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5153.
5. THE JLG HAD REACHED AGREEMENT ON MACAU'S CONTINUED MEMBERSHIP OF INTERPOL AFTER 1999, HAD NOTED MACAU'S ENTRY INTO ESCAP AT THE BEGINNING OF APRIL, AND HAD AGREED THAT MACAU'S MEMBERSHIP OF INTERNATIONAL ORGANISATIONS WOULD BE TAKEN FORWARD IN A WORKING
GROUP (THE NEXT ON THE LIST ARE VARIOUS INTERNATIONAL COMMUNICATIONS ORGANISATIONS).
6. THE CHINESE HAD CONTINUED TO COMPLAIN ABOUT THE SLOW PACE OF LOCALISATION OF THE MCAU ADMINISTRATION. CATARINO SUGGESTED THAT THIS WAS A HARD ONE TO SOLVE. THE CHINESE WANTED MORE ETHNIC CHINESE AT THE MIDDLE AND TOP LEVELS OF THE MACAU ADMINISTRATION. BUT IT WAS DIFFICULT TO FIND CHINESE WITH THE RIGHT QUALIFICATIONS, AND THE MACAU AUTHORITIES WERE RELUCTANT TO INTRODUCE MEASURES OF 'POSITIVE
DISCRIMINATION'.
7. THE CHINESE HAD ALSO REPEATED THEIR ANXIETIES ABOUT THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A NEW JUDICIAL SYSTEM IN MACAU. THE ENABLING LAW WAS CURRENTLY BEING CONSIDERED IN THE PORTUGUESE ASSEMBLY. THE CHINESE HAD ALWAYS ARGUED, AND CONTINUED TO DO SO, THAT PORTUGUESE LEGISLATION SHOULD WAIT FOR THE PUBLICATION OF THE BASIC LAW. THE PORTUGUESE POSITION WAS THAT JUDICIAL MATTERS WERE WITHIN PORTUGUESE COMPETENCE AND THAT, WHILE THE PORTUGUESE WERE WILLING TO LISTEN TO CHINESE VIEWS, THEY COULD NOT ACCEPT A CHINESE VETO. IT WAS ENOUGH THAT BOTH MACAU LAW AND THE BASIC LAW SHOULD BE IN HARMONY WITH THE JOINT DECLARATION. (TODAY'S 'DIARIO DE NOTICIAS' LEADS WITH A HEADLINE SUGGESTING THAT THE BASIC LAW WILL PROVIDE FOR THE REINTRODUCTION OF THE DEATH PENALTY IN MCAU. IN FACT FROM A CLOSER READING OF THE ARTICLE IT IS EVIDENT THAT THE POINT AT ISSUE IS THE OMISSION FROM THE BASIC LAW OF AN ARTICLE COVERING JUDICIAL PROTECTION OF THE RIGHT TO LIFE. BUT THIS WILL NEVERTHELESS BE A MATTER OF CONCERN TO THE PORTUGUESE GOVERNMENT, AND THE QUESTION OF THE DEATH PENALTY WAS ONE WHICH DEUS PINHEIRO RAISED WITH QIAN QICHEN IN FEBRUARY.)
8. CATARINO CONFIRMED THAT PROBLEMS OVER THE AIRPORT HAD LARGELY DISAPPEARED FOLLOWING QIAN QICHEN'S VISIT TO LISBON AND SUBSEQUENT TECHNICAL DISCUSSIONS IN PEKING. BUT DESPITE MAKING POSITIVE NOISES, THE CHINESE WERE DRAGGING THEIR FEET OVER THE QUESTION OF AIR TRAFFIC AGREEMENTS. THE PORTUGUESE WOULD CONTINUE TO PRESS THEM.
9. OUTSIDE THE FORMAL JLG MEETING, THERE HAD BEEN SOME DISCUSSION OF REINTEGRATION OF PORTUGUESE FUNCTIONARIES CURRENTLY WORKING IN MCAU INTO THE PORTUGUESE CIVIL SERVICE. THE PORTUGUESE ESTIMATED THAT BETWEEN 2,000 AND 8,000 INDIVIDUALS WOULD HAVE THE RIGHT TO RETURN
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