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freedom of decision at local level. The Chinese feared increased Soviet influence and the preponderance of the Portuguese Communist Party in the aftermath of the 25 April; had these affected Macau the Chinese would have "resolved the problem".
6.
When asked how he had dealt with the difference of position on Macau, during the preliminary discussions, CM replied that he discussed everything except Macau. It was up to the Chinese to attack the problem by explaining their position. They did
so 3 years later (1978) when the official negotiations began.
7. The PCR's most important gesture of goodwill during the
3 years of discussions was the setting up in Lisbon of an office
of the New China Agency. (The fact that Tseng-Tao, the Chinese ambassador to Paris when preliminary discussions began, later because Director General of the New China Agency in Peking, facilitated this).
How time is lost
8. CM lists the factors which delayed the process of
discussion and negotiation. On the Chinese side these included:
the evolution of Chinese policy towards the West
the long periods the Chinese Ambassador spent in Peking the hiatus between one Ambassador /Tseng-Tao 7 leaving and another Han Kehau 7 taking up his post
On the Portuguese side these included:
9.
ministerial changes
the long interregnums between ministers
the time needed to brief new ministers
the desire of each new minister to contribute something original to the negotiations.
The 'contrivance' /invençao_7of the agreement was achieved during Mario Soares's Second Government January August 1978_7.
It was not signed then for two reasons:
i)
ii)
A certain CDS minister (not the Foreign Minister) had a "patriotic crisis of conscience and raised problems in the
Cabinet.
Soares was dismissed as Prime Minister on 27 July. Because of the delay Portugal missed the opportunity of establishing diplomatic relations with China before the US. After the defeat in the Assembly of Nobre da Costa's Government's plan on 14 September, the new Foreign Minister, Correia Gago's position was weak. CM sums up this period of negotiations as follows: "there were decisions, counter decisions, then there was a period of waiting, then a return to square one, which I for one never managed to understand". When Mota Pinto was asked to form a new government in November 1978 Correia Gago wisely refused to commit himself further.
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/10.