China intends to concentrate on development and security in its future relations with Portuguese-speaking countries (PSCs).
The head of the Chinese Foreign Affairs Commission in Macao, Liu Xianfa, said that China’s door will not close, but rather will be more open.
Liu was speaking at the Forum of Think Tanks between China and PSCs, which took place in Macao and featured 19 speakers, many of whom are academics from the nine countries that make up Forum Macao.
Liu said that President Xi Jinping has proposed the creation of more partnerships between countries to ensure stability and world peace.
The commissioner recalled that the priority has already been defined by President Xi as global initiatives, saying that it is necessary to “deepen cooperation” with PSCs, in order to “increase mutual, political trust”.
Liu highlighted “the fast-tracking of cooperation with PSCs” since the beginning of the century and pointed out that: “We have different cultures and traditions, but the common desire to follow a peaceful path”.
The commissioner asked for greater efforts to breathe new life into cooperation between China and the PSCs.
The forum focused on two sub-themes: “Initiatives related to development and security in the world and the future of cooperation between China and PSCs ” and “The role of Macao in cooperation between China and PSCs”.
Macao’s Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture Elsie Ao Ieong U highlighted Macao’s role as a Service Platform for Commercial Cooperation between China and the PSCs and the setting up of the Cooperation Zone in Hengqin.
The Deputy Secretary General of Forum Macao, Paulo Espírito Santo, regretted that citizens of PSCs in Africa have been excluded from the list of countries whose nationals have been allowed to enter Macao since the beginning of the month.
He said that “the absence in the list” of PSCs from Africa “does not benefit cooperation”, and said that these nations “have the pandemic under control”.
Since 1 September, citizens from 41 countries have been allowed to enter Macao, including Brazil, even if they are required to undergo quarantine.
Espírito Santo, who is a diplomat from Sao Tomé and Principe, also asked the Macao authorities to review the decision “to meet the most elementary justice”.
He also mentioned the opportunities that have been open to the Portuguese-speaking community since the beginning of the century, with the creation of Forum Macao, and the need to continue to strengthen cooperation and enhance the role of Macao as a platform between China and PSCs.
It is necessary to continue “to attract new differentiated businesses with a Portuguese-speaking base and to attract Portuguese-speaking investors”, he said.
The event, which took place at the Complex of Services Platform for Trade Cooperation between China and Portuguese-speaking Countries, was organised by the Commissariat of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China in the Special Administrative Region of Macao and by the Government of Macao.
