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Pro-democracy activists hold a press conference in Macau after 5 members of their delegation were refused entry into Macau, as communist China attempts to stifle dissent in its Special Administrative Regions. (Antony Dickson/AFP/Getty Images)
HONG KONG—Macau on Sunday barred five Hong Kong pro-democracy lawmakers and activists from entering the territory in a simmering row over immigration curbs that critics say are linked to new national security laws.
In recent months, dozens of Hong Kong pro-democracy figures including activists, academics and politicians have been barred from the China-ruled territory around the time when new national security laws came into effect last month.
In a coordinated challenge to such entry restrictions, a delegation of more than 30 pro-democracy activists and 15 legislators set off on a "symbolic" trip to Macau on Sunday.
While most of the group was allowed in, five individuals, including hardline activist lawmaker "long-hair" Leung Kwok-hung and unionist legislator Lee Cheuk-yan, were turned back.
Lee said the pro-democracy camp would now ask Hong Kong's leader and Security Bureau to lodge a protest with the Macau government against such "political discrimination".
"I believe (Macau's leader) Edmund Ho has completely killed normal relations between Hong Kong and Macau," said Lee, who has been barred from Macau three times in recent months.
A Macau government spokesperson confirmed several Hong Kong citizens had been denied entry but gave no specifics.
Communist China control
Earlier this month, a prominent legal scholar, Johannes Chan, the Dean of the University of Hong Kong's law faculty, was barred from Macau, heightening fears of a tightening of Macau's political climate and security apparatus under the new "Article 23" national security laws.
Article 23 of Macau's mini-constitution states it is obliged to enact laws to prohibit "any act of treason, secession, sedition or subversion" against the central government in Beijing, and to prevent the theft of state secrets.
A bid to introduce similar laws in Hong Kong in 2002 sparked mass protests and was eventually shelved over fears Beijing was tightening its grip on the territory.
"The Macau government should not prevent others of different political backgrounds from entering the city, and we oppose their action … and feel frustrated," said Democratic Party legislator Lee Wing-tat, who was allowed into Macau.
Hong Kong's leader, Donald Tsang, has raised these concerns with Ho, the Macau Chief Executive.
