Macau leader accused of ‘favouritism’ after 100m yuan university donation
Fernando Chui Sai-on, Macau’s chief executive, has come under fire after ‘donating’ 100m yuan in public money to a university where he is a key board member
Macau’s leader is facing deepening allegations of favouritism, after it was revealed that a semi-official foundation he oversees passed 100 million yuan (HK$120 million) of public money as a donation to a Guangzhou university, where he is a key board member.
Fernando Chui Sai-on, Macau’s chief executive, is facing growing protest calls from opponents who questioned why lawmakers and the public were kept in the dark as funds of this scale were funnelled out of the city, which is financially independent from the rest of China.
According to Jinan University, the recipient of what it called “a record-breaking sum of goodwill”, Chui recently pledged that the government would make the donation via the Macau Foundation.
Chui is both the deputy head of the university’s board and chairman of the foundation’s board of trustees. His brother, Chui Sai-cheong, heads the foundation’s supervisory board.
“The huge sum of money was misappropriated under the table,” said Sulu Sou Ka-hou, of the pro-democracy New Macau Association. “Chui has to step down and cancel the payment.”