TNAG-0753-FCO40-957-Future-of-Hong-Kong-1978 — Page 108

BY BAG

CONFIDENTIAL

R

HKK owoll

19/

1

R 14 September 1978

OFFICER

INDEX

PA

Act Teken

あ

Nolan Methompson

99

SCR13/4841/59 VI

R JUSTBROOK ESQ

LISBON

MACAU/CHINA/PORTUGAL

I recently heard (and you will no doubt be seeing a report through other channels in due course) that the newspaper "A Luta" (struggle) published a detailed account on or about 14 august of the Jino/ Portuguese talks in Paris. I shall be grateful if you could send us a copy together with any comments which this may have prompted in other newspapers or by Portuguese officiais.

2.

I am reluctant to add to the rumours already circulating on this subject. liowever, I should report that the Spanish Consul-¡eneral here told me today that he had been told by prominent businessmen in Macau with good Left-wing contacts that the Chinese had raised the question in Paris. The way in which this had been done, however, was to seek an assurance that no reference would be made to tue possibility of Hacau being returned to China in any statents concerning the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Portugal. Ojeda added that his sources had been told that there vas no possibility of the Chinese agreeing to any Portuguese request that hacau be returned, It is quite conceivable that if the Chinese did make such a request it may have bean stated in terms which included an assertion of the status of hacau (as seen by the Chinese) as "Chinese territory temporarily administered by Portugal". However, I cannot believe that any approach made on these lines by the Chinese would have been misinterpreted by the Portuguese.

3.

I should add that Ojeda was unable to identify the original Chinese sources of his story.

(I C orr)

Distribution -/over

CONFIDENTIAL