Macau, China, April 14, 2025 (Lusa) - The new leader of Macau's government said on Monday that he will visit Portugal after the early legislative elections there on 18 May, but offered no solution to the restrictions on Portuguese residency in the Chinese region.
Sam Hou Fai said that he will visit Portugal, "during the first half of the year, after the elections, when the situation is in a stable state", in a reference to the formation of the new Portuguese government.
On 28 March, the Portuguese minister of foreign affairs, Paulo Rangel, said after a meeting with Sam Hou Fai in Macau that the territory's head of government would visit Portugal "just before August or in September".
Today, at a press conference following the presentation of the lines of government action (LAG) for 2025, Sam Hou Fai stressed that the visit to Portugal will be his first trip abroad since taking office on 20 January.
"It's a testament to the good and long relationship between Macau and Portugal," said Sam Hou Fai, the first leader of the Chinese region who speaks Portuguese.
At the end of March, when asked about restrictions on Portuguese residency, Rangel said that he had spoken to Sam Hou Fai "about all the issues that are relevant to the relationship between Portugal and the Macau Special Administrative Region".
"But as this is an ongoing dialogue, I have a duty to give the opportunity so that we can, with the issues that have been raised on both sides, now have the space and time to build some solutions," he added.
Rangel said that the "follow-up to the dialogue" started with Sam Hou Fai will take place at a meeting of the Portugal-Macau Special Administrative Region Joint Commission, "which will be organised, in principle, in the second half of the year" in Macau.
Since August 2023, Macau has not accepted new applications for Portuguese residency for the "exercise of specialised technical functions", allowing only justifications of family reunion or previous connection to the territory.
The guidelines eliminate a practice established after Macau's transition in 1999.
The Portuguese are left with a ‘blue card’, an authorisation limited to employment, without the benefits of being residents, particularly in terms of health and education.
The only alternative to securing a resident's identity card is to apply for the recent programmes to attract qualified staff, Sam Hou Fai announced today.
"Whatever their nationality, if they meet the requirements of the law, they are always welcome," emphasised the Chief Executive.
Nevertheless, Sam Hou Fai promised to evaluate the programmes, "optimise them and find qualified staff suited to Macau's needs".
The 2021 censuses indicate more than 2,200 people born in Portugal living in Macau. The most recent estimate given to Lusa by the Consulate General of Portugal pointed to around 155,000 Portuguese passport holders among the residents of Macau and Hong Kong.
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