During a visit to Macao this week, Secretary of State for Portuguese Communities José Cesário said that relations with the SAR, and the welfare of Portuguese citizens living here, are important to Portugal’s new government – which took power in April.
The Macao Daily Times reports that José Cesário said Lisbon was fully aware of issues faced by Portuguese in Macao, including pressures on the consulate and controversies at the Macau Portuguese School (known by its Portuguese initials EPM).
Cesário declined to comment on the school’s situation – except to say that he’d return to the SAR to visit it “when the situation is more peaceful.”
The Portuguese government recently investigated EPM over the school’s controversial decision to not renew the contracts of 12 teachers back in May. Five of the dismissed teachers were reinstated earlier this month following the inquiry that produced a report critical of the school’s lack of transparency.
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Staff shortages at Macao’s Portuguese consulate, meanwhile, have created at times six-month backlogs for people needing to renew their passports or identity cards. Some Portuguese citizens opted to take Macao passports in order to have a valid travel document to go to Lisbon, where their Portuguese passports could be renewed in a mere five days.
When asked how he thought a new Macao Chief Executive would affect the SAR’s relationship with Portugal, Cesário told media that he expected the same “good relationship” would continue.
The Portuguese official has had a busy schedule while in Macao. He met with outgoing Chief Executive, Ho Iat Seng, and the Council of the Portuguese Communities, plus visited many sites (including the Holy House of Mercy, the Orient Foundation, Association for the Promotion of Macanese Education (APIM) and the Macanese Association), the Times reports.
After visiting the University of St Joseph this morning, Cesário will travel to Hong Kong for a series of events at the Club Lusitano. He visited the Portuguese consulate in Guangzhou earlier in the week.
