CONFIDENTIAL
R 245
CONFIDENTIAL
FM HONG KONG 1612172 JAN 79
HKK
✅ NO.
LAP079
RY
RZ Action Taken
TO PRIORITY FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH OFFICE
No
TELNO.114 OF 16 JANUARY,
INFO PRIORITY: PEKING, LISBON,
See 3
ROUTINE : HONG KONG GOVERNMENT OFFICE LONDON.
1.
YOUR TELNO.52 : SINO/PORTUGUESE RELATIONS.
COLONEL LEANDRO, THE GOVERNOR OF MACAU, IS AT PRESENT IN
HONG KONG HAVING COMPLETED HIS TOUR.
HE LEAVES TOMORROW FOR
CANTON AND PEKING ON HIS WAY BACK TO LISBON.
2. LEANDRO CONFIRMS THAT HE BELIEVES AN ANNOUNCEMENT ON SIN/
PORTUGUESE DIPLOMATIC RELATIONS IS IMMINENT. HE SAYS, HOWEVER,
THAT HE KNOWS NOTHING ABOUT THE DETAIL. HE HIMSELF THINKS THERE WILL BE NO PUBLIC MENTION OF MACAU.
3. LEANDRO, INCIDENTALLY, BELIEVES THAT THE NEGOTIATIONS HAVE
BEEN BADLY HANDLED, PARTLY BECAUSE OF THE CONSTANTLY CHANGING GOVERNMENTS IN LISBON. HE MAKES NO BONES ABOUT THE FACT THAT HE HAS BEEN KEPT IN IGNORANCE OF THE DETAILS EVEN THOUGH THEY
MIGHT AFFECT MACAU.
4. IN ANSWER TO PRESS QUERIES, PORTUGUESE OFFICIALS IN MACAU HAVE
DISMISSED AS IDLE SPECULATION'' THE POSSIBILITY THAT THE ESTABLISHMENT OF RELATIONS COULD LEAD TO A CHANGE IN THE STATUS
OF MACAU. HO YIN, A LOCAL MILLIONAIRE WHO SOMETIMES ACTS AS AN UNOFFICIAL, CHINESE SPOKESMAN IN MACAU, HAS MADE SIMILAR
REMARKS.
5. IT DOES NOT SEEM THAT THE PRESS SPECULATION IS CAUSING ANY
SERIOUS CONCERN IN MACAU.
MACLEHOSE
FILES
FED
OID
HK & GD
NEWS D
SED
PS
IPD
PS/LORD GORONWY
PS/PUS
MR CORTAZZI MR MURRAY SIR R HIBBERT
ROBERTS MR FERGUSSON
CONFIDENTIAL
COPIES TO:
HONG KONG GOVT OFFICE
LONDON