HONG KONG - AUTHORITIES in Macau barred more than a dozen Hong Kong pro-democracy activists and lawmakers from entering the territory on Saturday to take part in a protest against a proposed national security bill, a Hong Kong politician said.

Albert Ho, chairman of Hong Kong's Democratic Party, said he was among eight lawmakers who had been detained by immigration officials upon their arrival in the former Portuguese colony.

'Officials said we could not enter Macau, citing internal security laws. But they did not elaborate what the laws mean,' Mr Ho told The Associated Press in a phone interview on his way back to Hong Kong.

Macau government spokeswoman Elena Au declined immediate comment.

The lawmakers and a dozen activists had planned to join a forum and demonstration against the imminent passage of a national security bill in Macau on the ninth anniversary of its reversion to Chinese rule.

The Macau government introduced the measure in its local legislature last week. The proposed law would ban treason, attempts to overthrow the Chinese government and theft of national secrets.

Hong Kong had proposed a similar bill five years ago but was forced to shelve it after half a million people joined street protests.

Former Portuguese territory Macau and former British colony Hong Kong returned to Chinese rule in the late 1990s under mini-constitutions that promise Western-style civil liberties, such as freedom of speech, that are commonly denied in China.

But the mini-constitutions also require both territories to eventually enact national security legislation. -- AP