CE to travel to Lisbon, Madrid after legislative elections; key topics on agenda

Chief Executive Sam Hou Fai and Consul General of the Portuguese Consulate in Macau Alexandre Leitão

The Chief Executive (CE), Sam Hou Fai, will lead a delegation of local government officials and business sector representatives on an eight-day visit to Lisbon and Madrid, the capital cities of Portugal and Spain.

According to a note from the Government Information Bureau, the visit will take place from September 16 to 23, with the delegation departing Macau on September 15, the day immediately after the elections for the new term of the Legislative Assembly.

This will be Sam’s first visit outside China since taking office late last year.

Although details of the tour program are not yet public, the CE is expected to meet with several high-ranking officials from both the Portuguese and Spanish governments to advance cooperation between both sides.

Initially scheduled for July, Sam’s trip to Portugal was postponed to after the summer due to the political situation in Portugal at the time. The country was undergoing a snap legislative election, the third in three consecutive years.

According to the Portuguese news agency Lusa, the arrest of pro-democracy former lawmaker Au Kam San is likely to be brought up during meetings in Lisbon, following a statement by Portuguese Minister of Foreign Affairs, Paulo Rangel, at the time of the arrest.

To Lusa, Rangel said, “The matter [of the arrest of Au] will receive the utmost attention from the Portuguese authorities, starting with future political meetings, in the spirit of the Joint Declaration.”

The visit also coincides with a proposal from the Portuguese political party “Liberal Initiative” (Iniciativa Liberal) that is to be voted on in the Portuguese parliament.

The proposal aims to push the Portuguese government to seek explanations for the detention of Au, stating that Portugal “cannot remain silent in the face of the arrest of a fellow citizen who has dedicated his life to the defense of freedom, nor can it ignore the deterioration of the regime of freedoms in Macau.”

Another matter likely to be on the Portuguese agenda is the issuance of residence permits to Portuguese citizens in Macau.

Since August 2023, Macau has stopped accepting new residency applications from Portuguese nationals for the “exercise of specialized technical functions,” allowing only the issuance of residency cards based on family reunion.

This measure has removed a notable exception previously granted to Portuguese nationals under agreements between Portugal and China during the handover of Macau.

Portuguese nationals are now treated the same as non-residents and must submit applications under the government talent acquisition scheme to gain residency in Macau.

The only other way for a Portuguese national to work in Macau is by applying for non-resident worker status (blue card), a process that involves significant differences in residency status, particularly regarding access to government benefits, healthcare, and education.

Spanish-speaking

countries as a new goal

The idea of including Spain in Sam’s first European tour began to take shape in April, when, during his first Policy Address, the CE noted the concept of establishing a center to promote economic services between China and Portuguese- and Spanish-speaking countries in the Cooperation Zone in Hengqin.

During the same Policy Address, Secretary for Administration and Justice André Cheong elaborated further on the topic, adding that this center aims to provide companies with services in the “linguistic, legal, fiscal, compliance, training, arbitration, and mediation fields.”

The idea seems to expand the scope of the role now occupied by the Forum for Economic and Trade Co-operation between China and Portuguese-speaking countries (Macao) to include Spanish-speaking countries.

Sam stated that this cooperation should be promoted in finance, culture, tourism, and cross-border e-commerce.

“[Portugal and Spain] are close in culture and language as they are part of the Latin world. We are taking into account past experiences, culture, and these countries’ entire political and social systems,” Cheong said at the Legislative Assembly.