US slams jailing of Macau pro-democracy ex-lawmaker

The US has said it “strongly condemns” last week’s sentencing of pro-democracy activist and former lawmaker Au Kam San in the Chinese territory of Macau.

Au was convicted of subversion and other offences, and sentenced on Friday to 12-and-a-half years in jail in the former Portuguese colony, which reverted to China in 1999.

It was the first conviction under Macau’s National Security Law, enacted in 2009 and toughened in 2023, and followed a trial that wrapped up in three days behind closed doors.

Au, 69, who was arrested in July 2025, had co-organised annual vigils for victims of the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown in Beijing.

Macau and neighbouring Hong Kong were once the only places on Chinese soil that permitted public mourning for those killed.

The US consulate for Hong Kong and Macau on Monday called Au’s prosecution “another example of Beijing’s use of sweeping national security powers to silence peaceful political dissent and suppress fundamental freedoms”.

The verdicts against Au and Hong Kong’s Joshua Wong — who was also sentenced to 10 more years in jail last week — underscore “Beijing’s systematic erosion of rights and freedoms” in the Chinese cities, a spokesman added.

The EU criticised Au’s trial on Friday, saying he was a citizen of the bloc, while member Portugal relayed a “position of repudiation and serious concern” to Beijing.

The UN human rights office called the imposition of harsh penalties on the activists “deeply concerning”, noting that “Au was not represented by counsel of his choice”.

China’s top diplomat in Macau hit back on Saturday, saying Macau’s rulings are “beyond reproach, and external interference is doomed to failure”.

Macau authorities also expressed “strong dissatisfaction with and firm opposition to the unfounded remarks made” by the EU and the UN’s rights office.

According to the Macau Daily newspaper, one of the few local media outlets that attended the hearing, Au remained “calm throughout”.

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