On July 31, Macau police arrested Au Kam-san (區錦新), a former pro-democracy lawmaker, on suspicion of violating the national security law, marking the first arrest under the territory’s national security legislation since its enactment in 2009 and revision in 2023. According to AAMacau Media (論盡), an independent online outlet in the territory, prosecutors announced Au would be held in custody pending trial.
Hong Kong exile outlet The Chaser News reported that police accused the 68-year-old of providing “false and inflammatory” information to foreign “anti-China organizations” since 2022, allegedly to undermine Macau’s 2024 chief executive election. The outlet called the arrest “the first knife stab under Article 23 [of Macau Basic Law].”
The pro-government Macao Daily (澳門日報) echoed these accusations, but declined even to name Au in its front-page coverage. The day after the arrest, AAMacau Media reported that a caller to the live current affairs program Macau Forum (澳門講場) on the public broadcaster TDM Macau Radio mentioned Au’s arrest, describing his decades of public service as “devoted and exhaustive,” but was interrupted twice by the host.
TDM (Teledifusão de Macau) is Macau’s public broadcaster, founded in 1982, which claims to report news “with professionalism and an objective point of view.” However, in March 2021, TDM management issued new editorial rules requiring journalists to promote “patriotism, respect and love” for mainland China, marking the first time Portuguese-language media in the former colony were directly targeted with such directives. A former employee now returned to Portugal told Lingua Sinica that within four months of the announcement of the new rules, at least 10 journalists had left the network.
