Correction: in the initial version of this news, an official source presented invitations, at the level of the Portuguese Government/and or President, to come to Macau to celebrate the transition of power. However, we discovered that, following contacts in this regard, the invitation was not formalized. At that point, this hypothesis will have even been aborted.
The possibility of President Xi Jinping visiting Macau on December 20 has been discussed at least since the beginning of the year. After all, this year marks two significant anniversaries: the 25th anniversary of the Macau Special Administrative Region and the 75th anniversary of the People’s Republic of China. Coincidentally—or not—the new Chief Executive will also take office, who is seen as the interpreter of a new cycle that will, in this way, be directly and personally ratified by China’s highest authority. At this point, all signs indicate that this agenda is confirmed.
During the 6th Ministerial Conference of the Macau Forum in April, it was already widely speculated that the intention to have the Chinese Prime Minister in Macau might conflict with Xi Jinping’s potential visit in December. It would be unprecedented for both the Prime Minister and the President to visit Macau in the same year. As Li Qiang did not come, the possibility of this duplication was immediately ruled out. At this point, there is no official confirmation, schedules, or dates that we can disclose. However, PLATAFORMA has confirmed that several institutions are already being contacted for space management, logistics, security… and some even know they will have the honor of receiving the President, which is why they are discreetly moving forward with preparations for their part of the ceremony.
The President’s agenda is a sensitive topic. It is managed with the utmost detail; only the People’s Palace can confirm it; and security protocols are, by nature, complex and secretive. For this reason, and to protect our sources, we are not revealing the locations that PLATAFORMA has learned will, directly or indirectly, be involved in receiving Xi Jinping. Naturally, the President will come with an extensive delegation, requiring a range of preparations. With just two months to go before the relevant dates, it would be impossible to prepare for a visit of this magnitude without already managing spaces, logistics, and confirming some locations he plans to visit. This process is already underway.
When contacted by our newspaper, both the Liaison Office and the Office of the Commissioner of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs declined to comment, as is natural at this point. However, while bearing in mind that a visit by Xi Jinping is only officially confirmed when the Chinese presidency announces it, our newspaper has sufficient information to confirm that his visit is already being acknowledged and prepared by several local entities.
Portugal Still Undecided
At the beginning of the year, there was also the possibility that one of the highest-ranking Portuguese officials—either the Prime Minister or the President—would attend alongside Xi Jinping. PLATAFORMA knows that the topic was raised by Beijing, and at the time, Lisbon was open to the idea as a gesture of joint ratification of the transition process and as a signal to Beijing of interest in deepening the strategic partnership between the two countries. Meanwhile, our newspaper confirmed with an official source in Lisbon that, following this initial approach, official invitations have indeed been made, both to the government and the presidency. But “no decision has been made yet.”
As for the Prime Minister, Luís Montenegro, he has the first European Council of Ministers, chaired by António Costa, in Brussels on December 19/20, which suggests that his schedule will be locked for any other commitments. This does not rule out the possibility of another Portuguese official attending. Regarding Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, it was not possible to determine his stance by the time this edition closed.
