DPA,
CONFIDENTIAL
Macau Negotiations
I met the new Governor of Macau at the airport on
27 May and formed a generally favourable impression. He
seemed much less wooden than his predecessor. He made the right
sort of comments about Hong Kong and our relationship, in a
relaxed way and responded well to banter. He was very good
with the C and W representative who had also turned out.
2.
The Portuguese Ambassador was also there from Peking.
He was grateful for his contacts with Sir R. Evans. He said
the negotiation would be run by a cabinet back in Portugal.
He was not included in the team. I said that he would nevertheless
no doubt be providing broad insights into the Chinese frame
of mind. He concurred. He said that the negotiations would
begin on 30 June though this date (surely much publicized) was
confidential. The Chinese wanted all the negotiations to take
place in Peking. What did I think about that? They also wanted
it to be in English rather than Portuguese. What was my view
on that? The Portuguese had excellent interpreters though none
with specific diplomatic experience. In the Ambassador's view
Chinese interpreters could speak Portuguese with considerable
fluency but (he surmised) equal inaccuracy.
3.
Generally he thought the Chinese wanted to follow the
Hong Kong model but they had not reckoned on the enormous
difference between the British and the Portuguese. He had to
CONFIDENTIAL
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