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DSR 11C
?
The case of Macao provides only a partial analogy. The
Treaty of 1887 did not formally cede that Territory to
Portugal. It placed it under 'perpetual occupation and
government by Portugal, as any other Portuguese possession'
but by an additional Article Portugal undertook 'never
to alienate Macao without previous agreement with China'.
This clearly implied a limitation on absolute Portuguese
sovereignty and probably facilitated a confidential
understanding believed to have been concluded between
the Chinese and the Portuguese Governments when the establish-
ment of diplomatic relations was negotiated in 1978 and 1979.
By this, Lisbon is believed to have conceded Chinese
ultimate sovereignty over Macao.
11. It would be theoretically possible for HMG to
make a unilateral move by Order in Council to amend
that of 1898 and thus extend the period of British
administration over the New Territories.
But a
unilateral declaration on Chinese sovereignty would still
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