The Portuguese Prime Minister will indeed travel to Mainland China and Macau on the 8th/9th and 10th, respectively, according to a source from the MFA. The Asian agenda may stretch out in time, putting at risk Luís Montenegro’s presence in Lisbon to welcome Sam Hou Fai, whose trip had been confirmed for the 16th/17th of this month. The second destination is not officially acknowledged, but PLATAFORMA knows that the “difficulty in coordinating” the dates is due to the fact that the Portuguese leader’s trip to Japan is also being negotiated.
Sam Hou Fai traveled to Beijing this Tuesday, with a huge delegation from Macau (140 people); curiously, to attend the celebrations of the 80th anniversary of victory over Japan at the end of the Second World War. It was on that day that he realized his trip to Lisbon was being aborted, at a time when it had already been officially confirmed, with the entire program in the final stages of confirmation. In fact, the Macau Government was quick to make contacts to warn all parties – including journalists – revealing deep concern, since a large part of the delegation had already booked flights, hotels… and had scheduled agendas, business meetings, and professional commitments in Lisbon.
The warning caught everyone by surprise, including many people who were in Beijing and had already prepared schedules and logistics to also travel to Lisbon with the Chief Executive. What followed was a frenzy of communication, not only to cancel the trip, but also a whole series of events and arrangements that were underway to give strength and visibility to the Chief Executive’s visit, including expenses and commitments in many cases already undertaken.
As it stands, Luís Montenegro arrives in Macau in five days; almost without being announced – another major diplomatic surprise. Even though it has not been possible to determine how many days Montenegro intends to spend in Japan, it is clear that the dates are too tight for him to be in Macau, in China, in Japan… and still return to Lisbon with enough time and room in his schedule to welcome Sam Hou Fai. Nor has it yet been possible to establish whether the final decision to abort was taken jointly; whether it was Montenegro who concluded that it was impossible to fit all these commitments into the calendar in time; or whether it was actually Sam Hou Fai who, from Beijing, decided it would be better not to insist and to inform everyone, thus giving a few days for services, business delegations, and other political players to adjust schedules, control costs, and reverse agendas and commitments.
From these contacts, it also became clear that, although he sees this as only a suspension, showing himself available and interested in rescheduling the trip to Lisbon, Sam Hou Fai is said to have hinted to members of his entourage that “it will never be this year.”
