EXCERPT FROM THE
PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC'S SPEECH AT THE OFFICIAL WELCOMING CEREMONY,
DURING THE STATE VISIT TO MACAO, ON FEBRUARY 18, 1997
"Governing Macao means, above all, watching over and guarding its socio-cultural identity, which Portugal and China backed When they signed the Joint Declaration."
"And they made that bet because it constitutes a necessary
condition so that Macao, with various political forms and different
political frameworks, can perform, in the future, the singular role for
which history continuously selected this land - that of a meeting point
and place of relationships between people and cultures."