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ONLY). HIS PROGRAMME THEN TOOK HIM OUT OF LISBON TO THE NORTH OF PORTUGAL WHERE HE WAS WINED AND DINED BY PORTUGUESE INDUSTRIALISTS AND SHOWN THE SIGHTS.
6. ACCORDING TO TEIXEIRA, THE MAIN PORTUGUESE INTEREST IN THE VISIT WAS MACAU. BOTH SIDES AGREED THAT THE PROCESS OF TALKS IN PREPARATION FOR THE TRANSITION IN 1999 WERE GOING WELL. THE ATMOSPHERE WAS CONSTRUCTIVE. WHERE PROBLEMS HAD OCCURRED, SOLUTIONS HAD BEEN FOUND THROUGH DIALOGUE. THERE WERE NO SERIOUS OBSTACLES LIKELY TO DESTABILISE THE TALKS. EVEN TRADITIONALLY THORNY SUBJECTS SUCH AS THE INDIGENISATION OF THE MACAU PUBLIC SERVICE AND MANAGERIAL SECTORS WERE CONSIDERED SOLUBLE.
7. THE PORTUGUESE PRESS CONTRASTED THE POSITIVE SIGNALS OVER MACAU WITH THE NEGOTIATIONS OVER HONG KONG, WHILE UNDERLINING THE IMPORTANCE TO MACAU OF A SUCCESSFUL TRANSITION TO CHINESE RULE IN HONG KONG.
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RONG YIREN ASKED CAVACO SILVA ABOUT YUGOSLAVIA, MAASTRICHT AND THE ERM CRISIS. FOR HIS PART, CAVACO ASKED RONG YIREN ABOUT CHINA'S ECONOMY. THE VICE PRESIDENT PAINTED A ROSY PICTURE. MEASURES HAD BEEN PUT IN PLACE TO OVERCOME THE PROBLEMS OF OVERHEATING IN THE ECONOMY WHICH WERE, IN ANY CASE, TO BE EXPECTED IN THE TRANSITION FROM A COMMAND TO A SOCIALIST MARKET ECONOMY.
9.
AT THE DINNER OFFERED BY CAVACO SILVA FOR RONG YIREN, THE PORTUGUESE PRIME MINISTER PRAISED THE CLOSE COLLABORATION BETWEEN PEKING AND LISBON OVER MACAU AND CONFIRMED THAT RELATIONS BETWEEN PORTUGAL AND CHINA WERE AN EXCELLENT EXAMPLE OF THE RESULTS WHICH COULD BE ACHIEVED BETWEEN ASIAN AND EUROPEAN COUNTRIES, AT THE SAME TIME RESPECTING THE INTERESTS OF BOTH PARTIES AND AFFIRMING ACCEPTED UNIVERSAL PRINCIPLES OF THE RULE OF LAW AND THE NORMS OF INTERNATIONAL BEHAVIOUR. APPARENTLY, THIS WAS INTENDED AS A SIDE- SWIPE AT INDONESIA BECAUSE OF EAST TIMOR. CAVACO'S SPEECH MADE NO REFERENCE TO HUMAN RIGHTS.
10.
VALENTE TOLD ME THAT HUMAN RIGHTS WERE TOUCHED ON BRIEFLY (BUT ONLY IN PRIVATE). WHEN PRESIDENT SOARES HAD RAISED THEM, RONG YIREN HAD SAID THAT THE CHINESE GOVERNMENT ACKNOWLEDGED THAT A MARKET ECONOMY REQUIRED A MORE PLURALIST POLITICAL BASE. RONG YIREN, UP TO A POINT, EXEMPLIFIED THIS HIMSELF BY BEING A MEMBER OF THE GOVERNMENT, DESPITE NOT BEING A MEMBER OF THE COMMUNIST PARTY. CHINA WAS ALSO IMPROVING ITS LEGAL SYSTEM. EUROPEANS, HOWEVER, NEEDED TO REMEMBER THAT CHINA TOOK A DIFFERENT APPROACH TO HUMAN
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