The pandemic has given China the context – and pretext – to accelerate Macau’s transition to an increasingly nationalist political culture. The literal interpretation of the National Security Law implies loss of rights, freedoms and guarantees. It happened in the West, but the pressure of the economy and the popular will forced governments to quickly end the state of exception.
In Macau, it goes on indefinitely. And it is increasingly obvious that much of what is provisional today will be definitive tomorrow.
In the face of the United Nations’ criticism of the democratic deficit, China’s response is clear: “Any right must be exercised in accordance with the law”, and “there is no freedom of the press and expression in the world that is above the law”, reads in the communiqué of the Commissariat of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China in Macau.
In the same note, it is stressed that “no right and freedom can break the bottom line of national security”.
The submission of the “Second” to the “First System” has a constitutional basis and fits like a glove into Chinese political culture.
It certainly does not fit into the childish illusion that it would maintain – even deepen – a democracy that, in fact, Portugal never wanted or promoted – that is, in favor of China. This is the de facto question surrounding the National Security Law, which will not be extinguished with the end of the pandemic – nor was it created for that.
Where is the difference today that bothers so many people? Lisbon managed, in fact, a colony, which had nothing democratic and free, but was still aired by the democratic culture of the metropolis and a narrative that, being false, Portugal used to protect itself in the eyes of the people and the rest of the world. Beijing manages, in fact, national integration, accelerated by a communist political culture and an autonomous narrative that matters to international relations.
It’s a narrow alley. With a window to autonomy through which only the air that Beijing lets blow through.
*Director General of PLATAFORMA
