Yet all of this, so much, still fails to meet my desires. In the past, as now and in the future, what the Portuguese navigators always desired was understanding, willing co-operation and the creation of something new. Ours has always been a universal approach to our experience of meeting the world in its many facets, peoples and cultures and it shall remain so. We have always been builders of the future, respecting the human aspect, open to difference and we shall remain so. Today, in Macau, Portugal has achieved its goal.
Today is a day of rejoicing for the People's Republic of China.
Yet it is also an opportunity for all the Portuguese who ever lived here to unite in the memory of that first encounter between Portuguese and Chinese. There has been no trace of any treaty formalising the responsibilities of each side, yet the proof of over four centuries of history shows undeniably that our relationship has always been unique and special. When the daring of those navigators from the westernmost tip of Europe brought them to the great Middle Kingdom, they were moved solely by a desire to encounter and understand other people. Now the City of the Name of God will bring about the Macau Special Administrative Region. From now on, Macau's people will be responsible for its destiny, with its own political and legal systems ensuring that it can remain unique within the great Chinese nation, preserving its own way of life and basic rights.