Un Suled H
m. Hillhu
M.
CONFIDENTIAL
My hair 245, Jeld ach
Interestin
Tel 電話 3-7328202
р
रे
Predft Ack
020/2 55
Immigration Department
人民入境事務處
Loyd 6/5
In reply please quote this ref 覆函請註明本處檔號
(85) in IMM/CR 17/800
Reply rent Пере
развагра
30 March 1987
interesting.
Mr Anthony Layden
Hong Kong Department
Foreign & Commonwealth Office
Whitehall SW1A 2AP
UNITED KINGDOM
Dear Anthony,
The Joint Declaration on Macau received wide coverage by the media in Hong Kong. It was generally well received in Macau. It follows closely the Sino- British Declaration but the following differences are signalled.
Nationality
2
Our nationality arrangements were arrived at in a friendly fashion and we have not bruited about that it leads to de facto dual nationality in that a BN (0) in Paris may seek consular protection from either the British Embassy or the Chinese Embassy. The Portuguese on the other hand are loudly acclaiming the success achieved in the Memorandum associated with their Joint Declaration and the Chinese are not concealing a divergence of views. Dr Carlos Monjardino, the Acting Governor of Macau, for example, stated publicly, "Therefore ... on the point of nationality which we consider the most important point of this agree- ment, .. the people that have the right under Portuguese law to have Portuguese passports which is the same thing as to say the Portuguese nationality (will have it)"; and Mr Zhou Nan was reported as having said "We call (the Portuguese passport) a travel document. They call it a passport". Other senior Portuguese officials have made similar statements, not only in Macau but in Lisbon and possibly Peking. Local rumours have it that the nationality issue was settled only at the last moment and then only after a Portuguese threat of abandoning the talks. The Chinese pressure must have been acute and relentless since during the negotiations the Portuguese did appoint a commission of prominent lawyers to examine whether concessions on nationality were possible, but its efforts came to naught.
61, Mody Road, Kowloon, Hong Kongën‡ZA+— SSE
Telegrams
MIGRATIO
[elex 專用電訊 45656
CONFIDENTIAL
/....