During the United Nations (UN) Human Rights Council’s Universal Periodic Review (UPR) Working Group Meeting in Geneva yesterday, Secretary for Administration and Justice André Cheong Weng Chon, a deputy head of China’s delegation, underlined that Macau has been strengthening the protection of human rights by enacting new legislation in various aspects promoting the well-being of the special administrative region’s population, Cheong’s office said in a statement last night.

Chen Xu, ambassador of the nation’s Permanent Representative Mission to the UN in Geneva, was leading the delegation, with Cheong and Hong Kong Chief Secretary for Administration Eric Chan Kwok-ki as its two deputy heads.

China is undergoing its fourth Universal Periodic Review (UPR), a process whereby its human rights record is examined by other UN members.

According to the statement, Cheong noted that the Macau Special Administrative Region (MSAR) has made achievements in the protection of human rights since the third UPR in 2018.

Since then, Cheong said, Macau has enacted amendments to its Judicial Organisation Framework Law, improving its judicial efficiency and strengthening the protection of residents’ rights to take legal action.

In addition, Cheong said, Macau has enacted its overall minimum wage law which ensures its workers’ basic incomes, as well as implementing its non-mandatory central provident fund aiming to improve the city’s social protection.

Moreover, Cheong said, the local government will continue to ensure the full implementation of the “One Country, Two Systems” principle and the MSAR Basic Law under the central government’s support. The local government will push ahead with its appropriate economic diversification campaign, ensuring Macau’s long-term prosperity and stability.

Cheong also said that Macau will continue to improve legislation with the aim of strengthening the protection of women, children, the disabled, and members of minority groups. 

Macau Secretary for Administration and Justice André Cheong Weng Chon (left) speaks during the UN Human Rights Council’s Universal Periodic Review (UPR) Working Group Meeting in Geneva yesterday, as Chen Xu (fourth from left), ambassador of the nation’s Permanent Representative Mission to the UN in Geneva, and Hong Kong Chief Secretary for Administration Eric Chan Kwok-ki (second from left) look on. – Photo: GCS