Analysts heard by Lusa argue that the demonstrations in China against the pandemic restrictions are unlikely to have an echo in Macao, where a “less rigid” strategy, supported by the distribution of money and subsidies, has managed to “attenuate public resentment”.
A wave of protests has spread, in recent days, to several Chinese cities against the strict confinement measures imposed by the national authorities. The protest intensified after the death of ten people in a fire, in a building destined for confinement in Urumqi, capital of the autonomous region of Xinjiang.
Macao, which has registered six deaths since the start of the pandemic, also follows China’s ‘zero covid’ policy, betting on massive tests, confinement in risk areas and five-day quarantines for those who arrive in the territory -with the exception of those who They come from mainland China.
“We have more and more people complaining that if we follow the mainland policy we will create more problems in Macao, but it seems to me that public resentment has not reached that level yet,” began the political scientist Eilo. Yu.
The University of Macau professor pointed out, however, that the strategy in Macau is “less rigid” than in mainland China, being further supported by “subsidies and money”, in the form, for example, of several rounds of distribution of consumer support cards worth eight thousand patacas (961 euros).
In solidarity with the victims of Urumqi and the protests in China, a student from the Macao University of Science and Technology (MUST) in mainland China demonstrated earlier this week on the premises of the educational establishment.
Despite the fact that the image of the episode appeared on social networks, the young man, who appeared holding a white A4 paper -which is already a symbol of resistance in the country-, asked Lusa not to be identified by name, for fear of suffer retaliation.
“I saw a lot of college kids, across the country, being brave enough to stand up and hold up white papers in defense of their countrymen, and I knew then that I could do something, even if it was on a smaller scale,” he explained.
The lone protester said he was there for an hour, “until a teacher convinced him to leave” and that a security guard “prevented people from taking photos” of the protest.
For a sociologist interviewed by Lusa, “the action in MUST” was an isolated act, without “a dynamic in Macao that motivates people to take to the streets.”
The teacher, one of the several interviewees for this work who did not want to reveal his identity – “this is a very sensitive issue” – pointed out the differences between the population of Macao and that of Hong Kong, where, on Monday, the students chanted of “opposition to the dictatorship” in a protest against measures to contain the pandemic in China.
Hong Kong has tightened security checks since Beijing launched a campaign in 2019 to crush a pro-democracy movement.
“The population [de Hong Kong] it’s more tired than Macao and some people are more sensitive than here,” he said.
“When receiving money from the government, there is an obligation not to have a voice,” he concluded.
The silence of the local media can also justify the alienation of the Macao population, reinforced the political scientist Eilo Yu. But he added: “If the situation worsens and there is noise in the international community, then I think more Macao residents will become aware of the campaign and the demonstrations and this could generate some kind of empathy,” he said.
Along the same lines, the Portuguese deputy José Pereira Coutinho considered that the media in Macao are failing: “Many times they do not even report issues that the deputies raise quite serious.” And he added, referring to the protests: “The more there is in the interior of the continent.”
The also president of the Association of Civil Service Workers, for whom the situation in Macao “is not so bad that people take to the streets”, also defended that it is not with demonstrations “that problems are solved”.
Lusa contacted two other academics for this work, but without success. In an email, another university professor said she did not believe the demonstrations would spread to Macao, because in addition to the fact that the pandemic prevention measures are not “so tough”, compared to the other side of the border, “for For most people in Macau, mobility is not that important.”
“The border crossing to Zhuhai [cidade adjacente a Macau] it is still common despite the inconvenience and for those who think international mobility is important, they have probably already left Macao in the last two years or are sadly thinking of leaving,” he said.
The academic, who also did not want her name to be mentioned in this text, regretted that the institution for which she works “discourages teachers from speaking to the media.”
Previously, “our contribution of insights and perspectives was seen as a service to the Macao community and society. I feel quite upset and weakened, ”she concluded.
Source: TSF
