H Synnott Esq
SED
FCO
Dear Fik,
CONFIDENTIAL
Zal"
थ
per
We have seen per Morts of this. Fox 3
British Embassy
LISBON
scans to indrett
the the Portuges
13
no longer asker
Mocar bech!
to god
1982
27 October 19
ник ого з
T
·
frm3/u
и
MACAU AND HONG KONG
1.
Admiral Almeida Costa, the Governor of Macau, told the Press yesterday on his return to Lisbon for the last meeting of the Council of the Revolution, that there was no sign that China wished to alter the status of Macau.
2.
Almeida Costa stressed that the status of Macau was legally and administratively different from Hong Kong. He said that no-one could describe the situation in Macau as colonial, and emphasised that confidence continued in Macau while there was instability in Hong Kong. He said that the Statute of Macau had proved satisfactory for China, Portugal and the inhabitants of Macau, and there was no need to change it.
3. The Portuguese Ministry of Foreign Affairs in talks with Sir Julian Bullard on 25 October were also anxious to emphasise the differences between Macau and Hong Kong. Hong Kong's status was defined by treaties which the Chinese believed unequal, while the status of Macau had never been clear. This was why the Portuguese used the carefully worded phrase "the territory of Macau, under Portuguese administration" to describe Macau. The Portuguese had no reason to believe that the Chinese wished to reopen the subject of Macau.
Yours.
2
JN Powell
"
CC:
FED HKGD
Chancery PEKING Hong Kong
CONFIDENTIAL