This paper examines how Macau, with a different political and legal system under the “one country, two systems” principle, fits into China’s securitization and what impact that has on its local governance. We argue that in recent years Macau’s legal system has gradually transformed into a means of social control. Through case files related to the Assembly and Demonstration Law drawn from the Court of Final Appeal, we demonstrate that although Macau is unlike Hong Kong, where dissidents are subject to severe repression, Beijing’s emphasis on national security has weakened the checks-and-balances function of Macau’s legal system and substantially narrowed the scope of freedom of speech, even though it is nominally guaranteed and protected by the Basic Law.

Due to Beijing’s deep concern about its national security being undermined in Hong Kong, where the anti-extradition protests from June to December 2019 not only challenged the legitimacy of both the central and Hong Kong governments but also constituted an attempt at initiating a “color revolution,” a national security law was enacted in late June 2020. The new law aims at demonstrating its immediate deterrent effects on protestors and dissidents by empowering the Hong Kong authorities to pursue suspected offenders. The results were the escape, arrest, and imprisonment of some local political activists. The year 2020 marked the immediate impacts of the national security law on Hong Kong’s political development, resulting in the territory’s truncated autonomy and exerting controls over the society, education, and the judiciary.

Despite the growing security threat posed by Chinese military modernization, Taiwan still has not completed the purchase of some of the key components of the arms sales package the United States approved in April 2001. The reasons include overconfidence in U.S. security assurances, underestimation of Chinese capabilities and resolve, and highly divisive domestic Taiwanese politics.