TNAG-0933-FCO40-1152-Relations-between-Hong-Kong-and-Macau-1980 — Page 3

LAST

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CONFIDENTIALS

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GOVERNMENT SECRETARIAT

LOWER ALBERT ROAD

HONG KONG

2442 December 1980

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The Chinese Maras

RECEIVED IN REGISTRY NO. Macau, Portugal and China

2 1 JAN1281

31.12

themed by the reporting

Lism,

Trask Boucwill realf our brief visit to Macau on 27 November and our

INDEX.

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meeting with . Col. Manuel de Azevedo Moreira Maia, the Governor's

Chef du Cabineti

-

2.

According to my own recollection of that meeting, Col. Maia made a

fairly explicit reference to Portugal's recognising China's ultimate

sovereignty over Macau and said that an "informal understanding" was

reached between the two countries during the negotiations on the establishment of diplomatic relations in 1978 (the joint communique was signed on 8 February 1979). He then went on to suggest that the

informality of the arrangement somehow suited the natural temperament

of both Portuguese and Chinese.

3. I am surprised that Col. Maia should have been quite so frank about such an agreement (however informal) with the Chinese. You will no doubt

recall the difficulties we faced during the summer of 1978 in trying to

establish whether the Chinese had raised the question of Macau as a

condition of establishing diplomatic relations with Portugal and whether

the Portuguese had made any concessions. Past papers (see, for example, Lisbon telegram number 73 to FCO of 20 February 1979) suggest that although the Chinese did raise the question of the status of Macau, the Portuguese,

in public at least, simply maintained the constitutional position that

Macau is "a territory under Portuguese administration" which is to be

"governed by a statute in keeping with its special situation". This

definition does not refer to Macau as "Chinese territory". Indeed, the

then Prime Minister of Fortugal said that Macau's constitutional position

CONFIDENTIAL