CONFIDENTI AL
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Portugal to conclude an agreement (there would be phased
"unfreezing" of pensions). It would be premature to inform
the Portuguese Government or British Community in Portugal
of this during Mr Judd's visit.
Macao Airport
11. In November 1976, the Portuguese requested the British
Government's agreement to discussions between the Hong Kong
and Macao authorities about the proposal to build an inter-
national airport at Macao. Col Leandro, Governor of Macao,
seems to be the driving force behind this. The FCO replied
that while construction of an airport was primarily a
domestic matter for Macao, it had significant implications
for the Hong Kong Government's current and future provision
for air services, not least in the co-ordination of air
traffic control. The FCO would be happy for the Hong Kong
and Macao authorities to discuss but considered it would be
premature until the attitude of the People's Republic of China
had been formally ascertained.
12.
The Portuguese Ambassador in London subsequently expressed
his own reservations about the Macao proposal; he said that
lack of diplomatic relations between Portugal and the PRC might
make it difficult to obtain PRC views. For reasons of Anglo-
Portuguese relations and Hong Kong/Macao relations, the FCO
prefer that the proposal founder on PRC rather than British or
Hong Kong objections. We consider the Portuguese could obtain
PRC views if they wanted. We therefore intend to make clear to
the Portuguese Embassy that we look to their authorities to
establish the Chinese view.
Southern European Department 8 June 1977
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