MACAU
SECRET
Status of Macau
1. The Portuguese received the permission of the Chinese authorities in Canton to establish a settlement in Macau in 1557. For many years they paid a form of rent to local Chinese authorities, and a Chinese mandarin was stationed in the territory with varying degrees of actual and claimed control over the local inhabitants. In 1849 the Governor refused to continue paying the rent and turned out the Chinese customs.
Formal Cession to Portugal
2. The status of Macau was not clarified legally until December 1887 when, by treaty, the Chinese confirmed the "perpetual occupation and government of Macau and its dependencies by Portugal as any other Portuguese possession". Portuguese sovereignty was to some extent limited by another clause which stipulated that the territory of Macau should not be alienated by Portugal without the agreement of China. This clause was included to meet British fears about the possibility that Portugal might face pressure to cede Macau to a stronger power, which would present a challenge to Britain's interests in Hong Kong. A preliminary protocol was signed in Lisbon in March 1887, with Mr James Duncan Campbell, an official of the Chinese customs, signing on behalf of China.
3. The Government of the People's Republic of China (PRC) regards the 19th century treaties concluded with Western powers, amongst them the 1887 agreements with Portugal, as 'unequal
In 1972
11
•
11
the Chinese Government conveyed a letter to the UN Committee on Decolonization expressing its view that Macau (like Hong Kong) was part of Chinese territory under foreign occupation, adding that the settlement of the questions of Hong Kong and Macau was entirely within China's sovereign right" and "does not at all fall under the ordinary category of 'colonial territories'
The letter said that the questions "should be settled in an appropriate way when conditions are ripe" and that they should not be discussed by the United Nations or listed as "colonial territories" in any UN documents. China has so far shown no interest in taking back Macau and is for the time being clearly satisfied with the status quo. It earns an increasing, if still small, amount of foreign currency from the territory, and is concerned that change in Macau would damage confidence in Hong Kong.
4. The Chinese Foreign Minister, Huang Hua, is reported to have told the Portuguese President during a visit to Lisbon in May this year that China would maintain the status quo in Macau, although in the future it could study, together with the population of Macau and the Portuguese authorities, other solutions for the territory which would not affect the standard of living of the population, nor the interests of foreign investors.
SECRET
/Present status