2237/50
138
Printed for the use of the Foreign Office. January 10, 1880.
CONFIDENTIAL.
MACAO.
On Sir T. Wade's No. 91;
October 6, 1879.
Memorandum on the conflicting Claims of Portugal and China to Sovereignty over the Peninsula of Macao.
Memorandum :
July 31, 1843. Memorandum;
February 6, 1850. China Directory, 1871, 8vo,
4449, p. 382.
ALTHOUGH the conflicting Claims of China and Portugal to sovereignty over the Peninsula of Macao are not raised in the present despatch from Sir T. Wade, nevertheless as he seems to expect that that long-vexed question may be reopened at any moment, and appears to be strongly in favour of the Chinese Claim, it has been thought advisable, whilst looking into the correspondence to see what has passed on previous occasions with regard to the appointment of Consular Agents at Macao, to examine it also in order to ascertain what views the British Government have, at different times, entertained upon the subject of the Claims of China and Portugal to sovereignty over the peninsula, and the following is the result of that research. No Treaty or Agreement of any kind has, so far as I am aware, ever been produced showing how, and under what conditions, the Portuguese first obtained possession of Macao; but it is well known that they have been in uninterrupted possession of the place for more than 300 years.
It may be well to explain at the outset of this memorandum that there are two places at the mouth of the Canton River adjoining each other which bear the name of Macao. One is an “island,” so called in the Admiralty Chart, and the other a promontory or peninsula.
The former, no doubt, belongs to China, but the right of sovereignty over the latter is claimed both by China and Portugal.
The exact position of these two places is shown on the following extract from the Admiralty Chart published in 1857 :-
[50]
B
*
2237/50
138
Printed for the use of the Foreign Office. January 10, 1880.
CONFIDENTIAL.
MACAO.
On Sir T. Wade's No. 91;
Ocfober 6, 1879.
Memorandum on the conflicting Claims of Portugal and China to Sovereignty over the Peninsula of Macao.
Memorandum :
July 31, 1843. Memorandum;
February 6, 1850. China Directory, 1871, 8vo,
4449, p. 382.
ALTHOUGH the conflicting Claims of China and Portugal to sovereignty over the Peninsula of Macao are not raised in the present despatch from Sir T. Wade, nevertheless as he seems to expect that that long-vexed question may be reopened at any moment, and appears to be strongly in favour of the Chinese Claim, it has been thought advisable, whilst looking into the correspondence to see what has passed on previous occasions with regard to the appointment of Consular Agents at Macao, to examine it also in order to ascertain what views the British Government have, at different times, entertained upon the subject of the Claims of China and Portugal to sovereignty over the penin- sula, and the following is the result of that research. No Treaty or Agreement of any kind has, so far as I am aware, ever been produced showing how, and under what conditions, the Portuguese first obtained possession of Macao; but it is well known that they have been in uninterrupted possession of the place for more than 300 years.
It may be well to explain at the outset of this memorandum that there are two places at the mouth of the Canton River adjoining each other which bear the name of Macao. One is an “island,” so called in the Admiralty Chart, and the other a promontory or peninsula.
The former, no doubt, belongs to China, but the right of sovereignty over the latter is claimed both by China and Portugal.
The exact position of these two places is shown on the following extract from the Admiralty Chart
published in 1857 :-
[50]
B
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