SECRET
X
of diplomatic relations between China and Portugal the two Governments had signed a document in which there was a clause specifying that
Macao was not Portuguese territory but was administered by Portugal. On the other hand the clause did not say that Macao was Chinese territory.
Summing Up: Secret Document or Informal Undertaking?
12.
The evidence for a secret document or clause attached to the
February 1979 agreement comes from high sources
They must, it might
be thought, have known what they were talking about and de Freitas-Cruz's statement of October 1982 is too circumstantial to be rejected. It is difficult to envisage that they deliberately made up this information although why they chose to reveal it is another matter.
13. The firmest denial so far of the existence of a secret agreement in written form was given by Ho Yin. Yet even he spoke of a clause on Macao's status as part of a document signed in February 1979.
14.
The firmest statement that the understanding reached was "private" and "oral" came from the Portuguese chargé in Peking in 1979. The Governor of Macao, in May of this year, did refer to an understanding but, in Sir E Youde's words, 'did not indicate that any secret agreement was in existence". This is, of course, considerably less than a straight denial. Coimbra Martins, the actual negotiator of the February 1979 agreement,confirms the fact of an "undertaking" (or "commitment" or "agreement") without specifying whether it was written or not. It could be argued, however, that all these references were carefully tailored to meet the requirement of the Portuguese Foreign Ministry that there should be no public mention of a written agreement with the Chinese.
15. In the final analysis, it seems inherently improbable that nothing at all was written down concerning the secret undertaking or that a purely oral "gentleman's agreement" would suffice. There must, in the nature of things, have been a written record of what was decided. Perhaps this was used as a kind of secret memorandum of undertaking additional to the published agreement.
SECRET
standing
THIS IS A COPY THE ORIGINAL HAS BEEN CLOSED FOR
40 YEARS UNDER FOI EXEMPTION No. 27(2)
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Reference.............
ANNEX
/in
February 1979, to China's
Mr Longmire, Research Department
ANTONIO COIMBRA MARTINS: ESPERANCAS DE ABRIL
Conversations in September
III Relations with China
(Text recorded on 24, 25, 26 September 1979) The 6th January Note
1. Coimbra Martins (CM) attributes the time lag between the Portuguese Revolution in 1974, and the signing of the instrument establishing diplomatic relations between Portugal and China / desire to see certain conditions fulfilled before negotiations commenced. Apart from the problem of Macao, these conditions included Portuguese decolonization, and the clarification of Portugal's position on the world scene following the 25 April Revolution.
2. Portugal took the initiative in establishing diplomatic relations. The most important gesture in this direction was the Portuguese Note of 6 January 1975. CM describes the Note as follows: "It was a statement of democratic Portugal's wish to have diplomatic relations with all countries in the world, and especially with China. The Note stipulated that, as far as the Portuguese government was concerned, the Peking government was the sole representative of all the Chinese people; Formosa was an integral part of the PRC; the territory of Macau could be the subject of negotiations at a time considered suitable by both governments; in the meantime Portugal would assume full responsibility for the vigorous respect for the rights of Chinese citizens, resident in Macau".
3.
CM stresses the importance the Chinese gave to this note, On 13 January 1975 a spokesman for the Chinese MFA stated that the PRC regarded the Note sympathetically; the position on Formosa was satisfactory, but unfortunately, there remained a divergence of views over Macau.
4.
CM describes how prior to the opening of official negotiations in 1978, there was a period of informal contacts and discussions between the Portuguese and Chinese ambassadors in Paris; these began in August 1975. In 1978 the Chinese ambassador informed CM that the Chinese government wished to establish diplomatic relations with Portugal. The PRC proposed that the negotiations should take place in Paris and should be headed by the Portuguese and Chinese ambassadors. In other words, CM was chosen as chief Portuguese negotiator, not by the Portuguese government, but by the PRC.
Words and Actions
5. CM draws attention to the part played by the governor of Macau, Garcia Leandro, in strengthening Chinese confidence; this was done by encouraging the development of Macau, Taipa and Coloane through foreign investment, and by allowing a greater
/freedom
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