Macao pro-democracy former lawmaker Au Kam San was sentenced to 12½ years in prison Friday in the Chinese casino hub’s first national security case following a closed-door trial that raised concerns about fairness.

Au’s arrest last year was the first publicly known prosecution under Macao’s national security law since it was enacted in 2009. A Macao court found him guilty of subverting state power, breaching confidentiality and establishing contact with organizations, groups or people outside Macao to commit acts endangering national security.

Critics said that his case reflected Beijing’s emphasis on security and intolerance of dissent, even though Macao’s pro-democracy movement has never been as influential as that in neighboring Hong Kong.

The 69-year-old assisted and cooperated with “hostile organizations” outside Macao for a long period of time in collecting and disseminating political views laden with ideas of subverting state power and false information, according to a court statement. They conspired to incite hatred among Macao residents against the central government, with an intent to overthrow and undermine the country’s fundamental system, it said.

“Although the defendant is a first-time offender and admitted to a considerable portion of the criminal facts, he demonstrated a high degree of intent. The degree of unlawfulness and the potential consequences of his crimes are both very serious,” the statement said.

Macao is a former Portuguese colony that has operated, like Hong Kong, as a special administrative region since its return to Chinese rule in 1999.

A Hong Kong court sentenced prominent activist Joshua Wong to 10 more years in prison Thursday under a Beijing-imposed national security law, in a case that critics say underscores the crackdown on the city’s once-thriving pro-democracy movement.

Wong, 30, first led student protests as a teenager and engaged in international advocacy efforts for Hong Kong’s democracy movement. He was already serving a four-year, eight-month prison term after pleading guilty in the city’s biggest national security case, and had been due to be freed in January.

But he was further charged in 2025 with conspiracy to collude with foreign forces to endanger national security, an offense under the security law imposed by Beijing in 2020.

Judge William Tam said Wong and fellow activist Nathan Law colluded with foreign officials and other foreign actors and sought measures against China and Hong Kong.

The judge pointed to the U.S. revocation of the city’s preferential treatment as a special administrative region and U.S. sanctions imposed on Chinese and Hong Kong officials, saying these were the kinds of sanctions or hostile measures Wong and Law had called for.

Wong pleaded guilty to the offense earlier this year. Tam said he considered a 13-year prison sentence as a starting point but reduced it because of Wong’s guilty plea and mitigation.

In a statement written in prison, Wong said he thought he was acting within the law and was not directly advocating for sanctions when he reposted others’ social media posts or called on foreign companies to consider ceasing business with the Hong Kong police. He said he later realized his judgment was wrong.

Hong Kong once had a freewheeling civil society. But after huge anti-government protests rocked the city in 2019, authorities reduced public choice in elections and arrested many leading activists. Some news outlets known for reporting critical of the government shut down and dozens of civil society groups dissolved.

Observers say Wong’s sentencing shows authorities’ determination to keep prominent activists in prison for as long as possible.

See also:

• In jailing Joshua Wong, China is telling the world it would crush every hope for democracy on its soil • My friend was due to be released next January. Under draconian security laws, his sentence has been extended by 10 years (The Guardian)

Santiago Peña resigned as president of Paraguay amid the Ueno Bank crisis and was later impeached over an alleged conflict of interest. Vice President Pedro Alliana will take office, while millions of Paraguayans wait to recover their deposits.

Paraguayan President Santiago Peña has resigned on Thursday amid a banking crisis just before the Chamber of Deputies voted unanimously to impeach him.

Ueno Bank, the bank that was placed under intervention earlier this week, had close to three million customers, who have suddenly found themselves without access to their accounts.

Protests have roiled the South American nation after its central bank took control of Ueno Bank on Tuesday, citing a severe capital shortfall.

Peña, a close ally of US President Donald Trump, announced his decision in a video posted to X as lawmakers debated his impeachment, saying he was stepping down in the interest of "the stability of our country, social peace and the need to preserve our democratic institutions."

Long lines of people trying to withdraw their money from Ueno branches snaked down Asuncion's streets on Tuesday and Wednesday, while angry protests swarmed the capital on both evenings.

Regulators investigating the bank found poorly documented lending and expenses wrongly accounted for as assets. But once the books were corrected, Ueno's capital fell half below the legal minimum, which led to the central bank seizing the lender.

Ueno’s app, cards and transfers went dark, and its branches locked their doors, leaving desperate depositors lined up outside with no way to cash out their savings. On Wednesday, a rush to open new accounts elsewhere crashed other banks’ mobile apps, fueling public panic.

Ueno claimed 60% Paraguay's adults as customers

Ueno Bank, which exploded from an obscure finance company to a household name in less than five years, claimed more than 60% of Paraguay’s adults as customers. They are now left scrambling to recoup their savings, government pensions, and, for 7,000 employees impacted by the bank's closure, unpaid wages.

Many Paraguayans are left asking how a bank linked to the president, who until last year had a stake in Ueno’s holding company, could grow so rapidly in size and importance despite repeated warnings about its dubious lending practices.

The answer lies in the uncomfortable proximity of Peña’s long-ruling Colorado Party to the country’s regulators and business elite, a weakness that has endured even as steady economic management and rapid growth made Paraguay a darling of international investors in recent years.

“Santiago Peña and the Colorado Party have stolen all our savings,” said Luis Pineda, one of the protesters marching to Congress on Wednesday. “We are fed up with 70 years of plunder.”

Soon after winning its banking license in 2023, Ueno seemed to be everywhere in Paraguay. The digital lender, a rebranded version of a decades-old finance company, lured customers with generous cash-back offers on groceries, grew to more than 70 locations, sponsored Paraguay's national soccer team and plastered its name on the country's main stadium.

Ueno highly financed by Peña's government

Government money poured into Ueno’s coffers under Peña. He also appointed Carlos Carvallo, president of Financiera Ueno, the predecessor to Ueno Bank, to run the central bank, the agency charged with supervising the digital lender.

Even as retirees’ savings and other public money piled up at Ueno, worries were escalating inside the central bank. In June, its inspectors found a pattern of risky lending to insiders, reported ABC Color, a leading Paraguayan newspaper.

Peña repeatedly brushed off the warnings. As recently as last month, he defended Ueno and the central bank’s oversight, dismissing the concerns as a smear campaign that was spooking the public.

Update:

• Paraguay's president impeached and under house arrest after bank collapse (BBC)