TNAG-0752-FCO40-956-Future-of-Hong-Kong-1979 — Page 76

SCR 13/4841/59

CONFIDENTIAL

RC Samuel Esq

Far Eastern Department

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Pl. copy to Ft Collect

20 July 1978

Ny Thompson...

وله

25/

24/7 Hecato!!

25391988

Astion Tollan

CZE

MACAU

64

59)

I have been trying to unravel some of the twisted threads in the strange story of the way in which the Chinese appear to have raised the question of Macau during the discussions in Paris on the establishment of diplomatic relations with Portugal. The most important issue is clearly what the Chinese said, when, to whom, and how the Portuguese replied. This is a problem which can only be solved in Lisbon. I doubt if we will be able to contribute much from here, unless the Director of the local branch of the NCNA comes back to me with the Chinese side of the story. A second, more local, puzzle is the apparent contradiction between the report of urgent meetings in Macau to discuss what the Chinese had said (Hong Kong telegram No. 862 of 10 July) and the apparent ignorance of such discussions claimed by both the Governor of Macau and the local Portuguese Consul-General (Hong Long telegram No. 988 of 15 July).

2.

I have spoken gain to Roger Lobo, the member of our Legislative Council whose brother was the source of the information about meetings in Macau. I told him that I had not, for obvious reasons, passed on to the Governor of Macau what his brother had said. Nevertheless, I had done some fishing and Colonel Leandro had given no hint that he knew anything about either the Chinese raising the question of Macau recently or meetings in Macau to di cuss such a question. Roger Lobo then claimed that Governor Leandro knew only the vaguest details about what had been said by Dr Sa Machado when he telephoned Dr Carlos Assumpcao, the President of the Macau Legislative Assembly and the head of the local conservative party, ADIM. lle said that the Governor vas deliberately being kept in the dark by local members of ADIM, both because he was a military man, which they did not like, and because he was soon to be replaced. He claimed that members of the local

/contd....

CONFIDENTIAL