CO Hum Esq HKD
FCO
CONFIDENTIAL
Cc X Wilm
A Suite
Cir 23/
бо
2416
36
BRITISH EMBASSY LISBON
19 June 1986
Dear Christopher,
NEGOTIATIONS ON MACAU
HKK 02013
RECEIVED IN VEGISTRY
25 JUN 1986
PA
RY
TAKON
AB.
1. The Portuguese have now announced their team for the negotiations with China which begin on 30 June. Apart from Ambassador Medina, it
is:
Nuno Lorena Consul-General in Hong Kong
José Henriques de Jesus from the Macau Government
João de Deus Ramos of the MFA (and the Embassy in Peking)
Carlos Gaspar from the President's Office
João Ascensão - a special adviser from the Portuguese mission
to the UN.
None of them are known to us.
2. I spoke on 17 June to Queiros de Barros, the Deputy Director General with whom we have dealt about Macau. He said that in fact he was now relinquishing his responsibilities for Macau. Macau would be handled by a new unit which was to be basically the negotiating team. This unit was not yet formed since Ambassador Medina had yet to instal himself, but would be situated in the MFA, and would report direct to Ministers (the Head of the Asian Department, António Valente, has confirmed separately to me that he does not expect to be involved). We will try to make contact with the new unit as soon as we can.
3. When I commented gently to Queiros de Barros that it seemed odd to start the unit's work only after the negotiations themselves had started, he said that with only two morning sessions in the first round on 30 June and 1 July, little of substance would come up! Perhaps so, but it seems an odd way to run a negotiation.
euw
Yous
Dong
D G Martin
cc: JD I Boyd Esq,
Political Adviser, Hong Kong
PA B Thomson Esq, Peking
CONFIDENTIAL