Trespassers at new University of Macao to be charged

Those who climb over fences to the University of Macao's new campus in Zhuhai, Guangdong Province, will be punished for illegal border crossing, an official with the provincial border control agency confirmed to the Global Times.

The Zhuhai-based Zhujiang Evening News reported over the weekend that since the construction of the new campus was completed and its management was transferred to the Macao Special Administrative Region on July 20, local frontier officers in Zhuhai have stopped many people who were trying to illegally cross the border.

"The newly-built campus is under Macao's administration and under the jurisdiction of its laws," said an officer with the province's No.5 frontier police force stationed in Zhuhai, adding that climbing over fences of the campus will be seen as an administrative offence.

The border control official did not specify what punitive measures will be given. However, according to related laws on the Chinese mainland, this offence will be subject to a detention for up to five days or a fine of up to 500 yuan ($81.7).

Warning banners reading "Those who climb over fences of the University of Macao will receive administrative punishment" have been hung and officers have been dispatched to lookout stations and patrols. Moreover, infrared sensors will also be set up surrounding the university's wall, it reported.

Four men were captured in the first illegal border crossing case at the new campus, busted by frontier police officers on the early morning of August 21, the Macao Daily News reported.

The four people from Guangdong and Henan provinces said their purpose for crossing the border was to work illegally in Macao.

The Global Times reported earlier that the new campus of the University of Macao on Hengqin island, Zhuhai, would be exempt from the restrictions of the Great Firewall after it relocates its more than 10,000 students from Macao in September.

An insider told the Global Times since the university is under the administration of Macao and Hengqin is a special economic zone, it is reasonable to follow Macao rules.