The next China Studies Meeting will take place on the afternoon of June 18, between 2:30 p.m. and 5:00 p.m., with the theme “Paradiplomacy in Macao: The Role of Macao in Sino-Portuguese-Speaking Countries Relations.”

The keynote speaker is Xuheng Wang from the University of Coimbra, and the commentary will be provided by Anabela Santiago from the University of Aveiro.

Meeting ID: 92054841759
Link Zoom: https://videoconf-colibri.zoom.us/j/92054841759

ABSTRACT

In China, some cities’ participation in international activities has also begun to be considered as paradiplomacy. Even there’s a debate about whether the cities in mainland China, especially on their autonomy authority on their foreign actives, it has to be admitted that Macao government has a wider range of autonomy authority. This study treat Macao as a subnational actor and Macao’s establishment of external relations with the PSC can be considered a clear case of paradiplomacy. Macao has historical connections with Portugal, which have allowed it to build and maintain its connections with Portuguese-speaking countries. China has attached great importance to developing stronger relations with the PSC in recent years and has included Macao Special Administrative Region in the framework of its foreign policy and used its particularity to develop relations with the PSC. The establishment of Macau Forum can be considered as one of the paradiplomacy activities. In economic field, the interactions among Macao and PSC reflect the relations building and developing, while the political effects are not so obvious. This paper build analysis based on a combination of Chinese international theory- Guanxi(关系) and paradiplomacy, mainly focus on the international interactions happened in Macao. Through the paradiplomatic activities of Macao, the role of Macao has been a focused both on the regional development of Macao, and on fulfilling the strategic aims of the Chinese central government, particularly regarding the Portuguese-speaking countries.

KEYWORDS

Guanxi Theory, Paradiplomacy, Macao, Sino-Portuguese-Speaking Countries Relations.

SHORT BIO

Xuheng Wang holds a Ph.D. in International Politics and Conflict Resolution in the School of Economics (FEUC) at the University of Coimbra and the Centre for Social Studies (CES). She holds a Master’s degree from the School of Economics (FEUC)—University of Coimbra (Portugal) and a Bachelor’s degree from the School of Business—Macao Polytechnic Institute (China). Currently, she is working on the research on the role of Macao in Sino-Portuguese-speaking countries relations, based on paradiplomacy in China. Since November 2023, she has also worked in the project AspirE, "Decision making of aspiring (re)migrants to/within the EU: The case of labour market-leading migrations from Asia", on the scope of HORIZON-CL2-2022-TRANSFORMATIONS-01 in the local team of the University Institute of Lisbon.