The parliamentary leader of the PSD, Hugo Soares, along with four other party deputies, visited Beijing this week at the invitation of the IDPC — International Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, reports Expresso on Friday, December 12.
Hugo Soares, who is also the secretary-general of the PSD and the right-hand man of Luís Montenegro within the party, explained to the newspaper that the visit was of a party nature and not parliamentary, as part of the celebrations of the 20th anniversary of the China–Portugal Strategic Partnership.
Soares further clarified that the program of the visit, which lasted until this Friday, December 12, included various contacts with political officials and his participation as a speaker at Beijing’s University of International Business and Economics.
The social democrat told Expresso that such invitations are “completely normal” and have happened previously.
Besides Hugo Soares, Hugo Carneiro, Ricardo Carvalho (deputy secretary-general of the PSD), Vânia Jesus, and Bárbara do Amaral Correia also traveled to Beijing.
The PSD parliamentary leader assured Expresso that, as a “matter of courtesy,” he informed both the office of the president of the Assembly of the Republic and the conference of parliamentary leaders about this trip to China, despite there being no obligation to do so, since it was a party-related visit and not a parliamentary one.
The newspaper notes that the PSD delegation’s trip to China occurs at a particularly tense time in world geopolitics.
The European Union intends to begin taxing small packages imported from China as early as 2026, anticipating the end of the customs exemption in response to the exponential growth of this trade and unfair competition.
