talking in these terms, it seems possible that he has cleared his lines with the Chinese. Moreover, as Macao is considerably smaller, less important and less rich than Hong Kong, other Member States may have some sympathy with the Portuguese request for OCT status for it.
5.
I assume that we should nevertheless continue to oppose any special status for Macao on the grounds that this is inappropriate, both given Macao's important industrial economy which puts it in the same league as Hong Kong rather than that of other OCTs, and given the Chinese dimension (although we want to be careful about adducing claims by third parties as a reason for not associating territories with the Community, given the cases of eg Gibraltar and the Falklands). If pressed, however, can there be any give in our position?
6. I see no reason to submit on this to Ministers at this stage. If, however, Portugal does put forward a request for OCT status and this receives support from other Member States, then I believe we shall need to consult Ministers.
Talking to the Portuguese
7. We have so far as I can discover not revealed to the Portuguese our thinking on this question. On the assumption that Portuguese thinking may not yet have crystallised, there might be something to be said for making clear to them that we consider that Macao should be given the same status as Hong Kong vis-à-vis the EEC, and that we should oppose any more favourable status being given to Macao. I should be grateful for the advice of SED and the Embassy in Lisbon on this point.
C
B L Crowe
European Community Department (External)
cc:
Mr Clift, HKGD Mr Wilson, SED
J W R Shakespeare Esq MVO, Lisbon
CONFIDENTIAL