The Sino-Portuguese Joint Declaration: Negotiations and Macau’s Transition

After Portugal’s political upheaval in 1974, its colonial policy changed. The 1976 constitution placed Macau under Portuguese administration without listing it as Portuguese territory. Following diplomatic relations in 1979, China and Portugal continued discussing Macau. Formal negotiations began on June 30, 1986. They concerned both the end of Portuguese administration and continuity in Macau’s social, economic and legal institutions.

The Portuguese parliamentary approval document records that the text was agreed and initialed in Beijing on March 26, 1987. On April 13 Chinese Premier Zhao Ziyang and Portuguese Prime Minister Aníbal Cavaco Silva formally signed for their governments. The first paragraph affirmed that the Macau peninsula, Taipa and Coloane were Chinese territory and fixed December 20, 1999, for the resumption of sovereignty.

References: [1] [3] [4]

Signing did not immediately transfer administration. Paragraph seven required an exchange of instruments of ratification in Beijing for entry into force and gave the declaration and annexes equal binding effect. China’s National People’s Congress Standing Committee approved the declaration on June 23, 1987, expressly including Annex I on basic policies and Annex II on transition arrangements. Portugal’s Assembly of the Republic adopted Resolution 25/87 on December 11 to approve completion of the ratification process.

The United Nations Treaty Series records that the instruments were exchanged in Beijing on January 15, 1988, bringing the declaration into force that day. The two countries registered it with the United Nations on March 22. Signature established the agreement; domestic approval and the exchange brought the treaty into force, followed by UN registration.

References: [1] [2] [3]

The declaration provided for a Macau Special Administrative Region under the principle of one country, two systems. The central government would handle foreign affairs and defense. Macau would enjoy a high degree of autonomy and executive, legislative and independent judicial powers, including final adjudication. Its government and legislature would be composed of local inhabitants. The National People’s Congress would prescribe the basic policies and their annexed elaboration in a Basic Law, unchanged for fifty years.

Continuity covered daily life as well as institutions. The existing social and economic systems and lifestyle would continue, and laws would remain basically unchanged. Portuguese could be used alongside Chinese in government, the legislature and courts. Macau would remain a free port and separate customs territory, with independent finances, its own currency and free movement of capital. Personal liberty and freedoms of speech, publication, assembly and belief, along with property rights, would receive protection according to law.

References: [1]

From entry into force until December 19, 1999, Portugal retained responsibility for administering Macau, with China’s cooperation. Annex II established a Joint Liaison Group for consultation and information exchange on implementing the declaration, the 1999 handover, and Macau’s external economic and cultural relations. Disagreements would be referred to the two governments.

Each side appointed an ambassador-level chief representative and four members. During its first year the group would meet in rotation in Beijing, Lisbon and Macau, then use Macau as its principal base. Its work would continue until January 1, 2000. It would neither participate in nor supervise Macau’s administration. The arrangement allowed advance consultation while retaining existing administrative responsibility during the transition.

References: [1]

A separate Joint Land Group handled leases and revenue extending beyond the handover. Annex II allowed qualifying land grants and renewals to run no later than December 19, 2049. New grants, including reclaimed and undeveloped land, were normally limited to twenty hectares annually, subject to adjustment by the group on proposals from the Portuguese Macau government. After deduction of average land-development costs, revenue would be divided equally between the transitional administration and future special administrative region, whose portion would go into a reserve fund.

Implementation required further work. The European Commission’s 1999 report described legal localization and renewal of major public-service concessions proceeding through Joint Liaison Group consultations. Macau’s Basic Law, adopted in 1993, supplied the new legal framework. Meanwhile, Amnesty International’s pre-handover report considered human-rights protections and aspects of the transition to new laws still inadequate.

References: [1] [4] [5]

Late on December 19 and early on December 20, 1999, China and Portugal held the handover ceremony in the garden pavilion of the Macau Cultural Centre. People’s Daily reported that Portugal’s national flag and Macau’s municipal flag were lowered; China’s national flag and the special administrative region’s flag rose at midnight. Chinese President Jiang Zemin and Portuguese President Jorge Sampaio attended. The new government led by Edmund Ho then took its oath of office.

After the handover, the Macau Special Administrative Region operated under the Basic Law. Local legislation, judicial decisions and administrative practice implemented the declaration’s basic policies, institutional continuity and residents’ rights. The Joint Liaison Group ended its work on January 1, 2000, as Annex II provided, concluding its transitional consultations.

References: [1] [6]