Portugal’s president, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, has responded to a warning from the US ambassador against investment by Chinese companies, by saying that “in Portugal, it is the representatives chosen by the Portuguese who decide on their destiny.”
Lusa had questioned the head of state about the comments made by the ambassador, George Glass, in an interview with the weekly Expresso that were published in Saturday’s edition of the newspaper, in which he argued that “Portugal has to choose” between its allies – such as the US – and the Chinese.
“It is an obvious question of principle that, in Portugal, it is the representatives chosen by the Portuguese – and they alone – who decide on their destiny, while respecting the Constitution and the law it upholds, such as international law,” the president said in a statement sent to Lusa.
Portugal’s minister of foreign affairs, Augusto Santos Silva, had already over the weekend made similar comments in response to the ambassador’s warning.
