TNAG-0839-FCO40-1048-Relations-between-Hong-Kong-and-China-1979 — Page 257

CONFIDENTIAL

R 245

CONFIDENTIAL

FM HONG KONG 1612172 JAN 79

HKK

✅ NO.

LAP079

RY

RZ Action Taken

TO PRIORITY FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH OFFICE

No

TELNO.114 OF 16 JANUARY,

INFO PRIORITY: PEKING, LISBON,

See 3

ROUTINE : HONG KONG GOVERNMENT OFFICE LONDON.

1.

YOUR TELNO.52 : SINO/PORTUGUESE RELATIONS.

COLONEL LEANDRO, THE GOVERNOR OF MACAU, IS AT PRESENT IN

HONG KONG HAVING COMPLETED HIS TOUR.

HE LEAVES TOMORROW FOR

CANTON AND PEKING ON HIS WAY BACK TO LISBON.

2. LEANDRO CONFIRMS THAT HE BELIEVES AN ANNOUNCEMENT ON SIN/

PORTUGUESE DIPLOMATIC RELATIONS IS IMMINENT. HE SAYS, HOWEVER,

THAT HE KNOWS NOTHING ABOUT THE DETAIL. HE HIMSELF THINKS THERE WILL BE NO PUBLIC MENTION OF MACAU.

3. LEANDRO, INCIDENTALLY, BELIEVES THAT THE NEGOTIATIONS HAVE

BEEN BADLY HANDLED, PARTLY BECAUSE OF THE CONSTANTLY CHANGING GOVERNMENTS IN LISBON. HE MAKES NO BONES ABOUT THE FACT THAT HE HAS BEEN KEPT IN IGNORANCE OF THE DETAILS EVEN THOUGH THEY

MIGHT AFFECT MACAU.

4. IN ANSWER TO PRESS QUERIES, PORTUGUESE OFFICIALS IN MACAU HAVE

DISMISSED AS IDLE SPECULATION'' THE POSSIBILITY THAT THE ESTABLISHMENT OF RELATIONS COULD LEAD TO A CHANGE IN THE STATUS

OF MACAU. HO YIN, A LOCAL MILLIONAIRE WHO SOMETIMES ACTS AS AN UNOFFICIAL, CHINESE SPOKESMAN IN MACAU, HAS MADE SIMILAR

REMARKS.

5. IT DOES NOT SEEM THAT THE PRESS SPECULATION IS CAUSING ANY

SERIOUS CONCERN IN MACAU.

MACLEHOSE

FILES

FED

OID

HK & GD

NEWS D

SED

PS

IPD

PS/LORD GORONWY

PS/PUS

MR CORTAZZI MR MURRAY SIR R HIBBERT

ROBERTS MR FERGUSSON

CONFIDENTIAL

COPIES TO:

HONG KONG GOVT OFFICE

LONDON