Opinion
73
Jorge A. F. Godinho
assistant Professor, faculty of Law, university of Macau
jg.macau@gmail.com
Keeping Macau special
r
eCeNT debates on the regulation of article 23 of the
Macau basic Law have raised not only specific legal
issues but also evoked some other aspects of a broader
nature, the most visible being the issue of patriotism
and cultural diversity. These are important topics, worth
reconsidering.
In the multicultural society that is Macau, which is governed
under terms agreed between two very different states, China
and Portugal, by means of an international treaty, diversity and
peaceful coexistence have been in place for centuries and, with
growing internationalisation, can only accelerate.
The most visible sign of the current multicultural nature of
this special administrative region of China is perhaps the fact
that it has two official languages, Chinese and Portuguese.
However, this is just the tip of the iceberg. Macau has
relatively large numbers of permanent residents who are not
Chinese nationals, but have a wide variety of origins, many of
whom have lived most of their adult lives here and, for various specific type of economic approach, and many other aspects
reasons, decided to stay in Macau permanently to pursue of life that Macau residents take for granted.
their careers and raise their kids. They now call Macau home. all this was evoked and indeed celebrated in the recent
These individuals, who are not Chinese but are part and visit of the Vice-President of the PrC Xi Jinping. It is also the
parcel of the human landscape, are not just ‘foreign workers reason why Macau is not just another small Chinese city.
or professionals’ or ‘expatriates’. If the conscience and practice of this reality does not
While of course some will remain only for a period of time remain present, and is allowed to erode, then in 2049 Macau
to accumulate savings, others, of which there are many, feel will indeed become just another Chinese city and lose the
a stronger attachment to Macau and, to put it crudely, are not special status within the PrC that was devised first for Hong
here just for the money. Kong and also applied here.
as responsible and engaged rather than passive citizens, In addition, there are legal implications. Take for example
they contribute to numerous economic, social, cultural and the issue of state security under article 23. There is no doubt
other activities which help in the development of the city. that Macau, as part of the PrC, must legislate on the matter.
They are, in a sense, ‘regional patriots’, that is, people but in doing so, must Macau set aside its legal concepts and
who are devoted and work to develop their ‘region’. Not their principles and pass a law that contradicts or does not match
land of origin or citizenship, to which clearly they continue to well with other parts of the local legal system? Of course not.
have an allegiance, but the land where they decided to live In other words, one aspect of multiculturalism is
and are happy to stay. indeed legal multiculturalism: there is a specific tradition
While Chinese residents are justifiably proud of the fact in jurisprudence and a distinct manner of approaching,
that, since 1999, Macau is governed by China in general and conceptualising and regulating matters of criminal law in
by Macau residents in particular, it is of strategic importance Macau. The reason why the topic of state security was
for everyone to be sensitive to the multicultural nature of mentioned in the basic Law was precisely the intention to
Macau and the legacy of centuries of Portuguese presence. have it regulated by a regional law, in agreement with the
This is the very basis of the ‘one country, two systems’ regional criminal policy and dogmatic concepts of criminal
concept which is protected by the basic Law. law, so as to have it harmoniously integrated with the other
The concept lives and breathes within the eurasian aspects of the legal system.
Macanese community and dialect, and is the ultimate reason Otherwise, the matter would be simply regulated by a
why it makes sense to keep a border, a separate currency, a national law, applied directly in Macau under annex III of the
specific method of Government, a separate legal system, a basic Law. but that was not the intention.
february 2009
Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68  |  Page 69  |  Page 70  |  Page 71  |  Page 72  |  Page 73  |  Page 74  |  Page 75  |  Page 76  |  Page 77  |  Page 78  |  Page 79  |  Page 80  |  Page 81  |  Page 82  |  Page 83  |  Page 84  |  Page 85  |  Page 86  |  Page 87  |  Page 88  |  Page 89  |  Page 90  |  Page 91  |  Page 92  |  Page 93  |  Page 94  |  Page 95  |  Page 96  |  Page 97  |  Page 98  |  Page 99  |  Page 100  |  Page 101  |  Page 102  |  Page 103  |  Page 104  |  Page 105  |  Page 106  |  Page 107  |  Page 108  |  Page 109  |  Page 110  |  Page 111  |  Page 112  |  Page 113  |  Page 114  |  Page 115  |  Page 116  |  Page 117  |  Page 118  |  Page 119  |  Page 120  |  Page 121  |  Page 122  |  Page 123  |  Page 124  |  Page 125  |  Page 126  |  Page 127  |  Page 128  |  Page 129  |  Page 130  |  Page 131  |  Page 132  |  Page 133  |  Page 134  |  Page 135  |  Page 136  |  Page 137  |  Page 138  |  Page 139  |  Page 140