“China’s economy and society have returned to normal,” the Chinese embassy said in a statement. Han’s message to President Marcelo Rebelo de Solva and to the government was that it should be business as usual despite the COVID-19 pandemic and the war. The Chinese checkbook, hitherto a reliable source of generosity, may now be a political liability as doubts grow over influence-buying by an expansionary, authoritarian foreign power.ĬEPA’s online journal covering critical topics on the foreign policy docket across Europe and North America.Īll this brought a visit earlier this year by China’s Vice President Han Zheng, an iron-fisted operator from Shanghai who is used by the party when it wants to speak plainly. Lisbon is also heeding a tougher EU line on trade, investment, and 5G technology. The foreign minister, João Gomes Cravinho, said Portugal would “review the meaning of the political and economic relationship” if China supplied arms to Russia for its war in Ukraine, and has meanwhile sent arms to Ukraine. Now, the government of Prime Minister António Costa, a socialist, has quietly moved back toward the North Atlantic consensus and stepped away from its previously cozy ties with Beijing (much like what’s happening in Italy.) Portugal prioritizes its membership of the NATO alliance, and it has been encouraged to change tack by a large and active American embassy in Lisbon, which has raised its game with lobbying, cultural events, and a visit from Jill Biden, the First Lady. ![]() ![]() China linked some to President Xi Jinping’s signature Belt and Road initiative (BRI), although a 2018 memorandum of understanding between the two countries was notably vague Deepwater ports and possession of the Azores add to Portugal’s importance to maritime strategy, a key Chinese preoccupation.Īccordingly, Chinese state-owned entities took advantage of bargain prices, privatizations, and a “golden visa” scheme after the financial crisis of 2008 -2011 to buy stakes in Portuguese firms engaged in infrastructure, energy, fisheries, insurance, healthcare, construction, aviation, and finance. It provides a gateway to the giant Lusophone market of more than 280 million consumers in the former colonies of Latin America and Africa, which include China’s BRICS partner, Brazil, energy-rich Angola, and Mozambique. The two countries shared a bond through the history of Macau, an enclave on the South China Sea in Portuguese hands from the 16 th century until it was returned in 1999 by an agreement held up by Beijing as an example of cooperation and mutual profit - in contrast to the tetchy handover of Britain’s (bigger) colony of Hong Kong.Ĭhina’s stake in Portugal represents a significant foothold in a country with a population of just over 10 million. That may be no surprise since Portugal is the European nation with the longest history of engagement with China, but it is also a symbol of change. The prominent critic of the Communist Party, who left China in 2015, has joined digital nomads and activists now making Lisbon a place of lively east-west exchange. The dissident Chinese artist Ai Weiwei has found a new place of creative exile on the sunbaked Alentejo plain in Portugal, where he is building a replica of his studio in Shanghai, devising original projects and enjoying the freedom of his latest home.
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