Leader of the Macau Government visits Portugal from September 16

Macau Government Leader Sam Hou Fai will visit Portugal from September 16th , his first trip abroad since taking office in January, regional authorities announced today.

The head of the Executive – the first leader of the semi-autonomous territory to master the Portuguese language – will visit Lisbon and Madrid, between September 16 and 23, the Social Communication Office said in a statement.

The announcement comes weeks after the arrest, on July 31, of former Macau MP and Portuguese citizen Au Kam San , suspected of violating the law on the defense of state security.

This is the first arrest under the Macao Special Administrative Region's (SAR) national security law, which came into force in 2009 and was revised in 2023.

Two days later, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs assured Lusa that "the matter will receive the best attention from the Portuguese authorities, especially in future meetings at the political level, in the spirit of the Joint Declaration."

The ministry led by Paulo Rangel was referring to the Sino-Portuguese treaty signed in 1987, where the two countries declared the terms under which Beijing would assume the administration of Macau after 1999.

On the same day, the Liberal Initiative proposed to the Assembly of the Republic a vote of condemnation regarding the detention of Au Kam San and asking the Government to request clarification from the Chinese authorities.

According to the draft vote, which will be discussed in the parliamentary committee on Foreign Affairs and Portuguese Communities, parliament "cannot remain silent in the face of the arrest of a fellow citizen who dedicated his life to defending freedom, nor can it ignore the degradation of the freedom regime in Macau."

Au Kam San was first elected as a member of parliament in 2001, benefiting from the expansion of the number of seats provided for in the Basic Law of the Macao SAR, and remained in office until 2021. During that period, he was part of the Macau Democratic Wing group.

In March, during a visit to Macau, Paulo Rangel told reporters that he had spoken with Sam Hou Fai “about all issues relevant to the relationship between Portugal” and the MSAR, when asked about restrictions on Portuguese residency.

"But, as this is an ongoing dialogue, I have a duty to provide the opportunity for us, with the issues that have been raised on both sides, to now have space and time to build solutions," he added.

Rangel said that the "follow-up of the dialogue" initiated with Sam Hou Fai will take place at a meeting of the Portugal-SAR Joint Commission, "which will be organized, in principle, in the second half of the year here in Macau."

Since August 2023, Macau has not accepted new residency applications from Portuguese citizens for the “exercise of specialized technical functions,” allowing only justifications of family reunification or previous connection to the territory.

The guidelines eliminate a practice established after 1999. The alternative for a Portuguese citizen to secure resident status now involves applying for the recent programs to recruit qualified professionals.

Another option is to issue a blue card , an authorization limited to employment, without the benefits enjoyed by residents, particularly in terms of health or education.