Diplomatic causerie – with the People’s Republic of China, member of the UN, G20, APEC and other international organisations.  By Roy Lie A. Tjam. It was a pleasure to be welcomed by His Excellency Ambassador Chen Xu of the People’s Republic of China on a courtesy call. Ambassador Chen Xu proved to be a hospitable and charming diplomat. 2013 has been a year of numerous highlights as China looks back in order to surge further ahead. The ongoing growth of China’s economy. Profound reforms were initiated by the 18th Party Congress held in November 2012, and further elaborated by the 3rd Plenary Session of 18th CPC Central Committee held in November 2013. China is conscious of the fact that she has not yet achieved all her economic goals: ‘We are grouping stones while crossing the water’ says Chen Xu. ‘You can also say, we are busy digesting our economic boom’. China’s economic health has had a major impact on the world economy. China has also conceded that it is not easy to have a policy that will please every individual. Finding the appropriate management for our mega market is of paramount importance, observed the Ambassador. According to Ambassador Chen Xu, his country has known 30 years of high-speed progress. However, maintaining the momentum is far from easy. The Chinese economy has improved performance and made significant achievements. In 2013, China’s gross domestic product (GDP) grew by an enormous 7.7%. Over 13 million new urban jobs were created. The Chinese economy has recently become more closely connected with the world economy. In 2013, Chinese imports, exports and use of foreign investment all achieved considerable growth. Total imports approached $2 trillion and direct overseas investment by Chinese enterprises exceeded $90 billion. Change from within In 2014, agriculture will continue to be one of China’s priorities. China has 800 million farmers of which 200 million are drifting in the tremendous process of urbanization. Ambassador Chen Xu states that ‘Every citizen has within him the potential to retain our economic momentum, and every citizen should be entitled to benefit from China’s development’. Geneva talks China states that it stands for peaceful development and when embarking on business ventures, focuses on a win-win situation. Fortunately, we are today living in an era where peace and development remain the main theme of world politics compared to previous years. China also looks to political solutions, often initiating a national reconciliation process. The recent sshipments of chemical weapons material out of Syria have had naval escorts provided by the People’s Republic of China, alongside Denmark, Norway and Russia, its partners in this operation. East Asia The Sino–Nippon relationship is unfortunately at its lowest point following the visit of the Japanese Prime Minister to the war shrine at Yasukuni. China feels that PM Shinzo Abe’s visit to the Yasukuni Shrine grossly violated the principle and spirit of the four political documents between China and Japan, and broke the commitment and promises of previous Japanese governments and leaders on the issue of history. Asked whether reconciliation talks are envisaged, Chen Xu said: ‘Reconciliation is not possible, at least not for now. How can one talk about reconciliation with the intruder of one’s home while the intruder pays tribute to the perpetrators and does not have the intention to apologise?’ The Sino–Dutch relationship is almost 500 years old Chen Xu was in China when PM Rutte visited the country. Rutte was the first European political leader to meet China’s top party leadership after the historic 3rd Plenary Session of 18th CPC Central Committee held in November 2013. Other significant visits which took place in 2013 included the Head of the Koninklijke Marechaussee and the Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Chinese Army A.O. China is aware that it could benefit from Dutch experience on areas such as water management and aagricultural advancements. China is considering revamping the old silk route which originated in Western China and entered Europe via Turkey. The route led to Rotterdam, as well as the rest of Europe and to Africa. There are actually two silk routes, one over land, the other was a maritime route. Chen wishes to see a stronger tie between China and Europe, starting with the Sino-Dutch relationship. We see Holland as a geographically small country but one which holds an important position in Europe, says Chen Xu. Nuclear Security Summit (NSS) 2014 Following the Chinese New Year celebration, Ambassador Chen Xu and his staff are now increasingly focused on the upcoming NSS 2014. A top level Chinese delegation will be participating in the NSS 2014. Certainly, China is getting ready for the summit in The Hague. The area in the vicinity of the Chinese Embassy is being prepared to facilitate the activities that will be taking place at the World Forum.  

By José de Bouza Serrano, Ambassador of Portugal in The Hague. Frontiers fix the boundaries of countries, divide people and create national compartments, a fact reflected in maps and territories, but, people have always and even more so in the enlarged communitarian space, moved easily because emigration is, essentially, moving. A change of house, scenery, work and country is, in most cases, based on a wish to improve conditions of life and family. Fifty years ago, on the 22^nd of November 1963 The Convention between the Netherlands and the PortugueseRepublic was signed in Lisbon regarding emigration, recruitment and the outplacement of Portuguese workers in the Netherlands. And whereas this Protocol marked, in the beginning, the arrival of a small group of workers also known as “gastarbeiders” to this country, the number of Portuguese in search of a better life since then has grown steadily. Others came for political reasons, mainly students, who refused to fight in the colonial war, finding more support and tolerance in this society. But we have to go further back in History to see that already in the 17^th century the first Portuguese Jewish emigrants sought refuge in the Republic of the Netherlands for religious reasons. They found refuge in Amsterdam where they built the famous Portuguese Synagogue, a well preserved universal monument. In the 20^th century, after the First World War, Holland felt the need of more workmanship, especially in the areas of agriculture and fishery. Most Portuguese emigrants therefore moved to this country and continued to do so until the beginning of World War II. The end of this destructive period marked the renewed recruitment of foreign workmanship, this time mostly for the primary sector and the mining industry. The injection of capital provided by the Marshall Plan stimulated the secondary sector, specifically the electro domestic, car, aeronautic and petrochemical industries. During the sixties the number of “gastarbeiders” reached 1500, but as a consequence of the family reunion that started with the Protocol of ’63, this number soon went up to 2000 and later on to 3500 Portuguese. After the Revolution of April 1974, the statistics indicated 7500 Portuguese people working and living in the Netherlands, a number that grew higher together with the negotiations about the adhesion of Portugal to the European Communities. The Dutch Foreigners Law made it possible that many of our compatriots adopted the Dutch nationality, also were there more mixed marriages and children born from these mixtures who were registered as Dutch citizens (however, many of them were registered at the Consulate-General of Rotterdam). This important increase of Portuguese initiated a considerable movement of associative activities. It would be interesting to study and describe this process in order to understand how they came to conquer the statute they have nowadays. Today, the Consular Section of the Portuguese Embassy has about 40 thousand registered Portuguese. The European economic crisis that started in 2008 and its effects on Portuguese society are felt in a way that a lot of young people emigrate because they cannot find employment in their home country. But, being citizens of the European Union and having the advantage of the mobility that comes with the European space, they don’t feel or see the necessity of being registered at the Consular Section of the Portuguese Embassy so that many of them remain unknown and we only come across each other in our daily life by coincidence. The Federation of the Portuguese Community in the Netherlands, founded in the 80-ies of the former century decided to celebrate the 50^th anniversary of this way of living that changed the lives of many Dutch and Portuguese people, of whom many still live here with their descendants or return because their homesick of the country that once received them. For that reason the Federation organized, in November 2013, at the University of Amsterdam, a symposium called “Destino Holanda” (Destination Holland) which will be followed in the current year by a book with the different stories, lives and experiences describing this particular phenomenon of emigration. If we want to have a fruitful future, besides the past that I have just described briefly, this common way of being Portuguese has to be based on plurality, tolerance and an imaginative belief that is attractive for new generations. This is how Portuguese people will remain an important component in the economic development and social wellbeing of Dutch society that welcomed them and has grown with their daily work.