Joint Declaration | 30 years after, still ‘a lot to do’

Beijing, April 13, 1987

Thirty years have passed today since the signing of the Joint Declaration of the Government of the People’s Republic of China and the Government of the Portuguese Republic on the question of Macau.
Although the treaty that set the rules and initiated the process for the handover of Macau from the Portuguese to the Chinese administration is well into maturity there is still “a lot to do” towards complete fulfillment, experts say.

Gary Ngai, president of the Macau Association for the Promotion of Exchange between Asia-Pacific and Latin America (MAPEAL) is one such commentator who has experienced the process that led to the signing of the treaty from the inside as he was directly involved in the negotiations. Answering the question as to whether the Joint Declaration has been fulfilled, Ngai says, “Not really! At least not completely! There are a lot of problems.”

Gary Ngai

Gary Ngai believes that such problems cannot be attributed to either party to the agreement; both are to blame.

“Both sides need to think about it [the Joint Declaration] and increase cooperation in the future to work on the most essential – the Macau identity – and how it is perceived by the outside world.”

As Ngai told the Times, “In the declaration the topic was ‘touched’ but it is not clear on how to do it,” adding, “we have our own identity that is Sino-
Latin. It involves many other nationalities besides Portuguese; it is much broader.”

When looking back to the past 30 years, Ngai say he is happy to see that the declaration was not forgotten and that it is still being worked on but acknowledges that the results achieved are still far from the objectives established.

“I’m glad that we are still working on it and we didn’t forget. Both sides are still working on it but we are still far from the goal,” he said naming two areas where work has missed the target, “first, is the language issue that is very important and in need of preservation.”

Once more Ngai “points the finger” to both administrations  claiming, “Private schools in Macau have been neglecting the teaching of the Portuguese language. We need to start from a young age to master the language,” something that was understood in the early years but failed to materialize. “That was only a dream that was never put into action,” he stressed, “the resistance was very [strong] inside Chinese schools.”

On the same topic, Ngai also mentioned a mistake made by the Portuguese administration that “took too long to recognize Chinese as an official language. It was too late and that created a big problem, in particular for the administration since there were very few bilingual civil servants at the time.”

Besides the language but also related to it, Ngai suggests as another flaw the development of the legal system.

“A lot of mistakes have been made due to a wrong interpretation of the law. It’s a laughing stock the mistakes that keep happening.”

Sérgio de Almeida Correia

Sérgio de Almeida Correia, lawyer and expert in political science agrees to some extent with Ngai although noted, “in terms of the responsibilities of Portugal, the duties have been fulfilled regarding the preparation towards the creation of the Macau Special Administrative Region [MSAR],” noting that the People’s Republic of China (PRC) has a lot more responsibilities, especially in the choice of the MSAR’s officials which had to be validated by them.

Correia voiced additional concerns mostly relating to the policies being put into place, saying, “China, when verifying that local authorities aren’t respecting the agreement, should be the first to record that and act in order to ensure compliance,” highlighting, “I’m not saying that they should influence the choices Macau makes but instead advance the autonomy that was envisaged in the declaration and that is also reflected in the basic law.”

Sergio Correia notes that the “rights and freedoms” that are stated in both documents are not being respected and that extends also to the protection of the Portuguese language, “especially in the administration and judiciary bodies.”

“I see a bigger concern for the protection of the Portuguese language from China than from Macau authorities,” he noted, recalling that only after last year’s visit of Premier Li Keqiang that the government decided to implement measures.

The same expert also remarked on the need to “maintain the social and economic systems” which are embedded in the declaration such as the “high inflation, the out of control real estate market and the flood of tourists that do not seem to be adding anything of value, and the cases of corruption which together seem to be undermining the declaration.”

The currency is an example of another flaw, according to the seasoned lawyer.

“We need more determination on the protection of the pataca. People earn salaries in MOP but pay rent and other expenses in HKD. The pataca is a symbol of our autonomy,” Correia said. Also, he added, the political responsibility of the leaders and high-ranked officials needs to be raised: “They can’t keep hiding behind China so not to do what should be done.”

“What was foreseen in the Joint Declaration is that the executive power be subjected to the legislative power but this has been diminishing. This should be safeguarded so the declaration can continue to be a benchmark document.”