made at the moment, making it, in the view of the Central Government, "a posterchild of theone country, two systems" policy,[10] and "an example for Taiwan".[11] This has been attributed to Macau's strong economic performance and the comparatively greater willingness of the Portuguese colonial administration to allow Chinese integration earlier on, including during theCultural Revolution.[11]
National Security legislation was updated on 18 May 2023, when the Legislature unanimously[12] passed amendments aimed at "further protecting National Security in the complicated environment faced by China",[13] including expanding the definition of secession to include acts of non-violence, and redefining the crime of "theft of official secrets" as "violation of official secrets".[14][15]