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INVEST IN THE AIRPORT ITSELF. THE SHORTFALL WAS CONSIDERABLE.
4. HENCE HO'S APPEAL TO THE HONG KONG GOVERNMENT, WHICH HE SAID HAD BEEN VERY BADLY RECEIVED IN MACAU. HE WAS NOT OPTIMISTIC ABOUT WAYS TO SOLVE THIS FINANCIAL PROBLEM.
5. ON GOVERNOR VIEIRA, HO COMMENTED THAT POWER HAD BEEN RECENTRALISED AND MOST DECISIONS BY UNDER SECRETARIES WERE NOW CLEARED BEFOREHAND. HE WAS KEEN THAT VIEIRA SHOULD MEET THE GOVERNOR OF HONG KONG SOONER RATHER THAN LATER (DOUBTLESS TO ADVOCATE SOME OF HIS OWN CONCERNS).
6. THE MAIN CAMOES DAY SPEECH ON BEHALF OF THE PRESIDENT AND THE
PORTUGUESE GOVERNMENT WAS GIVEN BY THE PORTUGUESE SECRETARY OF STATE FOR CULTURE. HIS THEME, UNSURPRISINGLY, WAS THE GOVERNMENT'S COMMITMENT TO PRESERVE ITS CULTURAL LEGACY IN MACAU. THE GOVERNOR FOLLOWED WITH A SIMILAR PRERORATION ON THE NEED TO COMPLETE THE WORK OF THE EARLY EXPLORERS IN BRINGING PORTUGUESE
VALUES TO MACAU. THIS WORK INCLUDED BOTH THE CREATION OF DEMOCRATIC PLURALISM AND ACCELERATED ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT.
7. COMMENT: THE EARLY 16TH CENTURY PORTUGUESE WOULD PROBABLY BE SURPRISED BY THE CONCEPT OF DEMOCRATIC PLURALISM AS THE NATURAL CONCLUSION TO THEIR COUNTRY'S PRESENCE IN MACAU, AND THE LATE 20TH CENTURY CHINESE IN MACAU ARE EQUALLY SCEPTICAL. VIEIRA'S REPEATED COMMITMENT TO ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT LOOKS MORE REALISTIC, BUT AS STANLEY HO INDICATED EARLIER THE AIRPORT PROJECT (BY FAR
THE MOST IMPORTANT) IS IN TROUBLE.
8. BY CHANCE GRAHAM TALKED WITH LOURENCO DA CONCEICAO, WHO HAS JUST BEEN APPOINTED BY THE GOVERNOR TO REVIEW AND RECOMMEND ON
THE FINANCES OF THE AIRPORT. CONCEICAO'S PREVIOUS JOB WAS TO DO THE SAME THING FOR THE STOCK EXCHANGE PROJECT, WHICH HAS NOW BEEN SHELVED INDEFINITELY. IT LOOKS OMINOUSLY LIKE THE KISS OF DEATH
AGAIN.
SMITH-LAITTAN
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