Media Coverage and Comment on the Macau Agreement Saturday, 28 March 1987
COVERAGE
Children born to Portuguese nationals in Macau after December 20, 1999 could obtain Portuguese citizenship under the Portuguese nationality act 1981, the Oriental Daily News reported prominently, quoting a Macau official.
The official explained that the Portuguese memorandum in the Macau agreement was referring to territorial link when it said that no person would acquire Portuguese citizenship by virtue of a connection with Macau. The stipulation meant that after the handover, Macau-born residents could not obtain Portuguese citizenship through naturalisation.
In moderate coverage, the papers reported that an editorial in yesterday's People's Daily welcomed the Sino-Portuguese agreement and said the smooth solution to the Macau question proved the strength and vitality of the "one country, two systems" concept. The paper said in the past two years, HK had not only maintained its prosperity and stability but also achieved economic advances.
A China News Service report quoted the chairman of Macau's Legislative Assembly, Carlos d'Assumpcao, as saying that the agreement displayed mutual respect, mutual understanding and mutual accommodation between China and Portugal and that the people in Macau could put their hearts at ease. He said the Macau Government should appoint more locals in senior posts.
An NCNA report from Lisbon said the Portuguese Prime Minister, Cavaco e Silva, at a meeting with the Chinese ambassador to Portugal, Chen Ziying, on Thursday, said it was a satisfactory agreement and believed it was in the interests of both countries and would benefit the stability and development of Macau. The Prime Minister would go to Peking in the middle of next month to formally sign the agreement on Macau.
The HK Standard quoted Ke Zhengping, a deputy to the NPC, as saying in Peking on Thursday that Macau would conduct direct elections to choose local representatives to the NPC. He did not say whether HK would follow suit.
The acting Governor of Macau, Dr Carlos Monjardino, told RTHK's "Newsplus" on ATV-Diamond last night that he was expecting an agreement between China and Portugal but he had not expected it to be signed as soon as on March 26. He said a large majority of the people in Macau were quite pleased with the Portuguese administration.
On the future of the casinos in Macau, Dr Monjardino said that gambling in Macau had an enormous weight and that China would perhaps have to think twice if it wanted to ban gambling in the enclave.
This view was shared by Macau Legislative Assembly member Alexandre Ho, who said the casinos and gambling until now contributed over 40 per cent of government revenue. If China did not allow gambling, it had to find a way to keep Macau alive, he said.