This article provides an overview of the local adaptation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) in Macao since 1999 and a comparative analysis of the different models of protection of the rights and freedoms of non-residents in Macao and Hong Kong as an illustration of selective adaptation of international human rights law in China's special administrative regions. The article argues that the theory of selective adaptation of international human rights law helps us to understand the local interpretation and adaptation of international human rights law by identifying the resonance between international human rights laws and the normative discourse underlying locally transformed legislation. Given the similarity in wording of certain provisions of the ICCPR and of the Basic Law, the varying interpretation of these provisions and varying treatment of aliens in the implementation of the ICCPR illustrates the paradigm of selective adaptation of international norms as a coping strategy to balance local needs against the requirement for compliance with external rules. The article suggests the importance of a normative consensus in the local implementation of international human rights standards in that the sharing of international human rights rules does not necessarily indicate consensus on the normative order underlying those rules.