Beijing’s top official on Macao affairs met with senior representatives from the city’s business sector yesterday and urged them to stand alongside the mainland amid the US trade war on China. His remarks were relayed by Tai Kin Ip, the secretary for economy and finance, and reported in Macau Post Daily
Xia, director of the Hong Kong and Macao Work Office of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, is on a six-day inspection tour of the SAR that winds up today.
Yesterday’s meeting took place at the China-Portuguese-speaking Countries Commercial and Trade Service Platform Complex and was chaired by Chief Executive Sam Hou Fai. More than 20 business representatives formed a panel that, Tai said, discussed the rise of unilateralism and trade protectionism in the US.
Although Washington has bought time by substantially reducing the staggering 145 percent tariffs it had imposed on Chinese goods, many economists believe that the situation remains unpredictable and that the trade war could resume if further talks prove fruitless.
[See more: Xia Baolong praises Macao’s new government on day one of inspection tour]
Following the meeting, Xia visited Macao University of Tourism (UTM)’s Mong Ha campus on Monday afternoon, accompanied by Sam and O Lam, the secretary for social affairs and culture.
During his time in Macao, Xia has attended a panel meeting with all members of the Legislative Assembly, inspected Qingmao Port and several infrastructure sites, and visited numerous sites dedicated to Macao’s cultural heritage and history.
Speaking to the South China Morning Post prior to Xia’s tour, Lau Siu-Kai – a member of the state-affiliated Chinese Association of Hong Kong and Macao Studies – said that the purpose of Xia’s trip was the ensure that the SAR government was fulfilling the expectations expressed by President Xi during his visit to Macao last December. These included economic diversification, government reform, strengthening international ties and improving social cohesion.
Xia recently made global headlines when he called US nationals “peasants” who should be allowed to “wail before the 5,000 years of Chinese civilisation,” in a rebuke to an earlier interview in which the US vice president, JD Vance, described Chinese citizens as “peasants.”
