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The status of Macau is directly connected
to the prolonged ruling by the Portuguese authority. Historically,
the Chinese authority did not step down on the sovereignty of Macau; and
legally speaking, the Chinese authority did not transfer the sovereignty
of Macau to other countries.
Since the establishment of the People's Republic of China in 1949, the Central People's Government proclaimed that all unequal treaties added onto the Chinese people by foreign powers in the past had to be abolished. For problems arisen due to historical reasons, the Chinese government advocated to resolve these problems peacefully through negotiations, and the situation should be kept to its present state until conditions matured. In 1972, the Ambassador of China to the UN stated at the UN General Assembly that the status problems occurred in Hong Kong and Macau were problems within the sovereignty of China, and that Hong Kong and Macau should not be regarded as colonies. As a result, the UN Special Commission for Decolonisation suggested to the UN to delete Hong Kong and Macau from its List of Colonies. The 27th UN General Assembly passed this suggestion on 8 November in the same year. In February 1979, diplomatic relations were established between China and Portugal. A principal understandings were made during the establishment. The general meaning was that Macau is a Chinese territory under Portuguese administration. Friendly negotiations would be made in a suitable time to solve the problem. This agreement was not revealed until the Joint Declaration was signed between the two countries. In 1984, The governments between China and the United Kingdom signed a Joint Declaration on the question of Hong Kong. The Joint Declaration had given an example to solve the question of Macau and had also given a positive effect. In December the same year, Chinese President visited Portugal and exchanged opinions with the Portuguese authority on the question of Macau. In May 1985, the Portuguese President Mario Soares visited China and held an informal negotiation with the Chinese leadership on the question. The then Chinese paramount leader Deng Xiaoping told him that the fundamental question of Macau was resolved in 1979. The Portuguese President also thought that the question of Macau was easy to resolve, since the most fundamental understandings had been made between the two countries in 1979. On 20 May, the two countries announced that official negotiations on the question of Macau would be held at the last week of June in 1986. Four rounds of negotiations were made on the question of Macau between the two countries: 30 June to 1 July 1986, 9 September to 10 September 1986, 21 September to 22 September 1986 and 18 March to 23 March 1987. The fourth round negotiations was mainly about the drafting the the Joint Declaration between the two countries. On 26 March 1987, the two countries signed the draft of the Joint Declaration of the two countries and the two annexes regarding the general policy of China on Macau and arrangements during the transition period. A memorandum of understanding was exchanged on the problem of travel documents (or passports) of some Macau residents. On 13 April 1987, the Premiers of China and Portugal signed in Beijing the Joint Declaration of the People's Republic of China and the Republic of Portugal on the Question of Macau and its annexes. On 23 June that year, the Standing Committee of the Chinese National People's Congress approved the Declaration. On 10 December, the Portuguese Parliament also unanimously approved the Declaration. On 15 January 1988, the two countries exchanged approvals from each other. The Joint Declaration officially came into effect. |
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