Draft policy paper spells out Beijing’s authority over Macau’s autonomy
Policy draft said to be related to protests over officials' pensions will address similar issues to Hong Kong white paper, as well as public order
The central government is drafting a policy paper on Macau which will stress that the city's autonomy is subject to Beijing's authorisation.
The document on the practice of "one country, two systems" in the former Portuguese enclave will repeat messages similar to those delivered in the white paper on Hong Kong this week.
But it will also address issues such as public order - in the wake of recent protests over lucrative retirement packages for top officials - and highlight the need for Beijing to step up communication with the Macau people.
A central government-linked researcher who has been monitoring Macau's development said that while the outline of the document - the first stage in formulating a white paper - had been completed, the timing of its release had yet to be decided.
"The drafting of the paper is partly related to the recent saga over the Macau government's proposal to grant lavish retirement packages to a former chief executive and top officials," the researcher said.
On May 29, Macau's chief executive Dr Fernando Chui Sai-on bowed to public pressure and scrapped a bill that would have activated the packages. He made the U-turn two days after thousands of protesters converged on the legislature.
The bill would have given former chief executives a stipend every month equivalent to 70 per cent of their monthly salary for as long as they were unemployed. Chui earns an estimated at 270,000 patacas a month.