COVERAGE
Media Coverage and Comment on the Macau Agreement Friday, 27 March 1987
The initialling in Peking yesterday of the Sino-Portuguese agreement on Macau's future was given blanket coverage by the news media. Most papers also devoted extensive coverage to generally favourable reactions from various commentators in both HK and Macau. The full text of the Sino-Portuguese Joint Declaration, its annexes and the memoranda on nationality, was carried in most papers.
Many papers highlighted in their headlines that China would re-exercise its sovereignty over Macau in 1999 and a Macau SAR with a high degree of autonomy would be set up.
Several papers, including Ming Pao and the HK Commercial Daily, headlined their stories to the effect that an Macau accord satisfactory
to all was reached.
Some papers highlighted the nationality issue. Sing Tao said in its headlines that the agreement had provided for dual nationality in reality although not in name. It was noted that Portuguese passport holders in Macau would have the right of abode in Portugal while BN(0) passport holders in HK would not be entitled to the same right in
Britain.
The leader of the Chinese negotiating team, Zhou Nan, said that China did not recognise dual nationality and that the Portuguese passport held by Macau residents would only be treated as a travel document. Expressing a similar view, Lu Ping of the HK and Macau Affairs Office said that the question of dual nationality did not
arise.
Some papers noted that the Sino-Portuguese agreement was modelled on the Sino-British agreement on HK. Some made a comparison between the
two.
The HK Economic Journal said that the two agreements differed on
eight points.
The paper noted that Annex I of the Sino-British Joint Declaration had stipulated that HK's capitalist system and lifestyle would remain unchanged for 50 years. The Sino-Portuguses version, however, did not mention the capitalist system in Macau. The paper said that the reason for this omission was not known and had caused some
concern.