Macao SAR gov't firmly opposes U.S. report on human rights

MACAO, March 21 (Xinhua) -- China's Macao Special Administrative Region (SAR) government on Tuesday expressed its strong opposition to content related to Macao in a report on human rights recently issued by the Department of State of the United States.

The self-styled report contains baseless commentary that smears the actual human rights conditions in Macao, making a brutal attempt to intervene in Macao affairs and China's internal affairs, the Macao SAR government said in a statement.

Since Macao's return to the motherland, the central government has fully, accurately and unswervingly implemented the "one country, two systems" principle, under which the people of Macao administer Macao with a high degree of autonomy. The central government is committed to governing Macao in accordance with the law, ensuring that Macao residents enjoy extensive rights and freedoms enshrined in the Constitution of the People's Republic of China and the Basic Law of the Macao SAR, noted the Macao SAR government.

With strong support from the central government, Macao will continue to give full play to its advantages, integrate intensively into overall national development, and make fresh contributions to the steady and sustained development of "one country, two systems" practices, the Macao SAR government added.

The Office of the Commissioner of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China in the Macao SAR on Tuesday also voiced strong opposition to the so-called reports.

The U.S. side has always ignored facts and applied double standards on the issue of human rights, being obsessed with repeatedly attacking others while turning a blind eye to its own human rights woes such as racial discrimination and gun violence, a spokesperson of the commissioner's office said.

This reveals the U.S. side's hidden agenda of interfering in other countries' internal affairs and seeking its own political interests, the spokesperson said.

The Macao SAR government has governed Macao in accordance with the law, achieved continuous and rapid development in various sectors including education, healthcare, services for the elderly and housing, and gained high recognition from the local communities, the spokesperson added.

Stressing that local residents have the most say in judging the human rights situation of Macao, the spokesperson warned the U.S. side to immediately stop interfering in Macao affairs using human rights as a pretext.