Beijing, July 14, 2026 (Lusa) - Luís Bernardino, an expert in international relations, believes that the Community of Portuguese Language Countries (CPLP) is marking its 30th anniversary without having managed to make its mark in China, where it remains little known.

“China is unfamiliar with the CPLP,” summarised Luís Bernardino, a lecturer at the Autonomous University of Lisbon and a reserve infantry colonel in the Portuguese Army, who recently took part in two conferences in Beijing – at the Beijing University of International Studies and at the Portuguese Embassy – for the organisation’s 30th anniversary, which falls on 17 July.

“If you don’t know about something, you don’t know how to benefit from that relationship either,” he added.

According to Bernardino, the organisation “has never known how to position itself in relation to the East” and remains on the sidelines of the main mechanisms created by Beijing to deepen cooperation with Portuguese Language Countries.

“The Macau Forum is not the CPLP. It is a tool used by China to facilitate cooperation with Portuguese-speaking countries and will continue to grow. The CPLP is out of the picture, for the time being,” he remarked.

Established in 2003, the Forum for Economic and Trade Co-operation between China and Portuguese Language Countries brings together China and Portuguese-speaking countries, but operates outside the CPLP’s institutional framework, although it uses Macau as a connecting platform.

For Bernardino, this situation reflects the way in which Beijing favours an approach that is both bilateral and multilateral – a strategy he describes as “bimultilateral” cooperation.

“China engages bilaterally with each country, but also creates multilateral forums that reinforce this cooperation. It is a pragmatic approach that no other major power has developed in Africa,” he argued.

The expert on security and defence in Africa emphasised that China’s relationship with Portuguese-speaking countries is far from uniform.

Whilst with the Portuguese Language Countries in Africa (PALOP) Beijing prioritises infrastructure funding, trade, development and, increasingly, defence cooperation, its relationship with Brazil takes on a distinct geopolitical dimension, driven by the BRICS bloc of emerging economies and by cooperation between countries of the so-called Global South.

“China adapts its strategy to its interests in each region. There is no one-size-fits-all approach for all CPLP countries,” he explained.

In the case of Timor-Leste, he considered that the country’s growing strategic importance in the Indo-Pacific is likely to strengthen Chinese interest, both due to its geographical position and its future full integration into the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

“China views Timor-Leste as a strategic partner in the Indo-Pacific, due to its position on maritime routes and its growing regional significance,” he stated.

The researcher also noted that the strategic rivalry between China and the West has led Beijing to strengthen its presence in Portuguese-speaking countries, particularly in Africa, where cooperation has expanded into areas such as security, technology and defence.

“Cooperation is no longer merely economic. Defence has become one of the central pillars of China’s relationship with virtually all the PALOP countries,” he maintained.

This development mirrors the transformation of China’s presence in Africa, which was initially centred on political support for independence movements and, later, on infrastructure funding and access to raw materials.

Today, according to Bernardino, the strategy also includes military training, the sale of equipment, construction and modernisation of ports, and an increasingly frequent naval presence on the African continent.

“China is doing what a global power must do. It is an economic power, but it knows that it also needs to assert a military dimension,” he stated.

Despite China’s growing influence, Bernardino considered that Portuguese-speaking countries, particularly those in Africa, have not yet managed to reap the full benefits of this relationship.

“There is a growing dependence, particularly of a financial nature. Countries must learn to negotiate more effectively with China and transform this cooperation into a genuine strategic partnership, without creating excessive dependencies,” he argued.

He therefore considered that the CPLP’s greatest challenge, three decades after its creation, is to increase its international visibility and establish itself as a relevant interlocutor with strategic partners such as China.

“The CPLP is whatever its member states want it to be. If the countries themselves do not promote it in the international forums in which they participate, it is unlikely that other global actors will do so,” he said.

The CPLP includes Angola, Brazil, Cabo Verde, Guinea-Bissau (currently suspended due to the coup d’état), Equatorial Guinea, Mozambique, Portugal, São Tomé and Príncipe, and Timor-Leste.

JPI/AYLS // AYLS

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